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Archived News from 2008
For current news from 2009 click here.
In the midst of the regular pace of day to day life there are
always certain highlights. These are some of the more special things that
happened for us in 2008. Events are listed in reverse order.
Christmas is
upon us! The last weeks have flown by and already we are preparing for
this afternoon's Christmas celebration in the Anglican Parish Church,
followed by our own carols and vigil Mass in Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Mark has been doing supply for the last 10 weeks in St Gregory's parish in
Bearwood on the west side of the city. He will be presiding there for
midnight mass tonight and tomorrow morning's 9.00am mass. In the
afternoon we will travel to Princethorpe to join with the other MSCs from
the Midlands area for a Christmas meal together. We were together only
a couple of weeks ago for a lovely meal in Tamworth to celebrate our MSC
Foundation Day on December 8th.
This morning
we were delighted to welcome our new neighbours to join us for some light
refreshments. They are a Bangladeshi Muslim family with five young
children between the ages of 18 months and 6 years. They moved in next
door on December 10th and we are enjoying getting to know them and build a
warm friendship with them. As we ate and drank together this morning
so we also exchanged gifts and the children sang and danced for us to wish
us a happy Christmas. It was a really joyous occasion.
Last Saturday
evening we joined with over 30 residents from the Mansfield Green area of
Aston (our part of the neighbourhood) for a Christmas meal in a local pub.
Many of those who attended are usually present at the monthly meeting of the
Mansfield Green Residents' Forum. It was a lovely evening and another
opportunity to forge deeper relationships across the community.
At the
beginning of December the Street Champions "Hanging Baskets" initiative we
spoke of last month was a bit of a failure. Despite delivering
invitations in person to each of the houses along Mansfield Road only a few
children from the local school came along to make up baskets. There
are probably many reasons why the initiative didn't work and these will need
to be explored fully in the New Year. It is a reminder, however, that
bringing neighbours together across so many different traditions, cultures,
languages and faiths is not easy and needs patience and thorough
preparation.
The last month
has been full of all sorts of pre-Christmas activities; nativity plays at
Sacred Heart Primary School, the Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch, helping
out with reconciliation services and some local supply work in surrounding
parishes.
In the middle
of the Month Ton travelled to Cork to lead the Advent retreat for the MSC
community in Western Road, many of whom are retired. Ton thoroughly
enjoyed his visit and the hospitality of the community. Carl was in
Dublin at the beginning of the month for a Provincial Council meeting and in
mid December was over in Princethorpe College for a couple of days
interviewing for a new Deputy Headteacher for the school. In addition
to his regular weekend parish commitment in Bearwood, Mark has also been
meeting regularly with the Asylum Seeker from Iraq that he is befriending,
helping out in the Voice of Aston Youth Club and doing some additional
shifts in Tesco.
After
Christmas Carl will spend the weekend with his parents before he travels to
Venezuela on January 1st to attend the MSC Conference there and visit the
members on behalf of the Provincial Council. Mark will travel home to
Belgium for a week to visit his family and Ton will hold the fort in Aston
until we are all back together again to begin a new year here.
Because of all
the projected travel and absences, it is unlikely that this page will get
updated before the end of January, so in the meantime may we take this
opportunity to wish all of you, our friends, family and supporters, a very
happy Christmas and every blessing for the coming New year.
The last six
weeks have been interrupted by our presence at the English MSC Assembly in
Derbyshire from the 12th to the 15th October (which focussed on Justice and
Peace, with guest speaker Fr Peter McVerry SJ), Carl's presence at a meeting
of the Provincial Council in Dublin from 20th to the 23rd October, Carl's
belated summer holidays with his family from 26th October to the 10th
November, and Ton's visit to Holland for his Brother's 40th wedding
anniversary followed by a Finance Advisory Board meeting in Rome from 6th to
the 15th November. All of these comings and goings are part of the
reality of community life and mean there are always plenty of things to
catch up with on our return!
Apart from the
absences, we are still working hard at trying to be really "present" here in
Aston. Over the last month we have seen a deepening in our
relationship with Mansfield Residents' Forum and our recent engagement with
"Street Champions", an initiative of the city's Community Volunteering
Service. Street Champions are local neighbourhood volunteers who care about
the physical space of their area and agree to engage with local people in
trying to keep the area clean and tidy. As local Street Champions we
have been preparing an initiate to take place on December 2nd whereby local
residents around Mansfield Green (the triangle of green space diagonally
opposite our house) will be invited to come together to make up hanging
baskets which will then be attached to the outside of their houses. We
are hoping that in addition to making the neighbourhood more attractive it
will also help to bring together neighbours who otherwise might not meet and
talk to one another.
In the area of
Inter-Faith work Ton completed the five-week Basic Introduction to Islam
course that he was offering for local parishioners. Attendances held
up to around the 20 mark and the course concluded with a very interesting
visit to one of our local Mosques here in Aston. Those who
participated in the course found it really helpful and enlightening.
It also helped us to realise how little understanding there is generally
among Catholics about Islam and the beliefs, practices and customs of our
Muslim neighbours.
On October
10th all three of us participated in an Inter-Faith study day hosted by
Churches Together in England and Wales at Birmingham Catholic Cathedral.
The title of the day was "Developments in Inter-Faith, nationally and
locally: fostering the ecumenical dimension". It was a very helpful
day, both from the point of view of the input and the opportunity for
networking. Later in the month Ton also attended the autumn meeting of
the Birmingham Inter-Faith Practitioners Network.
As part of our
recent first year review day with Sr. Breda, we had agreed to invite Fr
Damian Howard SJ, who is currently completing a Doctorate in Islamic Studies
at Birmingham University, to come and spend a day with us to help us
understand more critically some of the questions and issues we are
confronting. Damian came along to us this last Wednesday (19th
November) and led us in a most helpful and enlightening day of conversation
and learning. Arising out of our discussions we are hopeful that it
might be possible to gather together a group of religious, clergy and laity
who are involved in inter-faith work in the city area for some regular
conversation, sharing and theological reflection.
As we write
our new neighbours are in the process of having their house carpeted and
preparing to move in. They are a lovely family from Bangladesh with
five young children between the ages of 18 months and 6 years. They
completed on the purchase of the house last week and hope to be able to move
in by Christmas. It will be great to finally have the house next door
occupied - even if it will mean a little less peace and quiet!
While Carl
continues to befriend an asylum seeker from Iran, Mark has recently been
allocated an asylum seeker from Iraq and has met with him several times over
the last few weeks.
During Carl's
holiday period Mark and Ton attended the November meeting of Aston Churches
Together and last weekend, while Mark and Carl were out on weekend supply
ministry, Ton represented our community at a common worship event at Aston
Villa Football Club which was attended by over 600 people from the local
Christian Churches.
For the last
six weeks Mark has been covering weekend supply at the parish of St
Gregory's, Bearwood (on the west side of the city) while the Parish Priest,
Fr Edwin, recovers from recent heart by-pass surgery. Carl has also
been supplying in Handsworth for the last couple of weekends.
At November's
Deanery Meeting of clergy we were invited to share something about our
mission here in Aston and review the experience of the first year. Ton
was in Rome that week, so Carl and Mark prepared a presentation which was
very well received by the other priests and led to an engaging conversation
over supper about the nature of mission in our Catholic inner-city parishes.
Despite our
comings and goings we have still be able to host a variety of people to
supper over the last month. Fr Simon Hall, parish priest of our
neighbouring parish of Perry Bar, joined us early in October, followed a few
evenings later by some good friends of Carl's. This last week we were
delighted to welcome Fr Pat Brown, the Dean and Administrator of the
Cathedral. The week before, Fr Dave Nixon MSC, our Vocations Director
stopped by and stayed the night with us after working in one of the
Birmingham Catholic Secondary schools for the day.
 The
main news of the last week or so has been the visit of the Dutch and Irish
Provincials to our community from the 29th September to the 1st October.
Fr Ben Verberne MSC, the Dutch Provincial and Fr Pat Courtney
MSC, the Irish Provincial were supposed to have been
joined by Fr André Claessens MSC, the Belgian
Provincial, who unfortunately missed his flight from Brussels because of
a broken-down train. The last time our three Provincials visited
we were still living in Princethorpe, so this was a great opportunity to
share with them our learning and reflections after a year in Aston,
appraise them of emerging developments in our mission and show them
round the neighbourhood. We were also able to reflect on our
evaluation and planning day with Sr Breda the previous week. Both
Pat and Ben were full of interest and enthusiasm for our growing
immersion in Aston. We are greatly appreciative of their support and
encouragement, as well as their questions and suggestions. In the
photo Pat is standing next to Ton and Ben is seated next to Carl.
Since we last updated this page a few other
things of note have happened.
On Wednesday 24th September we joined other
Religious and laity from the area at the Mercy Sisters' convent in
Handsworth for their celebration of Mercy Day. The evening began with
evening prayer and continued with a lovely buffet meal.
On Thursday
25th September Carl and Ton attended the first meeting of the new academic
year of the Aston Pride Adult Learning Network. One of the key agenda items
that interests us is the development of a new English Language Learning
Project for Aston. £800,000 funding for this project has now been agreed by
the Aston Pride Board and Birmingham City Council and the project is now at
the stage of recruiting key workers and administrators and commissioning the
courses and instructors. Alongside flexible and innovative courses it is
intended to run a language learning support programme provided by a network
of volunteers. Hopefully some appropriate accredited training for the
volunteers with be rolled out shortly. We are hoping to participate.
The following
day we were delighted to join parishioners and priests in saying farewell to
Fr Gerry McArdle, the Parish Priest of St Joseph's, Nechells, our
neighbouring parish. The church was packed for Gerry's farewell mass,
which was celebrated by Bishop Philip Pargeter, Auxiliary Bishop of
Birmingham. Gerry has been in Nechells for many years and has led a
fantastic collaborative outreach to the multicultural and multi faith
neighbourhood, particularly through his commitment to broad-based community
organising. Gerry has been most welcoming and encouraging of us since
our arrival in Birmingham and we shall miss his presence in the area.
We wish him a very happy retirement in his native Ireland.
On Saturday
27th September Carl and Ton participated in the Autumn Day for Religious of
the Archdiocese. The day was held in Birmingham University Multi-Faith
Chaplaincy and the theme was Justice and Peace. The morning sessions
were led by Brian Davies who, before retirement, worked for
CAFOD for 14 years. The first
session explored the scriptural foundations for our understanding of Justice
and Peace, and the second session reviewed the broad sweep of the Catholic
Church's social teaching since the ground-breaking Papal encyclical "Rerum
Novarum" of 1891. In the afternoon we each participated in the two
workshops on offer; human trafficking and CAFOD's "Live Simply" campaign.
It was a very god day attended by over 70 male and female Religious from
across the diocese.
 That
evening we returned to belatedly celebrate Mark's 40th birthday which passed
by quietly on 26th August in the middle of the summer holiday period.
Mark's mother and his good friend, Fr Herman Van Holsbeeck, had both arrived on Tuesday 23rd September and
had headed away the
following day with Mark for a few days visiting the Cotswolds,
Shropshire and South Wales. On the Saturday evening, after their return to Aston, we hosted a small group of
some of Mark's friends and local MSCs to an evening party. Being
an "old man", of course, it had to be a rather sedate affair, but
nonetheless a lovely evening was had by all! Mark is pictured here
with his mother and Herman.
During this
last week the Islamic holy month of Ramadan has come to an end with the
feast of Eid Ul Fitr. We shared in the celebrations of several of our
neighbours and friends, taking cards and gifts to many of them. We
were treated to fantastic food generously brought round to us by our
next-door neighbours and subsequently invited to the naming ceremony
celebrations of their new-born baby Mohammed on Saturday.
This last
weekend Ton was doing supply in Handsworth and Mark was supplying in
Maryvale, both local Birmingham parishes. The Basic Introduction to
Islam Course, being led by Ton, continues well. Tonight (6th October)
will be the third evening looking at Islamic Beliefs and Practices.
Last Monday we has 23 people attend the session looking at the Qu'ran.
The evenings are marked by a good quality of sharing of experience and
questions, with nearly everyone staying for at least another hour after the
end of the session for conversation over a cup of tea.
 When we last
updated this news page Mark was on holiday in Belgium and Ton and Carl were
on their way to Issoudun for the fourth European MSC Assembly. The
theme of this year's gathering was Justice, Peace and the Integrity of
Creation. A particular focus was the reality and plight of migrants
and refugees across Europe and our possible MSC response. Carl and Ton
were able to share about some of the initiatives the Cordate Community is
involved in, particularly through our partnership with RESTORE, the
Birmingham Churches Together Asylum Seeker befriending project. Another part of the Assembly was given to a reflection on
the newly developing area of "Eco-Spirituality". During the course of the Assembly Carl and Ton gave a
presentation on developments and progress in our mission here in Aston.
The Cordate community and its mission is fruit of the first MSC European
Assembly in 2002. There was considerable interest in how things
have been going for us and a great degree of support felt from all the
members of the Assembly. You can read the full report and statement from the
Assembly in PDF format
here.
After the
Assembly Ton travelled to The Netherlands to commence his summer vacation
and Carl returned to Aston. Mark had returned from holidays on August
18th ready to recommence his shifts at Tesco and while Carl and Ton were in
France he hosted Fr Herman Van Holsbeek, his good friend from Belgium, who
was spending some of his own holidays in Birmingham. At the end of the
month Carl's parents arrived for a few days and on Saturday 30th August we
were also joined by Carl's sister, Sheena and her friend Enda for a barbecue
in the garden (on one of the few decent dry days of August!).
With the
arrival of September activity began to gather pace once again. Carl
has been meeting regularly with the Iranian Asylum Seeker assigned to him by
Restore, and has begun helping him with some basic English tuition.
Mark has returned to the Voice of Aston Youth centre where he volunteers on
a Monday evening. Together we have recommenced our weekly attendance
at the Tuesday Senior Citizens' Lunch Club.
This being the
month of Ramadan the neighbourhood has taken on a new vitality with the
streets being choked with cars several times a day as large crowds gather in
the Mosques for prayers. At Tescos Mark has been invited on several
occasions to join his Muslim colleagues on a Friday evening as they break
the fast in the staff canteen. Mark has also attended Friday prayers
in one of the local Mosques on a couple of occasions.
Early in the
month Carl and Mark attended the Ministers' Meeting of Aston Churches
Together. Much of the meeting was spent reviewing the four Hope 08
weekends which had been held over the summer months. There was
agreement that, despite the enormous amount of organisational work that had
been borne by a relatively small group of people, the weekends had been a
success. It would be great to try and get more of the Christian
Churches involved in such initiatives. A week or so after the meeting
Mark joined with Fr Peter Jones (PP, Aston) in attending the ordination and
induction of Peter Little, the new United reformed Church minister. We
welcome Peter and Anne, his wife, to Aston and hope they will be very happy
in their ministry here.
Early
September also saw the recommencement of the regular meetings of Mansfield
Green Residents Forum (the area immediately around our house). Both
Carl and Mark attended and among the many issues discussed was the
redevelopment of the triangle of green space in this part of Aston (one of
the few remaining such spaces). There have been suggestions to build a
community centre on the site and this is being resisted by the majority of
residents who wish to preserve the grass and provide better park and
recreational facilities. There was also some discussion about a
proposal of Aston Pride and the Police to provide a mobile gym in Aston to
try and offer activities to the many young boys who hang around in gangs on
the streets with nothing to do.
As Ton came to
the end of his two week holiday in The Netherlands he travelled to Rome for
a week to undertake an audit of the financial systems of the General House
along with Fr Michael Huber MSC of the South German/Austrian Province.
Both Ton and Michael are members of the Congregation's Financial Advisory
Board. The same week Carl was in Dublin for a Provincial Council
meeting. Carl returned to Aston on Saturday 13th September and Ton the
following day.
On Monday 15th
September Carl was over in Warwickshire at Princethorpe College to lead an
In-Service Training session for the teaching staff on the Ethos of the
College and attend an evening Trustees' and Governors' Meeting. The
following day Mark met with the facilitator of this year's English MSC
Assembly to plan the gathering which will take place in October.
On 17th
September we met with Fr Ray Collier for a morning of pastoral and
theological reflection. Ray is a Columban priest living in the city
trying to live a mission similar to our own. We have been meeting with
him on a regular basis for over a year now. After a good morning of
sharing and conversation Ray treated us to lunch in Birmingham's China Town.
That evening we hosted Fr David Oakley to supper. David is Parish
Priest in Maryvale, Birmingham and is an old friend of Carl's. His
doctorate is in Pastoral Theology and he was very keen to hear about our
mission in Aston and how things are progressing. David has recently
been invited to act as a pastoral formation advisor to the Formation Team of
the Irish Province of the MSC.
On the evening
of Thursday 18th September we welcomed Alan Whelan MSC to stay with us for a
couple of days. Alan, who is head of the Religious Studies Department
at Princethorpe College, was doing a course in Birmingham on the Friday.
At the same time Carl was doing supply in our parish in Tamworth on the
Friday and Saturday, and Mark was working hard laying floor boards in the
loft of the house.
 On Monday 22nd
September we held a day of reflection with our facilitator, Sr Breda Noonan.
It is almost a year since we arrived in Aston so we decided to take a full day to review
the last twelve months and do some planning for the coming year.
We thought it was best to get out of our familiar surroundings for the day
and so we were very grateful to the Jesuit Novitiate community at Manresa
House in Harborne, on the south side of Birmingham, for hosting us so
generously. Sometimes it is hard to see daily progress in building
relationships, coming to understand the culture of a place and becoming
rooted in a community. But looking back over a full year enabled us to
really appreciate the significant steps we have taken. It also helped
us see the possibilities that are opening up before us and set some targets
and plans for the coming twelve months. We have also committed to
continue our regular facilitated reflection days, as well as taking time for
theological reflection and ongoing formation.
 That evening
we hosted the first session of a five week basic introductory course on
Islam led by Ton. The course is being held in the Undercroft of Sacred Heart Church in Aston from 7pm - 8pm on Mondays
evenings and has been advertised throughout the parishes of the
Cathedral Deanery. There were 17 participants for the first
session which looked at the origins of Islam. The course has grown out of an emerging sense that it is
important for those of us who live in a predominantly Muslim community
to have an understanding of the faith, culture and spirituality of our
neighbours. Even a rudimentary appreciation of Islam can help take
away some of the ignorance, suspicion and fear that can act as a barrier
to communication and conversation. As we explore some of the basic
elements of the Muslim faith we see those aspects of theology and
tradition that we have in common, as well as those where we differ.
We may also come to understand and appreciate our own Catholic Christian
faith in a new way and discover possibilities for interfaith encounter.
The remaining four sessions of the course will look at "The Qur'an"
(29th September), "Islamic Belief and Practice" (6th October),
"Evangelism or Dialogue?" (20th October), and "Extremism: Reasons to be
Fearful?" (27th October).
On Tuesday
23rd September Mark's mother arrived for a brief visit, along with Herman
Van Holsbeek. After an evening meal Mark left with them for
Princethorpe where they will be using the guest cottage as their base for
the coming days.
On Wednesday
24th September Ton and Carl were delighted to join the Mercy Sisters in
Handsworth and many of their friends, Lay Associates and other Religious
from the area to celebrate "Mercy Day" their Congregational Feast Day.
As you might
imagine, things have been a bit quieter over the last month as schools have
broken up and summer holiday time has begun. We just wish the weather
realised it was summer time too! It seems to have done nothing but
rain since we last updated this page.
Towards the
end of July Carl took a week and a half to visit his parents in Devon and
celebrate his mother's 70th birthday. As he returned Mark was leaving
for his own holidays in Belgium. Mark returns on 18th August while Ton
and Carl will be travelling that day to the European MSC Assembly in
Issoudun after which Ton will take his holidays in The Netherlands. So
as you can see, we have been passing like ships in the night for the last
few weeks!
 Before we
parted company with one another we hosted the Senior Citizens of the parish
to a barbecue lunch in our garden on July 22nd. We decided that after
all of the effort at gardening it was about time we shared the space with
others. It also gave us an excuse to buy a barbecue! The regular
Tuesday lunch club is held in Sacred Heart Primary School and so does not
meet during the school holidays. Some weeks ago we had suggested that
it might be nice to meet up during the summer at our house to break up the
six-week gap. The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic and so some
20 parishioners came to us at the usual gathering time of midday and stayed
well into the afternoon enjoying the food and one another's company.
It seems like we have set something of a precedent since Fr Peter (the
Parish Priest) made a similar invitation a couple of weeks later and we all
gathered again in the Church Crypt on 12th August for lunch. The
original plan to have another barbecue had to be cancelled because of the
rain!
On the
weekends that we have been here we have continued to help out with local
supply work in Maryvale, Wednesbury, Haunton, Nechells, the Cathedral and
Perry Barr. Ton has also twice been up to Liverpool to supply in the
MSC parish in Stockbridge Village.
Since
returning from his holidays Carl has been assigned to another asylum seeker
by Restore's befriending service.
The young man is a Kurd from Iran and Carl has met him twice in the last
week. He lives quite close to us in Government-rented housing and is
keen for help with learning English.
On August 18th
Carl and Ton will travel to Issoudun for the MSC European Assembly.
The theme this year is on Migrants and Refugees in Western Europe. It
will be interesting to share our own experiences from here in Birmingham and
listen to the experience of other MSC across Europe. While in Issoudun
we will also present a review of our first year in Aston. We'll tell
you all about it when we return.
The fact that
so much time has elapsed since we last updated this page is indicative of at
least two things - that we have all been very busy over the last couple of
months, and that the webmaster has been slacking in his duties (apologies!!)
 During this
time there have been lots of comings and goings. We have been
delighted to receive visits from Diarmuid O'Murchu MSC, Pat Courtney MSC
(Irish Provincial), Rita Cleuren, Mimi Van Poppel and Sue Kimberley (Lay MSC
from Belgium, The Netherlands and England respectively) and several of
Carl's friends. Ton has attended a Congregational Finance Advisory
Board meeting in Slovakia, Mark gave a weekend retreat in the Princethorpe
Retreat Centre, Carl has been in Dublin for a meeting of the Provincial
Council and in Scotland visiting friends who have recently given birth to
their first baby, and Mark and Carl have both been in Croatia for the
ordination and First Mass of Marko Stipetic MSC, a longstanding friend.
While Carl and Mark were in Croatia Ton attended the ordination to the
Diaconate of Alan Neville MSC in St Albans. Many congratulations,
Alan.
Back at home
in Aston our patient immersion into the life of the neighbourhood has
continued well with all our usual weekly activities. Mark's work in
Tesco's has brought a new dimension to our reflecting on life in Aston, as
well as some necessary adjustments to our weekly community routine.
Most of Mark's colleagues live in the Aston area, and of course the store
serves principally Aston residents. Time will tell how valuable the
job is in terms of making contacts and building relationships, but so far it
has been a very positive experience.
 We continue to
engage in ecumenical activity, principally through Aston Churches Together,
their monthly ministers' lunch meeting and our friendship with the Anglican
Lee Abbey Community. Since we last updated this page there have been
two further Hope 08 weekends in different parts of the neighbourhood, giving
service to the local residents on the Saturday by way of litter picking,
clearing gardens, painting and tidying, and by offering a family fun day on
the Sunday with games and activities for children, free hot food and an
opportunity to share our faith through multimedia presentations and
conversations. Towards the end of May Carl and Mark attended the
farewell celebrations for the local Baptist minister who has retired to
Rugby. The Baptist Church is now awaiting the appointment of a new
pastor. In the middle of June we invited the three Anglican ministers
to supper and had a really enjoyable evening sharing our experiences of
living in Aston and our varied approaches to ministry.
Carl and Ton
have continued to attend meetings of the Adult Learning Network and are
looking forward to the establishment of an Adult English Language learning
project in the autumn. Carl has been invited to sit on the
consultative committee of Aston Hall and Park which is currently undergoing
a major multi-million pound renovation with the foreseen provision of
multiple community outreach initiatives. Without making any definitive
commitment he has agreed to attend the next meeting in August. Ton has
attended further meetings of the Aston Faith Leaders forum and has made good
contacts with a couple of people from two local mosques. We are hoping
that some visits and meetings can be arranged soon. Mark has continued
to attend the local youth group, "Voice of Aston" which serves predominantly
Pakistani boys. Carl and Mark hope to be able to prepare a short
programme on Christianity for the group in the Autumn.
At the end of
May we celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart with fellow MSCs from
Tamworth and Princethorpe who joined us for our first MSC Feast Day meal
here in Aston. On the Sunday of that weekend we joined the parish as
it celebrated 75 years since the consecration of the church. Bishop
Philip Pargeter (Auxiliary Bishop in Birmingham and the bishop who ordained
Carl) celebrated the mass which was followed by lunch in the Presbytery
garden for all the congregation. Over the preceding weeks we had
joined with other parishioners in tidying the Church gardens in preparation
for the celebrations and in clearing out the disused crypt which has now
been redecorated and made into an attractive church meeting room. A
couple of weeks later the Church was opened to the public for the first time
in many years for the Aston Heritage Day and welcomed more then 130
visitors, the second most visited building in Aston after Aston Library.
Read Ton's comments on the day in his latest
Blog entry.
We have
continued our six-weekly meetings with Sr Breda, reflecting on our
experience in Aston and deepening our social analysis and theological
reflection. We will be having a full day of planning with Breda
towards the end of September when we hope to make more concrete commitments
to various engagements in Aston. In mid June we also had another day
reflecting and sharing with Ray Collier, a Columban priest engaged in a
similar sort of ministry of presence in another part of the city.
Most of our
weekends have been filled with local supply work and we have several
commitments throughout the summer months providing cover for local priests
who will be away on holiday. A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed a lovely
dinner at Michael White's (Parish Priest of Kingstanding, Birmingham).
We look forward to sharing in Michael's celebrations of his Silver Jubilee
of ordination on Wednesday of this week.
 Last Friday we
celebrated Ton's 66th birthday with Rita and Mimi, visitors from Belgium and
The Netherlands who had come over for a day of reflection and sharing on Our
Lady of the Sacred Heart in Tamworth the following day. The day was
organised by the Spirituality of the Heart Commission, of which Ton is a
member, and was led by Sr Gerardine Doherty FDNSC, a member of the Cor Novum
Ongoing Formation team in Issoudun, France (the MSC place of foundation).
The following day was the Aston Pride Family Festival at Villa Park and Carl
and Ton were on duty at the Aston Churches Together tent. Meanwhile
Mark has been away all weekend in London at the Bright Lights Catholic Youth
Festival where he was leading a workshop on our experience of a ministry of
presence in Birmingham. Today he has been at a vocations workshop in a
Catholic Secondary school in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
In the bits of
spare time that we have had, we have also been working hard on our back
garden and it is starting to take shape - beginning to look more than a mere
rectangle of grass! We have even bought a garden table and chairs in
the hope that the summer might eventually arrive and banish the rain!
Who knows, we might even stretch to buying a barbecue!
So much has
happened since we last updated this news page, but much of it the ordinary,
everyday activity of deepening our presence here in Aston: building on
established relationships, attending local events and meetings and seizing
upon any chance to make new contacts.
We continue
with our weekly visits to the Senior Citizens lunch club, Mark and Carl's
participation in the Voice of Aston Youth Club, Ton's visiting of local
victims of crime, Carl's support of a couple of local refugees, Mark's job
in Tesco and his fortnightly Irish Set dancing, and our collective
involvement in the local parish and Aston Churches Together.
We continue to
meet every Friday as a community and approximately every six weeks with Sr
Breda Noonan who has been helping us reflect on our experiences and shape
our strategy. The work we have been doing on a social analysis of
Aston has been very helpful and revealing. We have also enjoyed
meeting with Ray Collier, a Columban priest, who has recently moved from
London to Birmingham and is committed to a similar sort of ministry as our
own. We plan to have regular meetings with Ray for sharing and
theological/pastoral reflection.
We have
continued to do some work on the house and have just begun trying to sort
out the back garden by weeding and feeding the grass and creosoting the
fence! Now that the weather has improved there is a real incentive to
begin making the garden more attractive.
The following
are some of the other more interesting things that have happened over the
last few weeks:
-
At the end
of March we celebrated our first Easter here. The ceremonies in
the parish were lovely and, despite a very small congregation, there was
a great sense of community. We were grateful to Fr Peter for
inviting us to concelebrate each of the liturgies. We have
particularly appreciated our ecumenical contacts since we moved to Aston
and so one of the highlights of Easter for us was a Good Friday Walk of
Witness around the streets of Aston, organised by Aston Churches
Together. More than 100 people from the different Christian
traditions participated as we carried a large cross and stopped outside
several of the Churches for a scripture reading, a hymn and prayers.
It was particularly gratifying to see a good number of the Catholic
community join the walk - many of whom were doing so for the first time.
-
Mark had
been due to go to Belgium immediately after Easter to attend the MSC
Belgian Provincial Chapter, but because of his training shifts at Tesco
this had to be cancelled. At the Chapter, the incumbent Provincial
Superior, Fr André Claessens, was re-elected
for a further three years. Many congratulations André.
-
Mark's
training at Tesco has been continuing. He has been travelling to
nearby stores at Quinton and Edgbaston over the last number of weeks.
The Aston store, which was due to open at the end of April, was delayed
because of problems with access road works. The opening date is
now set for next Monday (12 May). More news in our next entry...!
-
During the
first week of April Carl was present at the Irish MSC Provincial
Conference in Waterford, Ireland. The purpose of the Conference
was to review progress on the mandate of the last Provincial Chapter and
plan ahead for the coming three years. It was a very good
Conference which has set in motion a 12 month process of evaluation,
prioritisation and planning of MSC ministries in the Irish Province.
-
While Carl
was in Waterford Mark and Ton were able to avail of cheap Aston Villa
tickets (made available to Aston residents) and enjoyed a fantastic 4-0
win over Bolton. Needless to say we are all now ardent Villa fans!
-
Once Carl
had returned we enjoyed entertaining the Tamworth MSC community to
supper and the following weekend were delighted to welcome the Irish
Deputy Provincial, Fr Joe McGee, to stay with us for a few days.
-
A few days
later Carl went home to his parents in Devon for the weekend to
belatedly celebrate his father's 75th birthday which he had missed while
in Waterford.
-
That same
weekend Ton travelled to Stafford to lead an eight day retreat to the
community of Sisters of St Jospeh of Cluny on the theme, "A spirituality
of ageing". By all accounts it was a really good week and Ton very
much appreciated the hospitality of the sisters.
-
Since
Christmas we have continued to provide Sunday supply for Monsignor Tom
Fallon, the Parish Priest of Fr Francis, Handsworth, who is still
recuperating from a second hip replacement. We have also helped
out at some of the other local parishes from time to time.
-
Towards
the end of April Mark made a swift visit to Tony Nolan MSC who lives and
works in Cardiff and enjoyed a couple of days walking the hills and
valleys with Tony.
-
On April
26th Carl and Mark attended the Spring Day for Religious in the
Birmingham Archdiocese which was led by Professor Gerald O'Collins S.J.
on his latest book, "Jesus a Portrait". The afternoon was given
over to a presentation and discussion on the issue of human trafficking.
On the same day Ton attended an event in Birmingham Anglican cathedral
organised by Restore, celebrating the many diverse languages and
cultures brought to the UK by asylum seekers and refugees.
-
A couple
of days later Ton travelled to Waterford, Ireland, where he facilitated
the MSC Irish Spring Assembly. There was a very good gathering and
the couple of days were given over largely to faith sharing.
-
Over the
last couple of weeks Carl has attended another meeting of the Aston
Pride Adult Leaning Network which is focusing, among other things, on
English Language learning provision in Aston. It is hoped to
launch a new project in the coming year, drawing on the help of
accredited volunteers. Ton also attended a meeting of Aston Faith
Leaders, organised by Aston Pride Community Health Team. You can
read his reflections on the event in his latest
Blog entry.
-
At the
beginning of May Mark made a brief visit home to Belgium to celebrate
his mother's birthday and his nephew's confirmation. Five days
later he returned exhausted from all the visiting - he now needs a
holiday to get over his holiday!!
-
This Bank
Holiday weekend (3-5 May) was the first of the Hope '08 weekends that we
wrote about on January 13th (see below). On the Saturday about 50
people from across the different Christian Churches in Aston gathered
for a half day's service to the local "Manor Park" community in Aston.
Some picked litter, some tidied gardens, while we joined a group that
cleared rubbish and cleaned the landings and stairwells of four blocks
of maisonettes. As we finished each block another team followed us
with "goodie bags" for each resident and an invitation to an open-air
worship and fun-day on the bank Holiday Monday in the local primary
school. Unfortunately we were unable to attend the Monday event,
but apparently some 840 local people gathered throughout the day.
The next Hope '08 weekend will be on the 7th and 8th June.
-
On Bank
Holiday Monday we were delighted to welcome a good friend of our
community, Hilary Clay. Ton has known Hilary since his days as the
MSC Dutch Provincial. Hilary, who lives in Cambridge, has been a
long supporter of the MSCs and has recently published a beautiful book,
"A
Gift of Friendship" recounting the story of her 50 year spiritual
friendship with Fr Ton Van Santvoord MSC, who was a missionary in the
Philippines before himself becoming the Dutch Provincial (predecessor to
Ton Zwart). It was great to have Hilary with us for 24 hours, to
show her Aston and our house, and tell her all about our progress since
moving to Aston. She continues to enthuse and encourage us in our
mission and for that we are most grateful!
A whole month
has gone by since we last updated this page - so apologies to all who have
been waiting for news! One of the reasons for the delay is that Carl
has been away quite a bit recently with a series of commitments which all
seem to have come together. He has been in Ireland on four occasions
in the last month for Provincial Council meetings and meetings of the
preparatory commission of the forthcoming Provincial Conference. He
was also in Issoudun for a week (18-23 February) at the meeting of the
Conference of European Provincials. At that meeting he gave a report
on the progress of our project and was greatly encouraged by the enthusiasm,
interest and warm wishes of all the eight European Provincials.
Not to be
outdone, Ton has also been away for the last two weeks - attending the Dutch
Provincial Chapter and taking some holiday with his family. At the
Dutch Chapter Fr Ben Verberne was re-elected Provincial for a further three
years. Congratulations Ben! All four of us also attended the
Spring Assembly of the MSCs working in England and Wales, which was held in
Swanwick, Derbyshire from 27-29 February. It was a lovely gathering
for a couple of days of prayer, conversation and catching up. Next
year we will move this meeting to Belmont Abbey in Herefordshire.
From 29
February to 2 March Mark assisted in an MSC Vocations weekend held in
Princethorpe Retreat Centre. Together with Dave Nixon MSC and John
Fitzgerald MSC (Vocations Directors) Mark spent the weekend in the company
of a couple of prospective candidates. Carl and Ton joined the group
for supper on the Saturday.
The big news
of the last couple of weeks is that Mark has got a job! Before
Christmas we were aware that the supermarket chain, Tesco, was building a
new store right in the centre of Aston. Two years ago when we were at
the Spirituality Seminar in Tilburg we had decided that at least one of us
would get a part-time job that would both bring in some additional income
and also provide another means of getting to know local people. When
the Tesco opportunity came along we all agreed that it could be a really
good local job to have. After several rounds of interviews, Mark was
finally offered 12 hours a week and is currently training at another Tesco
store in Birmingham while they complete the construction of the Aston store.
The opening date has been set for the end of April. We'll keep you up
to date on his progress!!
In what other
time has been available over the last few weeks we have continued our usual
activities in Aston.
-
Attending
the weekly Senior Citizen's lunch club where, much to our embarrassment,
we seem to be walking away with most of the Bingo prizes over the last
few weeks!
-
Up until
his trip to Holland, Ton had also been attending the twice weekly
Computer Club for Senior Citizens also held in Sacred Heart School.
-
Carl has
been matched with a family of four who are seeking Asylum from the
former Soviet state of Georgia and has begun the befriending
relationship with them.
-
Ton has
continued his visiting work with Victim Support.
-
Mark has
been attending the Voice of Aston Youth Group which is run locally for
12-20 year old Pakistani boys. It is anticipated that in the
coming weeks we will help them with a project exploring the Christian
faith.
-
Mark (and
now even Carl) has continued attended the local Irish Set Dancing class
every other Tuesday in St Francis, Handsworth. Many of the people
who go are from Aston and are also in the Senior Citizen's lunch club.
-
We have
continued doing supply in St Francis, Handsworth over the last month
while Monsignor Fallon continues to recuperate from his hip replacement.
-
Mark gave
a half day of recollection to the community of Mercy sisters in
Handsworth.
-
Mark and
Carl attended a meeting of the Birmingham Interfaith Practitioners
Network which meets twice a year and will undoubtedly be a valuable
forum for sharing and exploring issues around interfaith work.
-
Mark went
with the Steel Band from Sacred Heart School to a schools music concert
at Sutton Coldfield.
As we begin
this Holy Week we are looking forward to celebrating these central events of
our faith with the local Parish and School community. On Good Friday
we will be joining with Christians from the other Churches in Aston for
their annual Good Friday Walk of Witness.
We wish you
all a very Happy Easter.
The couple of
weeks since we last updated this page seem to have flown by really quickly -
a good sign, no doubt!
These weeks
have been pleasantly peppered with some most welcome visits from fellow
MSCs. Frs Tom Hewitt, Dave Nixon, Michael O'Connell and Con O'Connell
have all been to spend a few hours or a few days with us since the beginning
of February. We also managed, at long last, to arrange for the first
of Carl's friends to come for supper. Last evening (Saturday 16th
February) we were delighted to be able to travel to our neighbouring MSC
community in Tamworth to attend Bro Donie Hallissey's 40th Jubilee
celebrations of vowed Religious Life in the Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart. It was a lovely evening and we extend our heartfelt
congratulations to Donie.
On the
home-making front, you will be pleased to hear that we now have curtains and
blinds on all of our windows!!
Carl was away
from the community for four days last week when he travelled to Cork in
Ireland for a Provincial Council meeting. He goes away again tomorrow
for the European Provincials' Conference which is being held in Issoudun,
France from Monday to Saturday of the coming week. Carl is the
permanent secretary of that Conference. While there he will give a
report on the progress of our project over the last four months since we
moved into Aston.
Apart from
these many and varied distractions, we have been continuing our immersion
and exploration of the Aston neighbourhood. Most days are taken with
street-walking and casual conversations and chance encounters. This
exercise is of tremendous importance, even if at times it is hard to see the
benefits and it requires great patience. Our weekly review meetings on
a Friday morning, together with our facilitated review and planning meetings
with Sr Breda, help us to make the connections and piece together the many
elements of the jigsaw we are building up of information and relationships
in the neighbourhood. When Carl returns from Issoudun we will begin a Social
Analysis of the neighbourhood.
Some of the
more interesting things that have been part of the last fortnight...
-
We
attended our second meeting of the Christian ministers of Aston Churches
Together and continue to build links with some of the other churches.
-
We met with Carver Anderson, Pastor and a leader with
Young Disciples,
a project based in neighbouring Lozells. It is aimed at engaging
with young people caught up in gang culture. Carver is the co-author of
a resource pack called “Bringing
Hope”. It was a useful meeting to explore the nature of gang
culture in this part of town.
-
On 7th
February we had another half-day facilitated review and planning session
with Sr Breda.
-
We have
finally completed all the paperwork to begin our befreinding work with
Restore and are now awaiting our Police Check clearances. Carl
will be introduced to a family of refugees in the next week or so and
begin a befriending relationship with them.
-
While Carl
was in Cork, Mark and Ton attended an evening hosted by Restore to
explore various challenges and opportunities in the befriending
relationship.
-
Mark and
Ton also attended the February Denary meeting of local clergy.
-
We watched a DVD that Ton had received from
CFA in the Philippines (the MSC
originated Communications Foundation for Asia): “Dear Peace, a story of
how Christian and Muslim teenagers can make a difference together.” It
offered possibilities that may be useful if we can get involved in some
youth ministry locally.
-
Mark has visited an African Bar/Restaurant near our house
on two occasions. It is a popular gathering place for local
migrants, principally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He has also attended the Sunday Eucharist of the West Indian Chaplaincy
which is based in Aston.
-
Mark
joined some of the members of our local Senior Citizens group at a
fund-raising Irish dance evening at the Cathedral. It was a great
chance to meet more people from the Aston and city centre
neighbourhoods.
-
On the 2nd
of February we attended the day for Religious at the Cathedral where the
new auxiliary bishop of Birmingham, William Kenney CP, spoke in the
morning on Identity and Prophecy in Religious Life. Before lunch
the Archbishop led Eucharist on the feat of the Presentation and we
celebrated the Golden Jubilee of eight female religious. These
gatherings of Religious are always great occasions for networking and
information sharing as much as social and spiritual occasions.
-
We are continuing to help with parish supply in some
neighbouring parishes, especially St Francis, Handsworth where Mgr. Tom
Fallon has been sick, and also in Moor Street (city centre) and here in
Aston.
First of all,
apologies to those who have had trouble accessing our website over the last
couple of weeks. We had a problem with the host server for about a
week, during which time the site was not accessible using the
www.msceurope.co.uk address.
We were swiftly able to restore connectedness using the
www.cordate.org address, but realised
that many were unaware that this address also exists. Please take note
that both addresses will get you to this site. Everything seems to be
back to normal now.
The last two
weeks have been varied and interesting as we have continued to make contacts
locally and try and find out more and more about the life, culture and needs
of Aston. In addition to our regular walking of the streets and many
casual, spontaneous conversations, these are some of the things we have been
doing...
-
We met
with Basharat Najib (Bash) the Project Co-ordinator of
Voice of Aston, a
community project for local youth (mainly Pakistani). Bash is also
the creator/director of a film about Aston that was made in 2006 and is
still available to watch in sections on the
BBC Website. Bash was most helpful in sharing openly with us
the joys and challenges experienced by Pakistani youth in the
neighbourhood and some of the particular projects being spearheaded by
Voice of Aston (youth club, exploring other faiths, homework club,
mentoring, mediation work). At the moment their youth centre
premises are being refurbished with grant money from Aston Pride, but
once they are re-opened in February we have promised to go along and
meet the team and explore some possible future links and a visit to
Sacred Heart Church. The following week Bash took us on a walking
tour of Aston to talk a bit about the neighbourhood he grew up in, to
explain how things have changed and to introduce us to some of the local
shopkeepers and businessmen. We also visited Voice of Aston youth
centre. It was a really helpful afternoon and we are deeply
grateful to Bash for his time and generosity.
-
Carl and
Ton attended the inaugural meeting of the Aston Adult Learning Network,
a network initiated by Aston Pride to bring together statutory and
voluntary sector providers of adult education in the Aston area.
The focus of Aston Pride's education theme for the coming year is
English language learning - something that we are keen to get involved
with locally. The network will meet every six weeks and hopes to
plan and co-ordinate some new projects along with Aston Pride. We
feel there is scope for us to help with English language learning either
in one-to-one support or in facilitating conversation groups. We
will we see what possibilities open up over the coming weeks.
-
Carl met
with Lisa Fahy, the headteacher of Sacred Heart Primary School, to
explore possible links with the school, especially in terms of
supporting vulnerable families and newly arrived migrants. There
are various possibilities which we hope to develop over the coming
months.
-
Following
the break-in and burglary of Fr Peter Jones (our Parish Priest) before
Christmas, Ton has been involved with Peter in reflecting on the needs
of vulnerable people in the neighbourhood and has met recently with
volunteers from Victim Support. Ton has offered his services and
will be contacted if Victim Support become aware of people in Aston in
need of visiting. Ton has also begun visiting some local people
suggested to him by Fr Peter.
-
We
continue to attend the Tuesday Senior Citizens lunch club based in the
West Indian Chaplaincy next to Sacred Heart Primary School. It has
been a great way to get to know some of the older generation of Aston
residents, many of whom have lived here for 40, or 50 years or more.
The seniors are great fun and have already taught us much about the
neighbourhood and how it has changed during their lifetime.
-
Mark has
continued attending the Irish Dancing club every second Tuesday (he now
tells us he needs new dancing shoes!!), and is also going to start
playing football on Thursday evenings with local young adults on the new
Astro-Turf pitches opposite Aston Villa's football stadium (he also
needs new sports clothes - this is getting costly!!). Maybe we
should tip off the Aston Villa scouts and tell them to go along and take
a look. A professional football career could beckon!!
-
Last
Sunday we hosted the
Lee Abbey
Community for dinner and had a tremendous evening getting to know
one another better and sharing our respective visions for our presence
in Aston. This lay community, which has been present in Aston in
one form or another since the late 1980's, has just welcomed a new
member, Andy. We hope to be of mutual support to each other and
act as critical friends to one another in trying to discern our place
and ministry in Aston.
-
Over the
last three weeks we have been continuing to help with Sunday parish
supply in some neighbouring parishes, especially St Francis, Handsworth,
where Monsignor Tom Fallon has been in hospital to have his hip replaced
again after suffering months of infection following the original
replacement surgery. We wish him a speedy recovery.
-
We
continue to wait for the referencing and Criminal Records Bureau police
checks to be completed in preparation for commencing work with
Restore as Befrienders of those
going through the Asylum system.
Alongside all
of these "highlights" there have been the more simple, day to day contacts
with neighbours and shopkeepers. Our daily rhythm of coming together
for morning Eucharist, breakfast, lunch, supper and evening prayer gives a
structure to our days and allows us the space to share our experiences and
reflections. Every Friday morning we come together for a more formal
review of the week and continue the on-going process of reflection,
evaluation and planning. Next week we will be meeting again with Sr
Breda Noonan who is accompanying our immersion here in Aston.
We have also
continued to try and do a bit more work on the house, including purchasing
and fitting some lighting and ordering blinds and curtains which should be
delivered in the next few weeks. Gradually the place is taking on its
own personal and homely character. The next big project will be the
garden once the spring weather arrives!
We are always
delighted to receive visitors and were especially pleased to welcome Frs
Henry Twohig MSC (chaplain to the De La Salle Brothers in Liss, Hampshire)
and Teddy O'Brien MSC (parish Priest in Wappenbury/Princethorpe,
Warwickshire) who both joined us for lunch this last Monday. While
Teddy has been over here before, it was Henry's first visit. Now that
he has discovered a old friend who is resident in one of the nearby Mercy
Convents we expect him to be back again before long! You are always
welcome, Henry.
Barring any
further problems with the web server, we hope to be able to update you with
more news in another one or two weeks.
Happy New
year!!
We had a
lovely first Christmas in Aston (and thank you to all who sent us cards and
greetings). On the morning of Christmas Eve we had invited some of our
Bangladeshi neighbours round for coffee which was a great opportunity to get
to know one another a bit better. In the afternoon we attended the
Anglican Christmas Service in Aston Parish Church (Ss Peter and Paul) before
concelebrating the Vigil Mass with Fr Peter Jones (Parish Priest of Sacred
Heart, Aston). The Vigil Mass was early at 7.30pm so afterwards Fr
Peter joined us for a late supper expertly prepared by Mark.
The following
morning we returned to Sacred Heart to concelebrate the Christmas Morning
Mass. In the afternoon we travelled to Princethorpe to join with other
MSCs from across the Midlands and Wales region for a fantastic Christmas
Dinner prepared by Teddy O'Brien MSC in his presbytery in the village of
Wappenbury (close to Princethorpe). In all there were 9 MSCs present
and it was a great evening of celebrating and enjoying one another's
company.
The following
day Carl drove down to Devon to spend a few days with his family and Mark
and Ton returned to Aston. Mark travelled to Belgium on the 28th
December and Ton kept the home fire burning while keeping himself busy with
supply for some of the local priests who were also on holidays.
Carl returned
on the 30th December and the following day we were delighted to welcome Fr
Mark McDonald MSC, the Superior General of the Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart. Mark is usually resident in Rome, but having spent a few days
after Christmas with his sister who lives in Northampton, England, he took
the opportunity to come and stay with us before his flight to Rio de Janeiro
where he would be attending the MSC Assembly of the Pro-Province of Rio in
Brazil.
The last time
Mark visited us was in February last year long before we had moved into
Aston, so he was keen to find out how we are settling in and see something
of the neighbourhood.
After Mark's
departure we were surprised with a much welcome visit from Fr Tony Horgan
MSC who was visiting his sister in Birmingham. Tony came and had
supper with us on the 2nd January which was a great opportunity to hear
about his plans as he prepares for a few years working in the MSC mission in
the Fiji islands. He was also very keen to hear how we are settling in
and what progress we are making in establishing our presence in Aston.
In the latter
part of that first week of the year Carl had some friends to visit and
accompanied one of them to Villa Park to see Aston Villa lose to Manchester
United in the Third Round of the FA Cup! The last game he saw was also
against Manchester United and they lost then too! Maybe he should stop
going when Villa play Man U!!
Mark returned
from Belgium on the 7th January and since then we have been back into a more
normal schedule. This week we have continued with our efforts to try
and meet local people and attend local events. Some of what we
have been up to...
-
Continuing
to walk the streets and be publicly present in the neighbourhood.
-
Meeting
with more neighbours and finding out about the origins of the local
Bangladeshi community and their faith and culture here in Birmingham.
-
Carl met
with the Education theme leaders in
Aston Pride with a view to he and Ton volunteering with a
forthcoming English Language learning project.
-
All three
of us attended the ministers' meeting of Aston Churches Together.
-
Met with a
couple of the local police officers.
-
Begun the
registration and police-check process with
Restore so that we might
commence befriending asylum seekers in the Aston area.
-
Attended
an ecumenical prayer event at Mount
Zion Aston Christian Centre to pray for the planning and preparation
for Hope 08 events across Aston
later in the year (follow the web link to find out more about Hope 08).
-
Welcomed
Fr Gerry McArdle, Parish Priest from the neighbouring parish of Nechells
to join us for lunch on Saturday.
-
Carl and
Ton Joined the local parish community for mass on the feast of the
Baptism of the Lord on Sunday while Mark did supply for Fr Michael White
in Kingstanding, another neighbourhood of Birmingham.
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