In October 2017 Bishop John launched our Diocesan pastoral renewal programme, Hope in the Future. Hope in the Future is an invitation to every parish in the Diocese to recognise and develop their missionary identity and their call to evangelise. First and foremost this process needs to be rooted in prayer and sustained by prayer which is why we are encouraged to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is a particular novena as a resource to help us do this. Hope in the Future, builds on Faith in the Future. The theme of Hope which is key to the catechesis of Pope Francis. It is a five stage journey, for more on these stages click here. By the end of this journey it is hoped that we will have a programme that has resources for parishes wherever they are at this time. Some parishes will be leading the way, others may not be able to follow at this time but will be able to start this process in the future. Hopefully all parishes will be aware that they are called to be missionary and to evangelise. A working definition of what is meant by a missionary parish is being sent out to all parishes. People are encouraged to discuss this in as many different ways as possible to help us become aware of the vocabulary and what is meant by it. The programme was formally launched on the 4th of October 2017 at the cathedral where all parishes were presented with a San Damiano cross for each church to remember Jesus’ call of St Francis to ‘Rebuild my Church’
For resources click here (https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/faith/hope/resources/)
For upcoming events click here (https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/faith/hope/events)
Our parish Hope in the Future Team looks at how we can be a missionary parish. Those on the team are Peter Morley, John Kidd, Ije Asike and John Griffin. If you would like join or have any and ideas please contact us.
