Christ Among Us - Workshops and Training

The preparation workshops which took place on Saturday, 28th and Sunday, 29th January at the Cathedral hall, and London Colney respectively were both very successful. Here is some of the feedback from the delegates:

An additional Christ Among Us preparation workshop will be held on Saturday 18th February from 10.30am to 12.30pm in the Cathedral Hall. This is particularly for parishes who up to now have not had any experience of faith sharing communities. During the workshop, there will be an opportunity for formation, prayer, music and sharing of ideas. We are delighted that the Cardinal will be part of this gathering. If you are able to come, please do get in touch with Catherine who can be contacted by email on cathmacgillivray@rcdow.org.uk

During the workshops, delegates discussed their experience of small Christian communities and what worked in their parishes. Here are some of their ‘top tips’:

• ‘Personal invitation is the best way for inviting people to join small Christian communities’.
• ‘It’s good to organise preparation sessions for groups like Eucharistic ministers’
• ‘Welcoming ministry is very important’
• ‘Have a look at the following website for tips on welcoming people: Celebrating Family’
• ‘Visit other Christian churches for ideas’
• ‘Christ Among Us resource is suitable for ecumenical groups’
• ‘During Lent, my church will be open all morning. At lunch time, there will be meditation to which the local people will be invited. We will also be putting up posters advertising the Christ Among Us Lenten resource along the main road in our area’.
• ‘The core community will be inviting people who haven’t been involved in small communities to join a group’
• ‘The resource can also be used in families and other households. It is also suitable for the sick and housebound’.
• ‘Prayer is essential to the success of small Christian communities’

If you would like to lead a small community, below are details of some sessions where the dates have already been set. Keep an eye on this page for updates. Please do get in touch with the trainer if you would like to attend.

If you are already a trainer or having been to a preparation workshop would like to organise a session, please do send us the details of anything that you’ve organised. We can then advertise it here.