Grapevine 8 | News from Adult Formation, Justice & Peace and Caritas

 

Reach for the diary! Grapevine is back from holiday, and things are getting busy already. In September we enter the Season of Creation, a wave of prayer for the living Earth observed each year by churches worldwide.  It starts next Tuesday with a 'Day of Prayer for Creation', called by Pope Francis for 1 September every year.  We’ve gathered some ideas for how you and your parish can take part - including some prayers you might like to use at home or at Mass. We've got a second workshop on 9 September to 'prepare the future' of outreach.  And make a note to join us on 7 November, a day to celebrate and develop missionary discipleship through social action all across our diocese.  Find out below how you can be part of it. Paul (Programme Leader for Social Action) In this issue Parishes of welcome, listening and hope: 9 September Celebrating the Season of Creation: bidding prayers Caritas is coming: 7 November - advance notice Please feel free to forward this email to fellow parishioners, or include content in your parish bulletin. Sign up to receive Grapevine direct to your inbox: click here Parishes of welcome, listening and hope Wednesday 9 September, 3.30 - 5.00 p.m., by Zoom Following the popular 'Prepare the Future' online workshop  in July  (reported in the last issue)  we're offering a follow up.   Prepare the Future will help you: Develop a vision for your parish as a place that hears people's ‘joys and hopes, fears and anxieties’, during this time of Covid-19 and beyond Explore how your parish could prepare to open a place of welcome, listening and hope to local residents, when the time is right. Lay foundations for a new diocesan Caritas ministry to tackle social isolation and vulnerability, and develop new solutions for reaching out safely This time we'll have a particular focus on opportunities here and now, during the pandemic, for telephone befriending.  We'll be joined by Paul Street of the ecumenical network Transforming Notts Together,  who will introduce us to two initiatives: Linking Lives which helps churches set up befriending projects, with models which can be used within the parish community and beyond Two's Company, a scheme for telephone befriending, particularly suitable for telephone outreach during the pandemic.                      We'll also be joined once again by Julia Terry and Sian Rigby who are helping churches plan to open Places of Welcome in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire respectively. Finally we'll look to develop a toolkit to help parishes across Nottingham Diocese navigate the practicalities involved, such as: Accountability and volunteer management Budgeting, funding and insurances Partnerships with statutory and voluntary services Safeguarding, Covid security and health and safety Standards for parish premises such as accessibility and food hygiene. If you'd like to join us, we'd love to see you! “Let us welcome this time of trial as an opportunity to prepare for our collective future, a future for all without discarding anyone” – Pope Francis Upcoming online workshops There's a wealth of events listed on the Season of Creation website.  Here are just three that have been brought to our notice. A programme of events curated by the Leicester Laudato Si' Circle based at St Peter's and Blessed Sacrament Parish, culminating in a tree planting on 4 October Christian Climate Conference: Young people from churches in Leicestershire are hosting a virtual climate conference on 5 September - all ages invited. Care of the Heart Space on 9 September with Sister Zoë Leadbetter: How is God calling each of us as individuals and as communities to act for the environment and how should we respond?  Sr Zoe also offers a workshop on 23 September exploring 'Justice, Jubilee, and looking to COP 26', the crucial global climate summit which was postponed from this November. And there are many other resources, including liturgies, study guides, and ideas for clergy, listed here. Praying the season You might like to include the following prayers in Mass, from the Sunday before the Season starts until the Sunday when it ends.  Or use them all as a sequence on the Day of Prayer for Creation, next Tuesday 1 September. 29 and 30 August For this living world and all that dwell in it.  May we cherish the life of our common home, and learn to share this holy ground of Earth with all that God has made.   5 and 6 September For all who live in our time of ecological crisis.  May we strive to set Creation free from its suffering, and be reconciled with the Creator who longs to restore us to himself.   12 and 13 September For the generations who will be our descendants.  By God's grace may we be inspired to a change of life, and so earn their forgiveness for the debt we have come to owe.   19 and 20 September For our leaders of business and government, that they may build an economy which safeguards the Earth; and for the poor, who are the true heirs to God’s kingdom.   26 and 27 September For the nations most at risk from climate change: those who live close to the land, environmental refugees, and all God’s creatures; and for those whose lives are complicit in their suffering.   3 and 4 October For all who work to safeguard our common home of Earth, in government, industry and the family: that we may grow in love, solidarity and compassion for the poor, future generations, and the countless other creatures with which we share this world.   Caritas is coming!  Saturday 7 November God is love, and he calls us to love, generously and joyfully. Here in the Diocese of Nottingham an opportunity is emerging to respond to that call afresh. Nottingham Diocese is on the way to becoming part of the global Caritas network—and if you are a parishioner here, you will be part of it too.  Caritas is the Church's ministry of charity, and the second biggest humanitarian network in the world.  Caritas in the Diocese of Nottingham is being developed by the Justice and Peace Commission, but dozens of parishioners around the diocese are already working with us.  Caritas will help all of us bring to life Jesus' call to live out the Gospel as missionary disciples.  Click the image right to download your invitation. Better still, come to our event on Saturday 7 November to find out more - especially if Caritas is new to you, or you're seeking new ways to live your faith in these challenging times.  Together we'll: nourish the work we do for the common good be inspired for the adventure of missionary discipleship build our parishes as confident, outward-looking communities make common cause and achieve more together. This opportunity to get involved was postponed from 28 March, at the start of lockdown, and will probably be held online.  Read about our early plans for the day here.  If you'd like to be kept informed of plans, sign up below for updates and we'll keep you posted.   And finally while you've got your diary, four other events you may be interested in, exploring new directions for the Church after Covid-19: Eucharist and Community in a Digital Age, 23 September, with Prof Tom O'Loughlin of Nottingham University Ministering in the Field Hospital, 7 October, with Fr Gerry Proctor, Archdiocese of Liverpool Hearing the Cry of the Poor and Disadvantaged, 21 October, with Dr Philip McCarthy of Caritas Social Action Network A Vision for the Church of the Future, 4 November, with Dr Clare Watkins, Roehampton Institute