“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord”
– Psalm 127:3a
“Hearing about real cases carried out in other parishes and talking and exchanging ideas with other people.”
“What do I find in my Catholic parish? The Church edifice is open all day long, every day — not only on Sundays. It invites those who are over-burdened and bewildered by their daily cares to drop in, and through meditation and prayer to absorb strength and achieve a new perspective.”
– The Appeal of Anglican Catholicism to an Average Man
I was putting away the Daily Mass cards when I saw a wild tangle of hair peer around the Victorian arch, wide eyes darting here and there. Straining, a little arm tugged the grown-ups in which it was clasped and a neat, sensible head of hair followed about four feet above the wild, slipping through the Victorian Neo-gothicesque arch.
Catholic parishes were keeping their doors wide open long before it became the common wisdom and visiting a church is the beginning of so many testimonies of how God has touched the lives of those who now worship with us. Children, liberated from the cynicism and incredulity that creeps in to adulthood, often lead the charge for a visit to our Parish church. I see it almost every week. Passing by, the gilded Reredos catches refracted sunshine and the dancing Votive candles beckon. “I will turn aside and see this great sight” the young repeat with Moses.
This distinctive charism of the Catholic movement, which is one of the rich gifts we have shared with the wider Church, was the focus of the See of Beverley’s February Children and Youth Ministry Development Day led by Jane Race and generously sponsored by Faith in the North. This is the first of a series of events to help us grow as a network and inspire the development of new worshipping communities.
Responding to this gift of Holy Hospitality the Spirit has granted us, and cultivating it with wise counsel and the perspectives of a breadth of experience, Jane teamed up with Minerva Faddoul (Children and Families Worker, Carver Street) and Julie Tallant (Freelance Designer) to discern how our churches can become more welcoming to younger visitors and the grown-ups they bring with them.
It has become sadly conventional to perceive younger people as not suited to being in church, especially for Liturgies. They can be taken out to be taught in a separate space. There are sensible reasons for this: Parents are exhausted; the young need instruction in the basics of the Faith; and we want young people to have a fun experience at church. But these efforts take resources which we often do not have. Space, volunteers, teaching materials, time to prepare, committed cores of families. And more significantly these efforts can forget the delight and devotion inspired by the treasures we already have.
Jane and her team discovered that there was already much about the physical space of the church that was appealing to children. Shrines, statues, sacramentals. Plenty to see and touch, all lovingly offered by generations of the faithful before us. They also discovered that these assets can be greatly enhanced with some expert insight from those who have training in child development. They encountered a church which was open and ready for visitors and had made a good effort at welcoming younger visitors, but the effect was – essentially – a Children’s corner.
Children’s corner? Is that where Our Lord meets the little ones? Jesus once placed a child in the midst of his disciples as a sign of what we all must become (Matt 18:2). Standing confidently on this Word of welcome to the youngest the team dared to dream of a use of the church space that let children be children in the loving presence of God.
‘Play and Pray’ renews what Carver Street offers to young visitors and their families. In a context where they cannot often predict the attendance of children at Sunday masses, the team have made a space where little ones can find rest, joy, play, and teaching to make the most of a visit to the House of God. It is a low-maintenance and high-impact offering in keeping with that unique gift of Anglocatholicism that has drawn so many into the life of Faith. It renews the place of children in the life of the parish and acts as a witness to the Gospel truth that all of us no matter our situation or state find a welcome in the gracious presence of the Saviour.
The Development Day drew 40 of us together to share our insights and experiences and to pray together. We were refreshed and inspired by the testimonies from around the See of how God is drawing younger people and families into His church, and we rejoiced in the Spirit-inspired imagination evident in each different approach.
During afternoon coffee as we had spent a fair few hours discussing outreach to children without any being actually present (it would probably have been a boring day for them!) I spotted a dad come in with his toddler. Spotting the toddler-sized chairs and tables, and the colourful activities set out in a child’s eye-line, the little one took dad to visit Play and Pray. I smiled as I sipped my coffee, as dad opened a book with his little one. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them”.
