Newsletter - 30th January 2022
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary time, Year C
A Parish that “Journeys Together”
The first phase of our parish “synod” is now complete and a report has been sent to the Diocese. The focus was to hear how people of our parish experience church. Over 100 people responded – approximately 70 in small listening sessions and 37 in writing.
From these many responses, one thing stands out. More than 70% of respondents said what they appreciated most about church is our life together as a parish. They used words like community, family, a second home, belonging, welcoming, friendly, inclusive, involved, supported, a help in difficult times.
The second area of appreciation is what the parish offers to deepen our relationship with God and grow in faith e.g., Mass, sacraments, adoration, prayer, sharing groups, retreats, opportunities for service. Conversely, the experiences that were most difficult and painful were those of people leaving the church, not being welcomed and included, or being mistreated. Two things were mentioned most frequently:
our children and grandchildren have not remained in the church
clergy abuse of children and the church’s “cover up” and failure to protect children
A distinction was often made between “our parish” (which was generally seen as a welcoming and inclusive community) and “the church” (which tended to be seen as an institution that too often does not treat all equally or with compassion, e.g., women, young, separated and divorced, LGBT community)
Although our life together is much appreciated, there was also a desire and hope to strengthen the bonds that unite us and call others to join in parish life. This includes:
reaching out, especially to the young and to families
calling parishioners to be active and involved in the life and mission of the parish
seeking ways to work more closely with other churches and community groups in the area
What does all this say about our parish? Pope Francis hopes this synod will help to create a more synodal church - a church that “journeys together”. The response of parishioners seems to indicate that Christ the King is well on its way to being a “synodal parish”. Clearly, our life together is highly valued and there is a desire to share it with others. How best to proceed is the question for the next and on-going phase of our parish “synod.”
Ted Wood ccn
Focus of the week
The God Who Speaks Scripture Festival at St Albans, 3rd - 5th February 2022
Running from 3rd - 5th February and in addition to the Tents of Encounter that were present at Westminster Cathedral we have a wide variety of content providers. These will offer different activities that help people to explore and pray with the Scriptures. For details of what is on offer please visit the official page.