On 4th October, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, Bishop John Arnold launched a Pastoral Initiative – Hope in the Future- for the renewal of the Diocese of Salford. Bishop John’s hope, inspired by the teaching of Pope Francis, is that parishes will now be encouraged to develop a more missionary character. Our parish community has been involved in the different stages so far as we gradually make progress. The initiative has been very providential in actualising the coming together of our erstwhile different faith communities.
The Five Stages
The Hope in the Future journey is broken down into five stages:
Stage 1: Celebrating our Parish
The First Stage places an emphasis on prayer. Invoking the power of the Holy Spirit to engage all people of the Diocese in this process. Key to this stage is to recognize and celebrate the Missionary Activity that already takes place in our parishes. We will seek to engage clergy in renewing and developing leadership styles.
Stage 2: Harvesting our talents
The Church teaches that it is the mission of all people to proclaim the Gospel. Stage Two looks to develop this mission. During Stage Two, there will be an emphasis on encouraging all people in our parish to discern their gifts and put them at the service of the Church, including sharing in the leadership of the parish.
Stage 3: Living the Sunday Eucharist
The weekend liturgy is, in a real sense, the shop window for the parish. The Third Stage will provide an emphasis on how we can build on this Celebration to ensure that our parishes are mission oriented through our welcome, our liturgy and our hospitality.
Stage 4: Proclaiming the Good News
Our schools and the celebrations of Baptism, weddings, funerals, Christmas and Easter Liturgies, bring a significant number of people into contact with our parish. These times provide us with opportunities to engage people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Fourth Stage will place an emphasis on providing formation to deepen this engagement.
Stage 5: Sharing the Hope
Our parishes already make an enormous contribution to the local community. The Fifth Stage will place an emphasis on building on existing outreach and resourcing and providing new opportunities for the parish to be a beacon of hope within the local area.
“A missionary parish is a community called to be open to the Holy Spirit so that the Good News of Jesus Christ can be known to all through welcome, engagement and outreach.”
“I ask for your active participation in both prayer and action. If we were all to undertake just one task in our parishes we would transform the witness we give and make a difference to the lives of so many people.”
Bishop John Arnold
By the end of this journey it is hoped that we will have a programme that has resources for parishes wherever they are at this time. Some parishes will be leading the way, others may not be able to follow at this time but will be able to start this process in the future.
Hopefully all parishes will be aware that they are called to be missionary and to evangelise. A working definition of what is meant by a missionary parish is being sent out to all parishes. People are encouraged to discuss this in as many different ways as possible to help us become aware of the vocabulary and what is meant by it.
An Introduction to Hope in the Future
Hope in the Future Anthem
Listen to the Hope and Future Anthem
Here are the words for the Anthem:
A song of worship and prayer which echoes the philosophy of “Hope in the Future,” an initiative in the Diocese of Salford designed to help grow the Church for future generations, aiding renewal and sustainability in the faith journey of our parishes .
Show us, lead us, ignite in us a flame
Take us on a journey, help us surrender to your name
And stay with us Lord as we commit to your call With faith renewed and gratitude.
May your light burn in our souls
And lead us to deep trust in you.
Your blessing on us we do seek
Let not our hearts and minds grow weak Instead, evangelise and speak news of our glory and salvation
Let is spread to all the nations
Shining out from deep within.
REPEAT FIRST SECTION Chant: Holy Sprit come. May our hearts be one.
(Repeat chant several times as necessary. In harmony if possible. Perhaps hum and have a reader lead a prayer over the top).