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Archived News from 2010
For current news from 2011 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 2010. Events are listed in reverse order.
 It
has been another busy month since we last updated this page. In the
meantime Ton has added another Blog article about English Language learning
- do check it out. This will be our final update before Christmas and
the New Year. As we look back over the last twelve months we are
grateful for so many opportunities and possibilities that have come our way
through our deepening presence in the Aston neighbourhood. There have
also been some frustrations and set-backs, things that haven't worked out as
we might have wished, plans that haven't (yet!) come to fruition, but all of
these only continue to remind us of the need for patience and a committed
long view in continuing our mission of believing, befriending and
bridge-building here in Aston. May we take this opportunity to thank
you, all of our friends and supporters for your continued interest,
encouragement, challenge and prayers over the last year. May God who
chooses to be present to us in the intimacy of his Son, lead us more deeply
to be his heartfelt presence in our world through our living and loving.
Happy Christmas!
Local Residents Forum and Faith Leaders Forum
We have continued to have some meetings with a few
people from the neighbourhood with a view to resurrecting the local
Residents' Forum. One of the key persons involved is currently on
holiday with his family in Bangladesh so we are awaiting his return in mid
January before proceeding further. Ton is also still involved in a
small group trying to establish a regular Faith Leaders Forum. There
have been a few set-backs of late but it is hoped to get the ball rolling
again early in the New Year.
Inter-Faith walk
Recently a Christian youth worker was appointed to a
part-time post in the local secondary school where the majority of the 1,300
pupils are Muslim. On Wednesday 24th November as part of Inter-Faith Week we
were invited by the school to be involved in an interfaith walk for the some
of the pupils from each year group in the school. During the morning they
walked for about 5 miles in small groups visiting different churches,
mosques, temples and gudwaras. Ton and Mark walked with them while Carl
stayed at Sacred Heart Church in Aston with Fr Peter Jones (the Parish
Priest) to welcome the various groups as they come to visit the Catholic
Church. It was a very good event which concluded with a shared lunch back
at school and a review of the experience. Hopefully it will be the
first of other such activities in the future.
Drama Presentation of the Christmas Story in local Primary
Schools
 Once
again this year, Mark has been part of a group of people from local
Christian Churches who have written and presented a drama of the Christmas
story and presented it in each of about 10 local Primary Schools in Aston
during their morning collective Assembly. This has become a regular
feature of the Christmas activities of Aston Churches Together and is very
much welcomed by the local schools, many of whose pupils are from
non-Christian backgrounds.
Advent reflections on the Infancy Narratives in the Bible and
the Qu'ran
 You
may remember that a couple of years ago Ton led a series of introductory
talks on Islam in the parish to help our parishioners better understand the
faith of the majority of our neighbours. The series of talks concluded
with an optional visit to a local mosque. This Advent we decided to
follow up on those sessions by hosting a series of reflection evenings
giving an opportunity to look at the infancy narratives as presented in both
the Christian Gospels and in the Qu'ran. Once again, Ton led the sessions.
The numbers attending have not been huge (between 8-12 people), but for a
small parish of predominantly elderly persons in a very cold and snowy
winter it wasn't too bad! Those who did come thoroughly enjoyed the
evenings and found them to be very interesting and informative. The
first session was largely introductory and then the three following weeks
looked specifically at the persons of Zechariah, Mary and the baby Jesus.
The participants discovered that by exploring your own faith from an
unfamiliar perspective helps to revisit and appreciate your faith with fresh
eyes and sometimes even notice things never noticed before.
Neighbourhood Christmas Activities
As Christmas approaches we have been involved in various
different events in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity. Our
regular Senior Citizens Lunch Club held their Christmas lunch last Tuesday
and were treated to half an hour of beautiful carol singing by the Year Six
pupils of Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School before the children served
their lunch. Unfortunately we had the December meeting of the clergy
of the deanery later the same afternoon, with another Christmas meal
afterwards - two Christmas meals in one day!!! It had a ring of "The
Vicar of Dibley" about it for those of you who are familiar with the British
TV comedy show of that name! The previous week we attended the
Nativity Play in Sacred Heart School presented by the younger children of
the school - a really lovely occasion and so very well performed.
The following day Aston Parish Church (Anglican) hosted the Community Carol
Service for the children of the local schools. The brass band which
accompanied the carol singing was provided by the local Grammar School while
each of the other schools sang one or two of their own Christmas songs.
Mark had been invited to do a scripture reading in his capacity as Tesco
Community Champion, along with a local Police officer, a community youth
worker and the community outreach worker from Aston Villa Football Club.
In Tesco itself, Mark has invited some of the local Churches and Christian
schools to provide large displays for the Foyer area of the supermarket,
outlining what it is Christians are celebrating at Christmas time.
Others, including the children from our own Sacred Heart school, have
been present on various occasions to sing carols to the shoppers.
Refugee Work
We continue to support several refugees and their families.
Carl recently accompanied the single mother of one family to the first
parents evening of her second eldest son who has just started at a Grammar
School on the north side of Birmingham. He is doing really well and it
is so gratifying for her to see his success after the very difficult six
years the family have had after fleeing from their home country.
Within the last week she has been quite ill and was admitted to hospital for
four days during which time all three of us helped support the children at
home and visit her daily in hospital. A gentleman from Iraq that Mark
has been supporting for the last couple of years has recently moved house.
Mark helped him in the move and has given a lot of time over recent weekends
helping to paint and decorate the new apartment.
Fire Service Chaplaincy
Earlier on in the year we were informed at a meeting of Aston
Churches Together that West Midlands Fire Service had decided to appoint
Ecumenical Station Chaplains for each of its neighbourhood Fire Stations.
Since we live on the same street as the Fire Station and felt that the role
fitted well with our ministry of presence to the Aston neighbourhood, we
volunteered to take on this responsibility and decided among ourselves that
Carl would make himself available as chaplain. After several sessions
of training and induction since the summer, Carl will begin as ecumenical
chaplain to the Aston station in January. This last week he had a
meeting with the Station Commander to discuss the role. It is a
non-stipendiary position and will initially involve visiting the Station for
a couple of hours every Friday morning.
MSC Related Work
Over the last month or so there have been various MSC events
that have called on our time and attention. Carl was present in Dublin
at the end of November for the last Provincial Council meeting of the year
(and got snowed in for an extra couple of days because of the airport being
closed!). Ton has been working on some documentation in preparation
for next year's General Chapter in his role as chair of the Congregation's
Finance Advisory Board. Carl has been invited to be one of two
Moderators (chairpersons or facilitators) of the General Chapter which will
be held in Madrid next September. He has also been appointed to the
General Chapter Preparatory Commission. Closer to home we have
recently participated in two meetings of the MSC JPIC Group (Justice, Peace
and Integrity of Creation). The first, on November 27th in St Albans,
was a great day, facilitated by Diarmuid O'Murchu MSC for members of the MSC
Group together with members of the JPIC Groups from the parishes of St
Albans and Tamworth. This was the second such meeting and there was a
strong desire for this to become a permanent group and adopt an overarching
theme of homelessness for the coming year 2011. A week later just the
MSC group met by video conference (one group present in Dublin and one group
in Aston) to review our work over the last year and plan for the next.
It was decided to set up a Facebook page for the group which Mark is in the
process of doing. A couple of weeks ago Carl was addressing the
Journey in Faith group in the parish in Tamworth on the theme of The Holy
Trinity, and earlier this week both Carl and Mark were back in Tamworth to
help with their Advent reconciliation Service.
A busy
month of coming and going...
October saw
all three of us passing like ships in the night with various engagements
outside of Aston. As the month began Carl travelled to London for the
"Stag Weekend" of his oldest friend whom he would marry at the end of
October.
As soon as he
returned all three of us departed for the annual MSC Autumn Assembly which
was held in Swanwick in Derbyshire. It was an excellent gathering from
the Sunday evening to the Wednesday afternoon, a time principally of
preparation for our Provincial Chapter meeting which will take place next
May.
A couple of
days after returning from Swanwick, Mark attended a meeting of the Formation
Advisory Board of the Irish Province in St Albans and Carl took the train to
West Yorkshire to meet the Provincial and spend the weekend in the MSC
parish of Uppermill in Leeds Diocese. They had the sad task of
informing the parish that the MSCs would be withdrawing in the summer of
2012 and handing the parish back to the care of the Diocese after almost 60
years of presence and service. Uppermill is one of three parishes in
the UK that are being handed back to their respective Dioceses as a result
of the consultation and planning process that has been taking place in the
Irish Province over the last two years. The other two parishes are
Tamworth in Staffordshire (with whom we have had a close association as a
community over the past five years and where Carl ministered for six years)
and Stockbridge Village in Liverpool. Such disengagement is very sad
and painful for both the parishioners and MSCs who have served in each of
these wonderful communities. However, given the reality of our
shrinking and ageing resources, such steps are necessary so that we can
continue to respond to the mission entrusted to us according to our means.
From Uppermill
Carl flew directly to Dublin for the October meeting of the Provincial
Council. As he returned in mid October, Ton had already left for the
Netherlands where he attended the launch of a book he had been involved with
when he was Provincial of the Dutch Province and also took the opportunity
to visit family and fellow MSCs.
As Ton
returned Carl departed again, this time for the wedding of Adam and Sam in
the tiny Catholic Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Wells-next-the-Sea
on the north Norfolk coast. The same weekend Mark's mother and brother
arrived for a visit. They had booked the use of the MSC guest Cottage
at Princethorpe for a few days and used it as a base to visit Oxford and the
Cotswolds. They thoroughly enjoyed their visit and treated us to a
lovely Thai supper in our local Victorian pub on their last evening.
At the end of
the first week of November Ton departed again, this time for Rome where he
is currently attending a meeting of the Finance Advisory Board of the
General Administration. He is due to return to the UK tomorrow and
will call in to visit his old friend Hilary Clay in Cambridge for a couple
of days. Hilary is celebrating a very significant birthday and we wish
her many happy returns! Ton is due back in Aston on Monday of next
week.
... but the
usual activities continue in Aston
Back in Aston,
between our various absences, all of our usual commitments have continued.
Each week we spend quite a bit of our time visiting some of the migrants,
refugees and asylum seekers we are befriending and supporting. Mark
continues to work 18 hours a week in his role as Community Champion for
Tesco. This is proving to be not only fulfilling and satisfying for
Mark, but also very helpful in broadening our collective network of contacts
across Aston.
Heart of
Welcome Drop-In
Each week on a
Thursday we continue to open the Heart of Welcome drop-in centre. In
recent weeks our numbers have dropped a little, due largely to some of the
recent migrants we have been supporting having moved out of the Aston
neighborhood or having begun employment or training courses.
Nevertheless we are still teaching English to a small group of recent
migrants and over the last few weeks Mark has begun another small English
tuition group for a few of our Bangladeshi neighbours who still struggle
with their spoken English.
Resurrecting a Residents' Forum
You will
recall that last year our local Residents' Forum collapsed despite many
efforts to save it following the resignation of the committee. We have
continued to hope that the Forum might be re-established in our part of the
neighbourhood, especially since Aston Pride, the Government's 10-year
regeneration project, is due to come to an end next Spring. We
anticipate that local people will be left with no collective voice or forum
to discuss common concerns. As a result of Mark's role at Tesco he has
had regular dealings with another, more successful, residents' forum in
Aston. A couple of weeks ago we invited the chairman of that forum to
come to our hose for coffee along with a couple of other local residents,
one from the Asian community and one from the West Indian community.
After a very positive and encouraging discussion we have continued to have
further conversation about re-establishing the Forum some time early in the
New Year. We are hopeful of getting some new people involved from
across the various ethnic and religious groups in Aston.
Birmingham's Annual Intercultural Mass
One of the
highlights of the last month has been the celebration of the annual
intercultural mass on October 23rd at St Catherine of Sienna Church on the
Bristol Road in the city. This year Mark was the principal celebrant
and Ton preached the homily. The church was packed for a very lively
liturgy which incorporated music, song, dance and ritual from many cultures.
It was a wonderful celebration of the diversity of our Catholic community in
such a multicultural city. Migration may bring many challenges, but it
also brings fantastic opportunities to be nourished by one another's
expressions of faith and culture.
Other local
supply ministry
As usual, we
are always available for local clergy to help cover weekend masses in the
parishes of the deanery. Over the last month we have helped in the
Cathedral during the gap between the outgoing Cathedral Administrator
departing and the incoming Administrator arriving, and in our neighbouring
parish of Nechells. Ton also sent last weekend supplying for Teddy
O'Brien MSC in our MSC parish of Wappenbury which is attached to
Princethorpe.
Ton's Blog
Ton has added
two recent articles to his Blog. One is a reflection on the impact of
the recession on Aston with so many of our local buildings becoming
derelict. The other reflects on the changing cultural face of Aston as
it becomes less multicultural and more monocultural and the challenges this
presents to such areas of our inner cities.
Return to
normal!
After the
period of summer holidays we were all back together again in Aston by mid
August - and it has been a rather busy time since then! That is the
principal reason for the delay of some five weeks since our last entry on
this page. Apologies! Hopefully normal service will resume from
now on!! Apart from our regular work with asylum-seekers and refugees,
our weekly Thursday drop-in centre and quite a lot of supply work at
weekends in local parishes, the following are some of the highlights of the
last five weeks.
Evaluation
Week
 You
will recall that we were expecting to complete the evaluative process of our
first three years in Aston shortly after Easter. Unfortunately the
eruption of the Icelandic volcano and the resultant ash cloud that filled
the skies across northern Europe for over a week prevented our evaluators
from travelling. Having rearranged dates we were delighted to welcome
Fr Ben Verberne MSC (Dutch Provincial and Chair of the European Provincials'
Conference) and Fr Michael Huber MSC (member of the Provincial Council of
the South German-Austrian Province) to visit us for a full week on August
23rd. Fr Wahyudi MSC from the General Administration in Rome had
already visited us back in January. Ben and Michael were able to take
time to review with us the steps we have taken since our arrival in Aston as
well as to see the neighbourhood for themselves and meet with some people we
live among and work with. It was both an affirming and challenging
week; an opportunity to reflect on the journey we have made so far and to
look to the future in terms of the opportunities and challenges that this
wonderfully diverse neighbourhood affords. Ben and Michael were most
encouraging in their comments and in their recommendation to PEC (European
Provincials' Conference) that the project should continue. At the end
of their visit they compiled a report for the eight Provincials of Europe.
Those Provincials will consider the report at their next meeting in March
2011 where further decisions about the continuation of the Aston mission
will be made. We would like to thank Ben, Michael and Wahyudi for
taking the time to visit us this year and help us review and evaluate the
progress of the Cordate mission to date.
Senior
Citizens BBQ
 It
has become a custom now that during the summer holidays the members of the
Senior Citizens Lunch Club come to our house for a Barbecue. Because
the Lunch Club meets in the Catholic Primary School, there is a gap of six
weeks in the summer when it is not possible to meet. A gathering at
our house breaks that gap a bit and also provides a really lovely occasion
to meet in a different environment. This year we met on 31st August
and were blessed with a day of fine sunny weather. Twenty five members
came along, including some of the day centre users from the Special Needs
Day Care Centre in Solihull that we had visited earlier in the summer.
Mark was chef for the day and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the food and
company.
Carl
delivers in-service training on MSC Charism and Spirituality to school staff
 The
new academic year at our MSC-founded school, Princethorpe College in
Warwickshire, began on September 2nd with a day of formation for all staff
in MSC ethos and spirituality delivered by Carl. The idea was the
initiative of the new Headmaster, Mr Ed Hester, who after only a year at the
helm of the Warwickshire Catholic Independent Schools Foundation, has forged
strong links with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. For part of
the day the members of staff had to complete an "Ethos Quest" in teams
around the College grounds and buildings, finding clues to different
elements of the Foundation's rich history and ethos. After the Quest Carl,
who is a Trustee and Governor of the Foundation, and a past pupil of
Princethorpe, gave a presentation to over 150 staff on the founding
inspiration of Fr Jules Chevalier MSC, the missionary and spiritual
tradition of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the legacy left by the
Congregation to the Foundation. This is a legacy and ethos that continues
to be lived in creative fidelity across the Foundation today.
Ecumenical
developments in Aston
At the
beginning of September we had our first meeting of the new academic year of
Aston Churches Together. Sadly we have lost Fiona, one of the Curates
in Aston Parish Church (Anglican), who has been appointed vicar in a parish
in Bradford in the north of England. We wish her every blessing as she
takes up this new ministry. She was given a fine send-off in
recognition of her hard work in the parish and great energy in leading many
ecumenical projects over the last few years.
The Lee Abbey
Community (an Anglican lay community who live just around the corner from
us) held special celebrations to mark their refurbishment of the new
community house. We were delighted to attend a Eucharistic service led
by the Bishop of Birmingham followed by refreshments in the Lee Abbey House.
The Baptist
Church, which has been without a minister for over two years, is expecting a
new Pastor imminently so we are very much looking forward to meeting with
him.
Ton and Mark
continue their regular monthly night patrols of the streets of Aston and
Lozells with Street Pastors.
Justice,
peace and Integrity of Creation meetings
 On
Sunday 5th September the MSC JPIC Group (Justice, Peace and the Integrity of
Creation) hosted a full day of reflection in the MSC parish at Tamworth in
Staffordshire (England). The day was led by Fr Diarmuid O'Murchu MSC and
gathered seven MSC members of the JPIC group for Ireland and England
(including the three of ourselves) together with lay members of the Justice
and Peace groups in the Parishes of Tamworth and St Albans. The day
was an opportunity for members of all three groups to come together and find
support and encouragement from each other. It was an occasion to share
ideas, experiences and learnings. Another joint day has been planned
for 27th November in St Albans and it is hoped that there will be
representatives from other MSC parishes, ministries and communities present.
There is more information on the work of the MSC JPIC group on the MSC
JPIC Webpage,
including details of the latest campaign on Welcoming the Stranger.
On the
Wednesday after the Tamworth meeting, the MSC JPIC group held its own
regular meeting by Skype video conferencing, with one centre in Dublin and
the other here in Aston. This has proved to be a very successful of
gathering the group together without the cost, environmental impact and
inconvenience of travelling great distances on a regular basis.
MSC
Province meetings
In
mid-September Carl travelled to Dublin for four days for a Provincial
Council meeting. After the meeting he travelled to Liverpool to help
plan the forthcoming English MSC Assembly which will take place in Swanwick,
Derbyshire from 3rd to 6th October.
Visit of
Pope Benedict XVI to England
 The
Pope visited Scotland and England from 16th to 19th September. The
visit, which had attracted a lot of negative and anti-Catholic publicity
prior to the Pope's arrival, was met surprisingly sympathetically by the
British media once the visit got underway. After visits to Edinburgh,
Glasgow and London the four days culminated in an open-air Mass of
Beatification for Blessed John Henry Newman in Cofton Park on the south side
of Birmingham. Carl led the group of pilgrims from Sacred Heart parish
in Aston as the Parish Priest, Fr Peter Jones, who is director of music and
liturgy for the Diocese, was conducting the 2500-strong choir for the mass.
All of those who attended the mass were deeply moved by the experience and
are still talking about it!
Tesco
Community Fair
 While Carl and
Peter were at the beatification Mass, Ton stayed behind to celebrate the
Sunday parish Masses and Mark was fully occupied with the annual Tesco
community fair which was taking place the same day. The fair was a
tremendous success after a lot of hard planning work by Mark. Many of
the local organisations in Aston were represented along with various forms
of entertainment (face painting, football, bouncy castles, etc.) and free hot food for the whole community. The
attendance was considerably higher than in previous years.
Fire
service Chaplaincy in Aston
Earlier in the
year the issue of chaplaincy to the local Aston Fire Station was raised at
an Aston Churches Together meeting. West Midlands Fire Service have
recently agreed to appoint ecumenical chaplains to each of their stations
and the Churches Industrial Group Birmingham (the ecumenical body
responsible for work-place chaplaincies) has been asked to recruit potential
chaplains. Seeing as we live next door to the fire station in Aston we
offered to take on this responsibility and over the last few months Carl has
attended two training events. There will be one more training session
before Carl will be introduced to the Station Manager and hopefully commence
the chaplaincy ministry in October or November. This will entail a
visit to the station on a weekly basis.
European
Young MSC Meeting in Waterford, Ireland
 The annual meeting of the Young MSCs of Europe (those in
formation and those finally professed for 10 years or less) took place last
week in Waterford, Ireland (22nd-26th September). Mark was the
organiser on behalf of the Belgian Province. 10 young MSCs gathered
from across the European Provinces, including the four novices who recently
began their novitiate in Cork City (Michael O'Rourke, our English novice,
together with two Italians and one German). There was time for the
young MSCs to meet alone as well as benefit from some input on planning the
future of MSC mission from the Irish Provincial, Fr Pat Courtney MSC and a
session of reflection on Religious Life in a changing European context from
Fr Michael Screene MSC. Of course there was also some time for
relaxation, sight-seeing and enjoying the great hospitality of the Irish (we
assume that included a glass or two of Guinness!).
Faith
Leaders Forum
We have
written before about our desire to establish a permanent Faith-Leaders Forum
in Aston and how recently a Convenors Committee has been established to try
and plan for this. Ton is a member of that committee and met with the
group recently. He reported that they had a very good meeting and hope
to be able to prepare for a full meeting of faith leaders before too long.
Two-day
training in Community Organising
On 27th and
28th September Carl and Ton attended a two-day training in community
organising offered by Birmingham Citizens in conjunction with the Gamaliel
Foundation based in Chicago (www.gamaliel.org).
The lead trainer was Greg Galluzzo who recruited and trained Barak Obama to
community organising in Chicago before he went onto study law at Harvard
University, return to Chicago and ultimately run for President. The
training offered an excellent perspective on the philosophy and principles
of community organising and the core leadership skills required of community
organisers. There is a growing network of organisations affiliated
with Birmingham Citizens and in December there will be a city-wide annual
assembly which we hope to attend.
Summer
Holidays
For most of
the last six weeks one or more of us have been on our summer holidays. Ton
concluded his two weeks with his family, staying in the MSC cottage in
Princethorpe and using it as a base to tour around various parts of the
midlands of England, even including a day trip to Cardiff in Wales.
The weather was very kind to them and all five thoroughly enjoyed their time
together. Early in July Carl spent a weekend in Dundee, Scotland,
visiting friends. He returned a few days before Ton concluded his
holidays and Mark left for Belgium where he spent a fortnight with his
family. Finally, at the end of July Carl travelled to Devon in South
West England to spend two weeks with his parents. The weather was much
less kind but it was a nice relaxing couple of weeks which was concluded
with a couple of days catching up with some friends. Carl returned on
August 15th and since then all of us are back together again.
Visitors
When we last
wrote Michael O'Rourke was staying with us. Michael is in formation
with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and has just finished his academic
year studying theology at Heythrop College in London. He is currently
preparing to begin his Novitiate year in Cork on September 1st. While
he was with us he was engaged in full-time volunteer pastoral work at St
Chad's Sanctuary in Birmingham, a drop-in centre at the back of St Chad's
Catholic Cathedral which welcomes asylum seekers and refugees. Michael
thoroughly enjoyed his experience at St Chad's Sanctuary and we really
appreciated having him with us. We wish him every blessing for his
novitiate year which begins in just a couple of week's time. He will be
joined by two novices from the Italian Province and one Novice from the
South-German/Austrian Province.
During July we
welcomed a few people for supper with us. Carl's friends, Declan and
Geraldine McCauley joined is for a barbecue one evening early in July.
In mid July, on one of the few evenings that we were all together between
holiday travel, we welcomed Ed Hester, the new Headmaster of Princethorpe
College (the MSC-founded school in Warwickshire), and his wife Tracey.
We had a lovely evening of conversation and great food prepared by Mark.
Summer
supply work
Summer is the
time when all of the local clergy are trying to get away for a few weeks of
holiday and often struggling to get someone to cover their parish at
weekends. We are always happy to help our fellow local priests and we
have had a regular stream of supply commitments when we have not been away
ourselves.
Latest news
on our work with refugees and new migrants
An
asylum-seeker family from Ghana whom we have been accompanying recently got
indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Ton in particular has spent a
lot of time supporting them and, in particular, helping them to find new accommodation
nearer to where the children are currently attending school. We have
been able to help them secure a house and will be helping them move at the
beginning of September.
A gentleman
from the Ivory Coast has been trying for many weeks now to get work and
despite having the offer of a factory job in Coventry had had difficulty
providing the necessary certification of training courses he had previously
completed in Switzerland. We have been able to help him obtain the
necessary paperwork and are delighted that he is now able to take up the job
next week.
Our
longstanding friend from Iraq successfully moved into his new accommodation
early in July. Mark has spent a lot of time helping him sort out many
practical matters in his new flat.
The refugee
family from Sri Lanka that Carl in particular has been supporting for the
last 18 months have settled well into their new accommodation. The
second eldest son is due to start at a local Grammar School (secondary
school) in September. Mark took the mother to the passport office in
Peterborough last week to get a British Passport for the youngest son who
was born in the UK. On their way back they stopped for the children to
be able to play in the countryside for a few hours - a real treat for the
children who virtually never get out of the city.
A young man
from the Cameroun has also recently obtained new accommodation after
successfully getting a job in Tesco earlier in the year. He is hoping
to be able to start a college course in September.
Aston Faith
Leaders Forum
For the last
couple of years we have been regular attendees at a meeting of faith leaders
in Aston which has been called two or three times a year by the local Health
Centre. The initial purpose of the meetings was to provide a way for the
health service to get in touch with the more-difficult-to-access parts of
the community through their faith leaders. One of the positive
spin-offs of the meetings has been the articulated desire to form a more
permanent group that is completely autonomous. It is something we have
been actively encouraging and Ton and Carl in particular have been strong
advocates within the meetings for such an independent group. At the
last meeting in July a small "steering committee" was formed and Ton has
joined that group. They had their first meeting this week and have
begun to define their brief and look at how they can encourage more
representatives from the many faith groups in Aston to participate. We
really hope and pray that this will be a successful venture. Aston is
very much in need of an initiative which can build bridges between the faith
communities and begin to overcome fear, prejudice and fragmentation.
Community
day trip to Southport
Derek
Williams, a good friend of ours from the days when the local neighbourhood
forum was still active, organised a day trip to the coastal town of
Southport near Liverpool in August. Although Carl was still on
holiday, both Mark and Ton went along, together with several people who
regularly attend our weekly drop-in centre on Thursdays. The weather
was good on the day and although the tide was out and the sea not to be
seen(!!), everyone had a really good day together. Derek is now
planning another day trip to see the traditional coastal illuminations in
the north-western town of Blackpool in October.
Senior
Citizens' Lunch Club
 The
lunch club meets every Tuesday during term time in the West Indian
Chaplaincy building in Aston which is attached to Sacred Heart Primary
School. During the six weeks of the summer holidays when the lunch
club does not meet we have arranged over the last two years to invite
everyone to our house for a barbecue at some stage. We will be doing
so in two weeks time, just before the
new school year starts. Last week, however, we were delighted to have
been invited to go as a group for lunch at a day centre for adults with
special needs in nearby Sutton Coldfield. Five or six of the day
centre users have been attending our regular Tuesday lunch club for the last
six months or so. They were keen to be able to return the hospitality
and welcome us to their day centre. All of the seniors met at our
house last Tuesday morning and we borrowed the school minibus to take us all
over to Sutton where we were treated to a great afternoon of a wonderful
lunch, a game of bingo and good chat. Hopefully some of the special
needs adults will also join us for the barbecue at our house the week after
next.
Evaluation
of the Cordate Community
As you will be
aware, we were expecting two MSCs to visit us back in April to conclude the
evaluative process in which we have been participating since Christmas.
Because of the eruption of the Icelandic volcano and the resultant cloud of
ash, they were unable to travel then. We are now expecting them next
week, from 23rd to 28th August. Ben Verberne MSC is the Provincial of
the Dutch Province and the chair of the European Provincials' Conference,
and Michael Huber MSC is a member of the Provincial Leadership team of the
South German/Austrian Province. we very much look forward to welcoming
them and spending the week showing them around Aston and introducing them to
the various aspects of our mission here. We well let you know how the
visit goes in our next news bulletin.
Ongoing
work with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
Much of the
last period of time has been spent doing a lot of one-to-one support work
with some of the recent migrants, refugees and asylum seekers we
accompany. A man from Iraq whom Mark supports has recently received
Indefinite Leave to remain. Mark has spent many hours with him trying
to find housing and will be helping him move into his new accommodation
today. We are also delighted to report that a family from Ghana have
recently received Indefinite Leave to Remain. Another family from Sri
Lanka are hoping to hear something soon. A friend from the Ivory Coast
has been searching for work and we have been trying to help him with CV's,
application forms and interviews. We are hopeful that he may get work
soon.
Lobbying
for a more just treatment of asylum seekers
We continue to
work closely with Restore, the asylum-seeker befriending project run by
Birmingham Churches Together. Currently we are involved with them in
lobbying the UK Border Agency to relax restrictions placed on the minimal
financial support available to Asylum Seekers. The current policy
makes it impossible for them to obtain any cash since they must spend the
vouchers they receive in certain named stores only. They cannot
receive change from their purchases, nor can they any longer buy "gift
cards" which they can then sell for cash (we have regularly bought such gift
cards from asylum seekers in the past). Not having cash makes it
impossible to do simple things like travel on a bus. We continue to
oppose these unjust and unnecessarily restrictive conditions.
Heart of
Welcome Drop-In and English Classes
We continue to
open the Heart of Welcome drop-in centre in the Undercover of Sacred Heart
Church every Thursday. For the last couple of months Carl and Ton have
also been offering informal English classes, focussing on conversational
English. The numbers attending vary from week to week - sometime just
one or two people come along to the class, sometimes six or seven - but it
seems to be a very valuable and much appreciated assistance to those who
have not yet been able to register for formal English classes as well as
providing another opportunity to practice for those who do attend ESOL
classes. Each week we are joined by several parishioners who enjoy
meeting with our overseas friends and participating in the English
conversation group. The nature of a drop-in centre is to be
unpredictable. Sometime our regular visitors are called for interviews
and so cannot attend. We are always delighted to see new faces.
Hamara
Project and English Language Teaching
Ton continues
to help with English Language tuition in a local community centre on
Wednesday lunchtimes. Most of the students are Bangladeshi men with
very little English. Many of them are recent arrivals in the UK and
are working in Indian Restaurants. Through his connections with BEEAS
[Birmingham Ethnic Education & Advisory Service] Ton was also invited to act
as an advisor to a new project called Hamara, which
means 'ours' in the Urdu language, one of the languages of the Indian
subcontinent. It was an educational project which was user-led, and where
the learners themselves determined to a large extent the activities in which
they participated and how they learned their English in use. Ton has
written about the experience in the latest entry on his
Blog.
 Mark and
Ton formally commissioned at Street Pastors
Earlier this
year Mark and Ton completed their six month training as Street Pastors.
On June 13th there was a commissioning ceremony held at Mount Zion Christian
Centre in Aston where the new Street Pastors were formally appointed and
prayed for. Mark and Ton have both been out patrolling the streets of
Aston at night over the last few weeks and find the experience very
interesting and rewarding. A rota has been drawn up and they will be
out on the streets at least once a month.
Feast of
the Sacred Heart and First Holy Communions
The Feast of
the Sacred Heart was on June 11th. As a midlands MSC community we had
anticipated the feast by a week and assembled in Aston for a celebratory
meal on Sunday 6th June. Altogether we were 8 around the dining table,
with members from the Tamworth community, the Princethorpe community and
Tony Nolan from Cardiff. We were also delighted to welcome Tim
Brennan, the Australian Provincial, who was visiting us for a few days
following a conference he had attended in Glasgow. Sadly Ton was still
in Holland on holidays so missed this year's celebration. On the Feast
of the Sacred Heart itself we celebrated with the parish community and
Catholic Primary School whose children walked up to Church for the morning
mass. A couple of weeks later, on June 20th, we joined the celebration
of First Holy Communion in the parish. The son of one of the refugee
families we support was making his First Communion and it was lovely to see
the family able to enjoy a real celebration after so many years of hardship.
Aston
Heritage Day
Saturday 26th
June was Aston Heritage Day with a dozen or more local historic buildings
open to the public for the day. Our own Sacred Heart Church was one of
the buildings on the Heritage Trail. During the course of the day we
had 146 visitors to the church, many more than in previous years. Most
of the visitors were local residents, many of whom are Muslim, and have
never been into the Church before. It was a great occasion and an
opportunity for some very interesting conversations, not only about the
beauty of the Church but about Christianity and Christian worship. One
of our visitors was a local Imam who was fascinated by his visit and is keen
to have ongoing contact with us. You can download this year's Aston
Heritage Day leaflet here.
Supply
ministry
We continue to
be available to help our fellow MSCs and be available for supply in local
parishes. We have been over to both Tamworth and Princethorpe a few
times in the last couple of months to help with reconciliation services in
preparation for First Holy Communions and Confirmations. We have also
been doing supply in local parishes of Nechells, Baslall Heath, Kingstanding,
Ashted as well as here in Aston.
Comings and
goings
In the middle
of May Mark had a long weekend in Belgium to join his family for the
celebration of his niece's confirmation. A couple of weeks later his
brother, Danny, and friend Herman, came to visit us in Aston. During
their stay they travelled to the Lake District for a couple of days and
enjoyed the spectacular scenery in great May sunshine. At the end of
May Ton had to travel to Holland for a meeting of the MSC Congregational
Finance Advisory Group and took advantage of the trip to stay for 10 days
holiday with his family. The weather there must have been good too as
he came back with a very brown face! In early June we were pleased to
welcome Tim Brennan MSC, the Australian Provincial, who stayed with us for a
week before flying to Vietnam to visit the MSCs in the Australian mission
there. On Friday 25th July we welcomed seven members of the Tamworth
MSC parish Justice and Peace Group for supper. They were keen to see
where we lived and hear more about our mission in Aston. In September
six of their group will be travelling to South Africa for a couple of weeks
with the charity Habitat for Humanity to help build houses in a township in
the Eastern Cape.
 At the moment Ton is playing host to four members of
his family who are visiting from Holland; his brother Frans, his sister
Elly, brother-in-law Paul and sister-in-law Mia. They are currently
staying in the MSC guest Cottage at Princethorpe and using it as a base to
do some sight-seeing. Yesterday was Ton's 68th birthday and all of them
came to Aston for the afternoon and evening where we enjoyed a special
celebration meal. Happy birthday for yesterday, Ton!!
MSC
Student, Michael O'Rourke, visits
At the end of
June we were delighted to welcome our MSC student, Michael O'Rourke, to stay
with us for two weeks. Michael has just finished his academic year
studying theology at Heythrop College in London and is preparing to begin
his Novitiate year in Cork in September. While he is with us he is
doing some volunteer pastoral work in St Chad's Sanctuary in Birmingham, a
drop-in centre at the back of St Chad's Catholic Cathedral which welcomes
asylum seekers and refugees, many of whom are visiting the nearby Refugee
Council. It is great to have Michael around, with his energy and
enthusiasm. It also reminds Mark and Carl that they are no longer
quite as young as they might like to think they are! Michael, we wish
you all the very best for the special year of novitiate which begins soon.
Easter
Holidays
During the
week after Easter Carl visited his parents in Devon for a few days and Mark
welcomed some friends from Belgium, staying in the Cottage at Princethorpe
and using it as a base to do a bit of sight-seeing. Ton stayed in
Aston to keep the home fires burning!
Work with
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
We continue to
work closely with those we have been supporting over the last couple of
years. Being granted Indefinite Leave to remain is certainly a cause
for great celebration, but it is only the beginning of a whole new series of
challenges, difficulties and new layers of bureaucracy! We spend a lot of
time helping people filling forms and applying for benefits, housing, travel
passes, etc. Negotiating the complexities of the benefits and housing
systems is very demanding, time consuming and often frustrating. The
family from Sri Lanka have settled well into their new home and were
delighted to discover a few weeks ago that the second eldest child passed
the Eleven Plus Examination and has won a place to a local Grammar School,
starting in September. After Easter they invited all three of us to
share an evening meal with them in thanks for the help we had provided over
the last year and in celebration of this wonderful achievement. The
gentleman from Iraq that Mark has been accompanying is still waiting for new
housing. He too invited the three of us to join him for dinner (at a
Kurdish restaurant) in celebration of him being granted Indefinite Leave to
remain.
Citizens UK
Pre-Election Party Leaders Debate
 On
May 6th there was a General Election in Britain. The four weeks
leading up the the election were inevitably full of political and electoral
campaigning by the various parties, including three televised debates
between the three main party leaders. Through our contacts with
Restore (Asylum Seeker befriending
project in Birmingham), we were invited to attend an event which was being
billed as the "Fourth Debate". It was hosted by
Citizens UK (the UK branch of the
international Citizens Organising Foundation) at Westminster Methodist
Central Hall in London. Each of the three party leaders were invited
to attend the event and speak for ten minutes to the General Election
Manifesto prepared by Citizens UK. Their address was followed by ten
minutes of questioning, inviting them to make specific commitments to key
manifesto pledges. Two of the six manifesto items concerned Asylum
issues; a call for the end to detention of children at immigration centres,
and the call to introduce a one-off, conditional "earned regularisation" for
long term irregular migrants, of whom there are an estimated 700,000 in the
UK. Carl and Mark attended the event on May 3rd, travelling by coach
to London with over 50 others involved in Asylum issues in Birmingham.
It was a very good day with over 2500 people attending, mostly from the
London area. About 300 of those attending had, like us, been involved
in the Citizens for
Sanctuary campaign. It was an excellent experience of citizens
organising and was a great way of pressing our concrete issues with the
three candidates campaigning to be the future prime minister of the country.
Now that a new Government has been formed, Citizen's for Sanctuary will
continue to vigorously address these issues with ministers.
Aston
Churches Together Family Fun Day
On the same
day that Mark and Carl were in London for the Citizens UK debate, Aston
Churches Together held their annual May Bank Holiday Family Fun Day.
Ton was involved in hosting the day which was the most successful ever.
It was held in one of the Primary Schools in Aston and attracted over 1400
people throughout the day. There was a range of games, activities and
food on offer throughout the day, as well as some explicit Christian
evangelisation and a prayer tent where people could go to ask for prayer.
Evaluation
Visit Postponed
 In
the middle of April we were all set to welcome Ben Verberne MSC (Provincial
of the Dutch Province and Chair of the European Provincials' Conference) and
Michael Huber MSC (member of the leadership team of the South
German/Austrian Province). Both MSCs were due to visit us as part of
the process of evaluating our third year of presence here in Aston.
Sadly the eruption of the Icelandic volcano and the resulting ash cloud that
covered most of Europe for a week or more meant that their flights were
cancelled and they could not travel. We are hoping that they will be
able to come later in the year, probably during August.
New English
Conversation Sessions begin
After our last
regular review day, during which we reflected on the experience of our
Drop-In centre which opened in December, we decided that there was
sufficient need among people we know to begin a weekly English conversation
group. We have decided to offer the conversation sessions at the
beginning of the Thursday Drop-In, for one hour. Many of the recent
migrants we are working with are attending some form of English classes, but
have little or no opportunity to practice English from one class to the
next. This will offer such an opportunity in a more relaxed, informal
atmosphere and in a situation where we are also providing other support -
befriending, help with form-filling, signposting of services, etc. We
held the first conversation group last week and it was a lively and
thoroughly enjoyable occasion. Everyone stayed for lunch afterwards
and continued the conversation that had begun during the formal session.
Other
commitments outside of Aston
In addition to
our regular weekly activity in Aston, all three of us are occasionally
involved in work outside of Aston. Carl has been very busy recently
with a series of visits to MSC communities following on from the review of
ministry commitments in England and Ireland. As a member of the
Provincial Council he has been attending more regular Council meetings and
accompanying the Provincial in a series of meetings as the Irish Province
prepares a process of restructuring. Mark was recently in Dublin for a
meeting of the Formation Advisory Group. A couple of weeks ago Ton
celebrated mass for a gathering of over 300 Filipinos, including more than
90 children, all of whom belong to the Catholic Filipino organisation called
Couples for Christ. We have all also been involved in Sunday supply ministry
in local parishes.
- Saturday 3rd April - Holy Saturday
Happy Easter!
Before we share
our news from the last month may we wish each of our friends, family
members, fellow MSCs and supporters a very happy, joyful and blessed Easter.
In recent weeks we have been filled with the joy of three more asylum
seekers that we are supporting having received indefinite leave to remain in
the UK. After so many years of waiting, in anxiety, uncertainty and
fear, this news comes as a real relief and delight. For each of them
it is a tangible experience of new life and new hope. It gives a new
dimension to our experience of the passion and resurrection this Easter
time.
Good Friday
Walk of Witness
 As
we have done in previous years, we joined with Christians from the other
member churches of Aston Churches Together yesterday morning for a Good
Friday Walk of Witness. This year Ton was on the organising committee
and led the opening reflection and prayer at the beginning of the walk.
About 100 Christians from the various Churches gathered at 9.30 am outside
the Baptist Church and walked in procession for two hours around the streets
of Aston, carrying a large cross and bearing banners. The route had
been planned so that we could make six "station" stops outside six of
Aston's Churches. At each stop we gathered on the pavement
outside the Church and listened to a part of the Passion narrative from the
Gospels. A different minister offered a reflection and a prayer at
each "station" and we sang a hymn. The walk took us through the
central part of Aston, past all of the major shops. The local
residents, most of whom are Muslim, were very respectful as we passed by.
The walk concluded at the Anglican Parish Church of Saints Peter and Paul
where, after our last readings and prayers we were treated to tea, coffee
and the English Good Friday tradition of Hot Cross Buns, a bread-like bun
with sultanas and spices.
Lenten School
Assemblies
 For
the last couple of years Mark has been part of a team from Aston Churches
Together who have gone into the local Primary Schools each Advent and Lent
and performed a brief drama highlighting something of the Christmas or
Easter story. This is of particular significance as most of the
children in primary education in Aston are Muslim, and many of the teaching
staff are Muslim. The team is welcomed into the schools each year and
are now building up some strong relationships with the Head teachers and
staff in each school. This year's Easter Assembly was again very successful.
Work with
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
As mentioned
above, three of the Asylum Seekers we have been accompanying have recently
received indefinite leave to remain in the UK. All three are single
men; one from Iran, one from Iraq and one from Eritrea. This comes as
news of great joy, as well as considerable relief as they have been waiting
for this decision for many years. Now a whole new series of challenges
begin as they commence the process of applying for work (which is very hard
to come by in the present economic climate) and housing. The family
from Sri Lanka that Carl has been accompanying for over a year, and who
received their leave to remain last September, have now moved into a new
house. Carl has been involved in trying to find accommodation for them
in Aston for the last few months. All four of the children are now
attending local Catholic schools and the family desperately wanted to stay
in the Aston area where they have begun to put down roots. Carl and
Mark hired a van last Tuesday and spent the day moving them and all their
possessions into their new home.
Heart of
Welcome Drop-In Centre
We continue to
open our "Heart of Welcome" drop-in centre each Thursday from 11.30am to
2.30pm in the Undercroft of Sacred Heart Church. The numbers attending
each week vary and are still quite small, but we have, over the course of
the last four months, met quite a few new people, many of them recent
migrants to the UK. Each week we offer a hot drink and biscuits
throughout the opening times and some soup and bread over lunch. All
of this is provided at no charge. There are usually two or three
parishioners who join with us to welcome anyone who may drop in. Most
of the time is spent in conversation and in offering practical help and
assistance; form-filling, signposting local services, advice with
immigration issues or other problems. Much of the conversation is just
about their experience of coming to the UK and living in Aston.
Mark and Ton
complete Street Pastors training course
Last month both
Mark and Ton completed their initial Street Pastors training course.
We have written about this in the past, and explained the concept of
Street Pastors. The
scheme has been operating in the Aston neighbourhood since the riots of 2005
which culminated in the shooting of two young women, Charlene Ellis and
Leticia Shakespeare. Street Pastors are volunteers drawn from local
Churches who go out on patrol in small teams on the neighbourhood streets
late on Friday and Saturday nights. Their primary purpose is to
provide a reassuring presence on the streets and to be able to engage in
conversation with those they meet in a supportive and non-threatening way.
Often the opportunity for deep conversation arises, and on occasions this
can lead to a sharing of faith and spirituality. Mark and Ton will
commence their patrols later in April.
Evaluation of
the Cordate Community
At the beginning
of March we spent a day with Sr Breda Noonan, our facilitator, in a review
of the period from last September to the present. These times of
review and evaluation are important for us to be able to asses how our
presence is deepening and developing and to take to time to recognise the
opportunities we have for extending our bridging ministry in the
neighbourhood. It is also a valuable time to share on our experiences
of the last few months and explore how our vision may be gaining new
clarity.
We are also
currently engaged in a process of external evaluation. In January we
were delighted to receive a visit from Fr Wahyudi MSC from our General
Leadership Team. Wahyudi is part of an evaluation group that was
formed by the European Provincials last year. The two other members of
the group will be visiting us in a couple of week's time. Together,
after their visits, and having spent time with us and talking with others in
the neighbourhood who know us, they will prepare an evaluation report on the
development of the Cordate Mission over the last three years. This
will be presented to the European Provincials' Conference to assist them in
making planning decisions about the future of this common European MSC
project.
Carl attends
the 2010 European Provincials' Conference
 From
March 22nd to 27th 2010 the MSC Provincials of the eight European Provinces
met for their annual conference in the MSC "Oasis" retreat centre in
Steinerskirchen in Bavaria, Southern Germany. Carl was present as the
permanent secretary of the Conference. The yearly meeting has become
in important opportunity for the European Provinces to collaborate more
closely and support one another in Mission and leadership. Our own
Cordate Community is the fruit of such collaboration.
A significant
amount of time at this year's meeting was given to sharing on the themes of
mission, vocations and formation, retirement provision and strategic
planning across Europe.
During the meeting
time was given to a sharing on the developments in the Cordate Community.
André Claessens MSC, the Belgian Provincial, shared his
recent experience of visiting Aston. We are very grateful to all of
the eight European Provinces for the support and encouragement they continue
to give us.
At the end of the
Conference the group took a day to visit the nearby former Concentration
Camp at Dachau, north of Munich. In the afternoon they visited the city of
Augsburg and had a guided tour of the Cathedral before being treated to an
evening of typical Bavarian food and beer!
MSC English
Spring Assembly
 Towards
the beginning of March the three of us attended the annual MSC Spring
Assembly in the Benedictine Belmont Abbey just outside the city of Hereford.
As a group of about 20 MSC in England we meet twice a year. The Spring
meeting is always reserved as a time when we can just be together without
business - a time to pray together, to share and to relax. We were
blessed with beautiful spring weather and while some enjoyed a visit to the
city of Cardiff, and others a walk around Hereford and its beautiful
Cathedral, another group went hill-walking. We all came together again
in the evenings for a meal and a time of conversation and relaxation.
On the way back to Birmingham the three of us stopped in Worcestershire for
a walk in the Malvern Hills and a visit to the cathedral city of Worcester.
- Thursday 25th February 2010
A Belgian visitor
 André
Claessens, the Belgian provincial, visited the Cordate Community for a week
commencing Monday 15th February. He was unlucky in that the weather was
mostly cold and wet, the tail end of winter rather than the forerunner of
spring. Still, he was able to go around Aston, to see the displays Mark had
put up in Tesco and to visit one of the many mosques that can be found in
the Aston neighbourhood. He could see at first hand how children up to the
age of 15 were taught to recite and even to memorise the Qur’an in the
original Arabic, which only the older age groups are taught to understand.
Closer to home he met some of our neighbours and of course we had time to
share about our ministry of presence. It is not always easy as André could
witness for himself. On that particular Thursday our drop-in centre ‘Heart
of Welcome’ did not attract any of the priority people it is meant for.
South Africa
 Prior
to André’s visit, Carl spent three weeks in South Africa, from January 23rd
to February 13th, on behalf of the Provincial Leadership Team of
the Irish Province. He attended the annual Assembly of the Southern Africa
Region and travelled thousands of miles to visit all the members of the
region in the places where they live and work; in the Northern Province
(bordering Zimbabwe) in the Rand area (Pretoria and Johannesburg) and in
Cape Town. While there he spent a day with the MSC Novices from across all
of Africa (pictured) and gave a presentation on the mission and experience
of the Cordate community. The novices were very interested in this new
experiment in mission in Western Europe and were full of questions and
enthusiasm. After three long weeks Carl came back satisfied but exhausted!
MSC Formation and JPIC
During Carl’s absence Mark attended the meeting of the
Formation Advisory Group of the Irish Province in Tamworth and both Mark
and Ton hosted the Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Group
of the MSC of Ireland and England for a meeting in Aston. Alan Neville MSC
chaired the meeting. We had a guest from the Tamworth parish Justice and
Peace group in the person of Barbara Kelly who shared about the origin and
the activities of the JP group in her parish which has been active for over
ten years now. We identified ways of cooperating with one another, certainly
at the level of reflection and deepening our commitment.
Faith Leaders Meeting
On Thursday 18th February Carl and Ton attended a
meeting of the local faith leaders in Aston. This meeting is organised by
Aston Pride and the Birmingham Primary Health Care Trust a few times a year
to gather the leaders together to address issues of access to health and
social provision in the community of Aston. There has been a move in recent
months to establish this group as an independent entity and Carl and Ton
have been encouraging this initiative. In preparation for the meeting Ton
drafted a possible Constitution for the group and it is hoped that at the
next meeting the body will define its independence from Aston Pride and the
PCT, giving it the freedom and scope to address a whole range of issues
pertinent to the faith communities in the neighbourhood.
Mark’s role as Community Champion
Mark continues to develop his role as the Community Champion
for Tesco. He has spent much time over the last month or so developing his
links across the community. One of the recent initiatives has been a “Kick
and Cook” programme offered at Aston Villa Football Club whereby teenagers
have an opportunity to engage in exercise and learn about healthy cooking at
the same time. The network of contacts he is building up in the
neighbourhood is expanding on a weekly basis.
Day for Religious
Recently we received a visit from Con
O’Connell MSC and our MSC student, Michael O’Rourke on February 19. As a
member of the JPIC group Con’s primary purpose was to do some work with Mark
on environmental issues. Fortunately both were able to stay for a pleasant
dinner together that evening . Michael spent the night with us and the next
morning he accompanied Carl and Mark to St Chad’s Cathedral I Birmingham
where the annual mass was held for the Religious of the Archdiocese of
Birmingham. The new archbishop, Bernard Longley, presided at the
celebration. Before Mass he addressed the assembled 180 Religious in a very
warm and encouraging manner. After mass there was a sit-down hot lunch for
everyone, during which the new Archbishop was keen to take time to meet all
those present, even foregoing his own lunch in the process. Ton stayed
behind in Aston and substituted for the parish priest who as the diocesan
liturgist was in charge of the music of the celebration in the cathedral.
Week of Provincial Meetings
This last week Carl has been in Dublin for
a series of Provincial meetings, commencing with a meeting of the
Pre-Chapter Statutes Commission and then a three day Provincial Council
meeting. The Council are now addressing the recommendations of the
Consultative Body which has carried out a 12 month consultation of all the
MSCs in England and Ireland on the future of our ministerial commitments in
these islands.
Christmas
We all had a very enjoyable Christmas and would like to thank all
those who sent Christmas cards and greetings. Mark very much enjoyed his
two weeks at home where the family gathered to celebrate his grandmother's 90th
birthday on Christmas Day. Back here in Aston Ton and Carl spent Christmas
Eve in the drop-in centre where we welcomed a few new faces. In the late
afternoon, while Carl cooked, Ton attended the Aston community carol service in
the Anglican Church before both concelebrated the Vigil and Christmas morning
masses with the parish community. In the early afternoon on Christmas Day
they both travelled to Princethorpe to join with the MSCs from the other
Midlands communities for Christmas dinner hosted by Teddy O'Brien MSC at the
parish house in the village of Wappenbury. As usual, it was a wonderful
evening of great food and company. We were especially pleased to welcome
Tony Horgan MSC who was home on a break from his mission in Fiji. The
following Day Ton returned to Aston and Carl drove to his parents in Devon for a
few nights, returning in time for the drop-in centre on New Year's Eve.
Resuming local activity
Despite the heavy snow falls during the first two or three weeks
of the New Year, life in Aston gradually began to return to normal, with our
regular involvement with the asylum seekers and refugees that we are supporting,
attendance at local meetings and some supply work in local parishes as our
neighbouring clergy tried to gat a bit of a post-Christmas break. Our
Heart of Welcome drop-in centre has suffered a bit from the bad weather.
The fact that it has been so cold and the pavements were covered in snow and ice
for so long undoubtedly put people off coming out. In the first few weeks
of the New Year we have only had a few callers each week, but we are currently
undertaking another publicity drive to try and get the word out to local people
that the facility is available.
A week ago we held
one of our regular meetings with Ray Collier, a Columban Priest, who is
working in another part of Birmingham city. Ray is living a ministry
of presence similar to ours and we very much welcome the opportunity to meet
regularly for sharing, pastoral/theological reflection and mutual support.
We concluded the morning meeting with a great Chinese meal just around the
corner from Ray's place in Chinatown.
Today Ton and Carl
met with Ray again and with Sr Margaret Walsh who is launching a new project
for destitute asylum seekers at the back of the Catholic Cathedral in the
city and in conjunction with the Salvation Army. We have known
Margaret since we first came to live in Princethorpe in 2005. At that
time she was running a project in the west of the city for the local
community, many of whom were refugees and other new migrants.
Evaluation of
our Cordate Community and mission
 Over
the next five or six months we will be participating in an ongoing
evaluation process of our project. We are now into our third year in
Aston and it was agreed from the outset that during the third year there
would be a process of review and evaluation by the MSC European Provinces.
At last spring's meeting of the European Provincials a small evaluation team
was put in place. The members of that team will be visiting us over
the coming months to witness what we are doing in Aston, talk with us about
our experiences and meet with some of the people we live and work among.
This last week, on
Monday 18th January, we were delighted to welcome Fr Wahyudi, Assistant
Superior General from the MSC congregational leadership team in Rome.
After a period of orientation we shared a presentation on the life of this
project over the last four years. Then Wahyudi was able to participate
in some of our usual activity; attending the Tuesday Senior Citizens Lunch
Club and bingo session, visiting some of our neighbours, accompanying Carl
on a visit to a refugee family he supports, briefly attending Ton's English
Language class and taking a trip with Mark to Tesco supermarket!
 On
his last evening Wahyudi visited Sr Breda Noonan, the Columban sister who
has been accompanying us and facilitating our own regular review and
planning meetings since we came to Aston.
He left us on
Thursday morning to fly to The Netherlands where he is meeting with the
Dutch Provincial, Fr Ben Verberne MSC, who is chair of the European
Provincials' Conference. Ben will be visiting us along with a member
of the Provincial Council of the South German-Austrian Province after
Easter. Between then and now we will also have a visit from the
Belgian Provincial.
Other Visitors
Since Christmas we
have had several visitors apart from Wahyudi. Carl's parents sensibly
escaped from Devon several days earlier than planned to drive up to
Birmingham where they were flying from the local airport on holiday.
Heavy snow had been forecast for their part of the country and they were
able to escape just before it fell. We were pleased to have them with
us for four nights before they flew to Cyprus.
A couple of days
later Paula Ryan Kavanagh, the secretary to the Irish Provincial was in
Dublin for a Basketball Tournament so stayed with us for a night and took
the opportunity to have a bit of a tour of Aston.
On Sunday 17th
January Tony Horgan cane and spent the afternoon and evening with us before
flying back to Fiji the following day. Tony is spending three years in
Fiji helping out in the mission there and brought some photos of his
experience of the last couple of years. Mark had done a two year
pastoral placement in Fiji as part of his formation so was keen to get all
the latest news and share experiences with Tony.
On Thursday 21st
January we were pleased to welcome Fr Michael White and a first year
diocesan seminarian to supper. Michael is a diocesan priest working in
one of the local parishes and has been a great support and encouragement to
us since we moved into Aston. He has recently completed the building
of a new parish centre, which is open as a cafe and community outreach
project to the whole of the neighbourhood.
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