See also : What's Happening

Local Distributors

To find out about obtaining a free Resource Pack for your parish, please contact the following diocesan distributors:

Arundel & Brighton - Liz James, Advisor for Marriage and Family Life
Birmingham - c/o Archbishop Vincent Nichols
Brentwood - Phil Butcher, Director, Commission for Justice & Social Responsibility
Cardiff - Anne Ballard, Chair, Family Life Commission
Clifton - Ann Fowler, Secondary Schools Advisor
East Anglia - Mary Clark, Family Life Commission
Hallam - Susan Tym, Family Focus
Hexham & Newcastle - Peter and Pauline Lavery, Coordinators for Family Life Ministry
Lancaster - Keith Armstrong, Chair, Commission for Marriage & Family Life
Leeds - Breda Theakston, Family Ministry Coordinator
Liverpool - Veronica Murphy, Assistant Coordinator for Faith Formation (Marriage and Family Life)
Menevia - Tony Lawrence, Director, Family Life Ministry
Middlesbrough - Caroline Dollard, Celebrating Family Project Worker
Northampton - c/o Bishop Peter Doyle 
Nottingham - Fr John Sherrington, Marriage and Family Life Commission
Plymouth - Jillian Wilce, Department for Formation
Portsmouth - Keith Chappell, Department for Pastoral Formation
Salford - Fr Duncan McVicar, Schoenstatt Shrine
Shrewsbury - Clara Donnelly, Coordinator for Marriage and Family Life Ministry 
Southwark - Fr Graham Preston, Episcopal Vicar for Marriage and Family Life
Westminster - Edmund Adamus, Director, Department for Pastoral Affairs
Wrexham - Cliff Howe, Chair, Family Life Commission

To look at a map of dioceses and find out which one you belong to click here.

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Arundel and Brighton 

An introductory event took place in Crawley on November 1st 2008. Here is the report on the day as featured on the diocesan website.

Home is a Holy Place!

People from the Diocese gathered in Crawley to meet and discuss the new project from the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, ‘Home is a Holy Place’. The day was led by Elizabeth Davies who is running the project across England and Wales in coordination in Arundel & Brighton with Liz James, Marriage and Family Life Adviser. This initiative follows on from the wide consultation that the Bishops of England and Wales entered into with people in the pews during 2004 called ‘Listening 2004’.

One of the things that struck the Bishops in ‘Listening 2004’ was that there appeared to be relatively low awareness of the vocational nature of marriage and parenthood or of the specific spirituality of the home (domestic church). Spirituality tended to be connected to church-going or to prayer at home, rather than being tied into the daily living out of family life. They wanted to help understand how people could respond to the Gospel of Jesus in the mess of daily family life.

To help people engage with ‘Home is a Holy Place’ there is an excellent resource pack which includes a DVD and six suggested discussion sessions. The sessions can take place in parish halls or homes over a number of weeks or months. It could be used by parents of first communion or confirmation candidates and in many other ways.

Liz James, Marriage and Family Life Adviser said after the day “We had a really good presentation from Elizabeth Davies and have been given a wonderful resource for parishes to use as tool to deepen the faith of families. At last the spiritual life and needs of families are being recognized and supported

The ‘Home is a Holy Place’ resource pack is available from DABCEC in Crawley by telephoning Liz James on 01293 651152 or email liz.james@dabnet.org

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Cardiff

Report to follow

Agenda

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East Anglia

  Notes from the North Norfolk Deanery planning meeting

Strengths of a Healthy Family Handout 

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Hallam  HOME IS A HOLY PLACE LAUNCH

On Saturday April 4^th 2009 a group of forty people from eighteen parishes and eight schools from across the Diocese of Hallam met at St Bernard’s School, Rotherham for the launch of ‘Home is a Holy Place’.

Elizabeth Davies, National Project Officer for Marriage and Family Life, introduced the Resource. She was assisted by Susan Tym, Hallam Co-ordinator of the Family Focus Project. Elizabeth gave the background to the Resource. She explained that the bishops of England and Wales want to raise greater awareness and understanding among both laity and clergy of the holiness of family life.

Participants took part in workshops during the morning. They were encouraged to describe family love; to reflect on their different experiences of home; and to discuss how parishes and schools could acknowledge and celebrate acts of family love as holiness.

The day concluded with liturgy led by Mary Dolan, Director of Adult Education for Hallam Diocese. Resource packs were distributed to the representatives at the end of the meeting.  Positive responses included, “Wonderful”, “Much needed”, Full of potential”, “Could be adapted for use in a variety of circumstances”.

Schools and parishes who were unable to attend the launch are invited to contact Susan Tym who will be happy to dispatch one to them.  

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Leeds 

Introductory events took place in various locations around the diocese in November 2008, January and February 2009. Contact Breda Theakston for more information or to arrange a special event. 

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Liverpool

On September 6th 2008 a planning meeting for pastoral area launches took place, followed on September 17th by two taster sessions to introduce Home is a Holy Place to department and agency leaders. The photo on the left was taken at the first launch in Croxteth on September 11th.  Home is a Holy Place was launched in 9 Pastoral Areas by Christmas 2008 and these will be evaluated before further launches take place in the remaining pastoral areas during the Easter season 2009. 

Contact Veronica Murphy for more information. Tel:0151 522 1048

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Nottingham

October launch (Scunthorpe)

View the Diocesan account of the launch by Rosemary Read

The Home is a Holy Place Resource Pack was launched in Nottingham diocese on Saturday, May 10^th at Our Lady of Lourdes, Mickleover in Derby. The day was organised by diocesan coordinator for marriage and family life  Fr John Sherrington and was designed to answer three questions :

• Where has this pack come from?

• What can we do with it?

• Where do we start?  

Participants were drawn from a wide network, including those active in marriage and family life ministry, adult education, spirituality, justice and peace, the diaconate and pastoral planning. The day was very much part of the diocesan initiative Handing on our Faith.  

After a short liturgy led by Fr John, Elizabeth Davies introduced the first session explaining the background and stages in the development of the Resource Pack. ( Powerpoint presentation) Participants then viewed the 7 minute Introduction clip from the Home is a Holy Place DVD and were invited in small groups to share reactions to this. Responses were aired in the larger group before lunch and included observations that it was both inclusive and realistic.

In the afternoon, attention turned to some of the ways in which the pack can be used. Having seen the introduction, the group began by brainstorming where that element of the Resource Park would be useful. Afterwards each small group selected a groupsheet of their choice and spent ten minutes responding to the main question on that sheet. To conclude the session Elizabeth drew attention to the Getting Started leaflet and outlined some ideas that would take minimal, maximum and moderate amounts of effort and energy. ( Powerpoint presentation)

In the final session participants divided into deanery groups to respond to questions posed by Fr John: what might be the next steps in their parish and in their deanery and what they might need from the diocese to support their Home is a Holy Place activities. Read some of the responses.

  Timetable used at this event

What next? Deanery activities:

• Contact dean and provide input to deanery meeting

• “Task unites” – bring to Deanery Pastoral Council (where they exist) as this could be the best starting point  

• Use as part of forum and deanery social events

• Vocation to parenthood – bring to vocations commission

• Spirituality network is an important resource  

What next? Parish activities:

• Introduce to parish pastoral council

• Use it in programmes already in place and extend it

• Link with what’s there – formation of catechists

• Use as basis of ‘stand alone’ presentation eg in evening

• Link to homily and planned distribution, in liturgy, newsletters and bulletin

• Let the PP know that ‘we’ are prepared to do it so that it doesn’t become another burden

• Let PP’s know who was present today and who to contact

• Work in clusters/deaneries

• Mother and toddler groups could use it – test it out  

October launch (Scunthorpe) 

View group recommendations

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Plymouth

Celebrating Family – Is your home a holy place? Visit the Diocesan website

For more information please contact Jillian Wilce at Cardinal Newman House, Exeter on 01392 671320 or at jillianw@plymouth-diocesan-office.org.uk 

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Salford

Read Bishop Brain's pastoral letter on Home is a Holy Place. Summer 2008.

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Shrewsbury

A series of Home is a Holy Place launch events have taken place around the diocese.

For more information contact Helen Bassirat on 0161 436 4939 or email: Helen.mfl@googlemail.com

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Southwark

Two launch events for the DVD resource pack took place at Aylesford Priory and the Christian Education Centre, Tooting Bec.

An earlier day took place at Coloma Convent School in November 2007
Read an abbreviated version of the key note talk by Sarah Johnson courtesy of Sarah Johnson and the website of St Columba Parish in South Croyden.

  Invitation Letter 

Agenda

Worksheets

Useful quotes

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Westminster

Home is a Holy Place featured at a Virtues for Life workshop in Enfield Deanery on October 15th 2008. This is a collaborative event offered by the Department of Pastoral Affairs and the Agency for Evangelisation 

The Agency for Evangelisation and the Department of Pastoral Affairs introduced Home is a Holy Place Resource Packs to all small community faith sharing groups across the diocese in Advent 2008. 

Further information: Edmund Adamus, Department for Pastoral Affairs. Tel: 020 7798 9363

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Wrexham

The Home is a Holy Place resource pack was launched in the Diocese of Wrexham on Saturday, April 5th 2008 at the Loreto Centre in Llandudno. Bishop Edwin Regan was present at the day-long event which was organised by the Diocesan Commission for Marriage and Family Life, chaired by Deacon Cliff Howe.  The day opened with prayer led by Veronica Murphy using symbols of family life to create a focal point. Elizabeth Davies then facilitated an orientation on the words home, holy and family before explaining why the resource pack had been developed: to clarify and describe the vision of Home is a Holy Place in ways that would be accessible and helpful. The group were then shown the complete 27 minute DVD that introduces and explains Home is a Holy Place and invited to discuss their reactions in small groups before feeding back to the assembly. In the afternoon workshops were held on two of the three vision statements before Rev Howe invited everyone to divide up into parish/deanery groups to discuss what stepping stones or obstacles might be encountered using the resource.

Timetable for this event

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