Boldly into mission mode

When parishes pool their resources to engage in outreach, the advantages multiply and the danger of fatigue is minimised. But key to its success is planning

A gourmet meal can take hours to prepare – and seemingly minutes to eat. Our mission of the Merton Deanery in south London was a bit like that. It took two years to plan and two weeks to celebrate. It was a time of grace and blessing and the seeds of cooperation and collaboration were sown in abundance.

There were seven parishes, 11 schools and a lot of energy involved. The Sion Community facilitated the mission and the preaching events, which were led by different people. Fr Stan Fortuna (notable for his evangelical musical contributions of various genres, primarily Catholic-based jazz and hip hop), John Pridmore (a former East End gangster turned Christian, who talks about how God changed his life) and Jenny Baker (who helped develop and present the Catholic Faith Exploration resources), opened some extraordinary doors for the young people in the deanery. These prophets of our time were challenging, engaging, provocative – and, at times, disturbing.

A mission offers opportunities to experience in a heightened and intense way spiritual services, sermons and sacraments focusing on the major themes of our faith. Parish missions began in the ­eighteenth century but the idea of seven parishes working together for a deanery mission is something new. None of the parishes in Merton Deanery had had a mission for some years. Missions can involve a big financial commitment; but when it is divided by seven, it becomes achievable.

The Year of Faith provided the incentive to challenge our current position as a Catholic community in the locality. For a deanery to engage collectively in such an enterprise took courage, faith, tenacity and risk. Parish boundaries suddenly disappeared to become one pastoral mission field. Working together is almost always a recipe for success – especially in the Church – and there was a gradual realisation that working together would achieve considerably more than one parish could on its own.

Coordinating seven parishes was a ­challenging task. Each of the seven parishes chose a home mission team and each team had an elected coordinator. In collaboration with the Sion Community and the clergy of the deanery, the seven coordinators planned the mission but the logistical planning, the time, the location, the communication and the commitment took patience, humility and considerable drive. Organising inspiring liturgies, transport and visiting, music and IT facilities, celebration, food and hospitality, accommodation and welcome, provided a very full agenda. Mission flyers, banners, posters and prayer cards were all essential ingredients. Sustaining the momentum, while avoiding mission fatigue, became a high priority to achieve.

The mission events were celebrated morning, afternoon and evening over 14 days. The themes chosen – all spiritual and pastoral – were repeated in different parishes and at different times so as to allow people options and flexibility of attendance. The Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Anointing of the Sick, personal testimonies and quiet time were all interspersed with meditations on the themes of Father, Son and Spirit.

A parish mission allows people to take some time to look at their lives, values and direction. It encourages them to ask what is really important to them. What are they doing with their lives; what values do they have; and where does God fit in? It can challenge people to ask what their faith means, what their Church means to them. So, for example, young parents were invited to reflect on their unique task as, first, teachers of their children in the ways of faith – and older people were asked how they could contribute their wisdom and life experience in our parish communities.

Missions today are no longer a case of “missionary does it all”. The laity are an important part of the mission. Catechists were involved as front-line evangelisers (and, as a result, a number of them expressed their need for more formation and the opportunity to share best practice with one another in the deanery). 

Some of the musicians involved in the liturgies met musicians from other parishes for the first time. They have now arranged a music day for the deanery to explore new music together. And, because the feedback from the young people on their mission experience was so positive, the youth leaders across the deanery are planning an outreach to the post-Confirmation age group. Everybody involved was very conscious of all our young people and their talents.

The older people proposed to ban the word “retirement” with its negative connotations and to replace it with the more positive-sounding new word “inspirement” by way of acknowledging the kind of contributions they can continue to make in the community. Working people acknowledged the need to be supported, affirmed and encouraged as those who bring the Gospel into their workplaces.

School assemblies were invited to “come and see”. Aiming for maximum involvement of everybody within the seven communities, school newsletters became personal ambassadors of evangelisation as they could reach families the Sunday Eucharist may not ­regularly encounter. One of the parents told me he had never even heard of a mission before this one – and that the mission changed his whole outlook on life and on the Church.

Mission critique is essential because it moves everyone out of their comfort zone. It also helps to prevent people from reaching the flawed conclusion that the mission is over. The mission might not have been all things for all people; but it did focus on key areas for attention and further development. Questions about what we did well, what we could have done better and what was missing raise awareness, and awareness is the first step to transformation.

The people of God deserve the very best because we are the body of Christ in this place and at this time. A mission generates a deeper invitation to look beyond the immediate agenda and see the bigger picture unfolding. In this secular and competitive world, parishes need to experience challenge, affirmation and evaluation lest they slide into survival mode where rite, ritual and routine become the norm.