Community Presence and The Hope Garden

Thursday 1st July 2021

During the pandemic, many parishes responded to the needs of the community by putting their faith into action through social outreach. Many parishes collaborated with Caritas Diocese of Salford to provide practical support for those most in need.

St Michael and St Bernadette, Whitefield – Community Presence

The parish have strengthened their online presence by developing a new parish website & Facebook page, both incorporating the Hope in the Future Initiative. Their Parish Pastoral Team has been a beacon of hope through these troubled times by delivering newsletters to those who were shielding, organising virtual coffee mornings and stewarding for the reopening of church which has given parishioners the confidence in returning to Mass. They also arranged for the children of the parish to read the Sunday Gospel and to decorate the church doors for the Month of Mary and the Month of the Sacred Heart. Both churches also have a Hope in the future display to keep parishioners up to date with the programme.

St John Fisher, Kearsley – The Hope Garden

The parish have been working hard to develop and establish their Sensory Garden at St John Fisher which they have called ‘The Hope Garden’. It has really taken shape during the Pandemic. People of the Diocese are welcome to visit. It is a very quiet place to sit and pray or just visit the garden. People are bringing picnics and just enjoying the outdoors

Hope in the Future representatives were also asked to be a parish link for the Environment , helping parishes to care for our Common Home. A survey was sent out and good practice from around the Diocese is shared here.

Advocacy and social action is the embodiment of Pope Francis’s vision of a “poor Church for the poor” and is what is meant by his plea for us all to become Missionary Disciples. Although unwelcome, the pandemic has provided an opportunity for all our parishes to move forward towards this goal. Over the next two stages of Hope in the Future, as we build ‘a new normal’, we pray our parishes may be a beacon of hope to those in most need around