Birthday Celebrations Light Up St Mary's Parish Ipswich

Many thanks to John Cassidy for sending the following report to us:

'It was a miserably cold January Saturday afternoon and Ipswich Town FC were playing at home in the 3rd round of the Cup. Despite this, over 40 people turned up in our Parish hall to celebrate our 3rd year in existence. A beaming Fr John welcomed representatives from all our Groups and from both churches in the parish and introduced our two new co-ordinators, Angie & Caroline who had organised the festivities. The tables heaved with food, as usual, and though there was bunting and balloons galore, it was more in the nature of a lively chat & catch up, than a wild party. A young mother and her two children came, for the first time “just to see” but signed up before they left as did an elderly lady who enjoyed herself so much  that she declared “I might as well join up now!” Nearly a dozen nationalities (from 4-92 years) mingled happily for the afternoon between pizzas and Chocolate Brownies and vowed to start the New Year diet “tomorrow”. 

Before Christmas, the highlight of Family Group events was the Curry & Carols evening, organized by our young families Group. It was declared to have been wonderfully enjoyable!'

For further information about developing Family Groups in your parish please email familygroups2015@gmail.com and a member of the national Steering Group in your area will get in touch. If you have Family Group pictures or news you wish to share on this blog please email hannah.moruzzi@cbcew.org.uk

A Year of Fun and Fundraising for Our Lady of Victories' Family Groups

It has been 12 months of hard work and fun for the Family Groups in Our Lady of Victories Parish, Kensington. They have raised awareness and funds for local charities including Nazareth House and have provided fellow parishioners with a packed programme of events: a pamper evening, cupcakes and Pimms in June, a Curry & Quiz Night in July and a very well attended 1940’s/1950’s Sing-along and Champagne Brunch in September.


On 14th November the Family Groups will be hosting their popular annual Dinner and Dance Auction Evening. Parish Coordinator Glenda Clarke told us that tickets are selling quickly, local businesses and supermarkets have donated gifts and there will be plenty of youthful hands on deck as the Post Confirmation Group have agreed to help in the kitchen. The last event of 2015 is another well established tradition in the parish - the annual Christmas Hamper creation day, on Sunday 6th December. We wish the parish and the Family Groups leadership team the very best for these events and for the coming year.                                                      

If your parish has any Family Group news that you would like to share on this blog, or other queries, please EMAIL the editor with the details and high resolution photos, if available. 

If you would like more information on the Family Group Movement of England & Wales, please contact the National Steering Group for Family Groups  please EMAIL

Family Groups Get Started in St Mary's Crowborough

Family Groups were launched in the Parish of St Mary's, Crowborough, in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton at the end of June 2015. One of the newly formed groups met for the first time on Saturday 3^rd October and shared fresh coffee and home-made cakes and chatted and got to know each other better. They also arranged their next meetings which will be a walk in the woods (weather permitting) after Sunday morning Mass in November and an evening of board games in January. In December all the groups will be getting together for a Christmas social hosted by St Mary’s Parish Family Groups but open to everyone. For more information please contact St Mary's Parish Priest Fr Kevin Griffin on 01892 654608.

If your parish has any Family Group news that you would like to share on this blog please email hannah.moruzzi@cbcew.org.uk and if you would like to speak to a member of the National Steering Group for Family Groups  please email familygroups2015@gmail.com

Watch the New Family Groups Film

Our new film documents the growth of Family Groups in England and Wales

Family Group Gatherings are Picture Perfect

May gatherings at St John Vianney Parish, Northwich and St Mary's Parish, Ipswich provided the perfect setting for filming a new DVD for the Family Group Movement in England and Wales. The crew spent a day in each parish conducting filming interviews with pastors, parish coordinators and group leaders and then captured the simple beauty of the Family Groups 'in action.' The gathering in Northwich, organised by parish coordinator, Dave Allen, started with a bluebell walk in Marbury Park, followed by board games and a shared supper in the parish hall. Family Groups Chaplain, Fr Pat Munroe, and parish coordinator Hazel Dove joined the gathering along with a group from Our Lady and the Apostles Parish, Stockport. Chris and Vince Joyce, from St Michael's and St Bernadette's parish, Whitefield also attended the event and told us afterwards, "the atmosphere was lovely and it was really good to be there."

I was fortunate enough to attend the filming in St Mary's last weekend on what turned out to be a perfect spring day.  Fr John Warrington and the St Mary's team, led by parish coordinator Barry Sproat, couldn't have been more welcoming.  The crew were able to gather interviews in the morning and then film the shared lunch in the parish hall.  Group leader John Cassidy wrote afterwards:-

'Saturday’s DVD gathering was really lovely. Despite it being a busy month with Confirmations and First Communions, Fr John made time for one of the early morning interviews. Then at 12.00 about sixty came through the doors carrying delicious dishes that filled three large tables. There were representatives from five of our family groups. Eleven of our group attended, including Sarah (who inspired the gathering with her beautiful ‘helping hands’ prayer). We were delighted to welcome a few other parishioners too. These included two Sisters from the convent. Sr Judith Mary began our meal with a lovely ‘Grace’ and the shrieks of delight from the children’s activities table made a happy background noise to our gathering. Ray provided a jolly music ‘mash-up’ in which all energetically participated. The cameramen filmed unobtrusively before and during the proceedings and in their disarming manner, coaxed short interviews from many, including the children!'

The DVD will be shown to diocesan leaders at the Proclaim '15 National Evangelisation Event in July and then form part of a resource pack to support the growth and development of Family Groups in England and Wales.

For more information on the Family Group Movement and enquiries to the Steering Group about developing Family Groups in your area please email: familygroups2015@gmail.com

Family Groups Gather in Wales to Share their Experiences

The Archdiocese of Cardiff has Family Groups in two of its parishes and these groups form an integral part of parish life. A grant from the bishops' Celebrating Family Fund is now enabling the Family Life Commission to build on this foundation in 2015-16.  Family Life Worker, Joanne White, co-hosted an awareness raising day for Family Groups in Caerphilly on Saturday 21st March where the groups welcomed people from across the Archdiocese and further afield to share their experiences of building and sustaining Family Groups.

Joanne told us, 'It was a very affirming gathering and there was a definite sense of friendship, borne out of a common purpose and experience, which didn't detract from the uniqueness of each group or its parish.  One couple left the gathering hoping to speak to their parish priest about developing Family Groups.  I will offer all the support I can to them and to any other parish in the Archdiocese wishing to explore the concept further.' For more information please contact Joanne White, Family Life Worker. Tel: 02920 365964 email: parenting@rcadc.org

Other news:

• In September 2014 the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton was awarded funding through the Celebrating Family Fund to pilot Family Groups in the Diocese and research their impact on parish life. Kat Pond joined the Diocese's Pastoral Team in January 2015 as the Parish Family Groups Project Officer and has visited and introduced the concept to several parishes. The first launches will take place later this year. 
• Members of the Steering Group will help to deliver a workshop with the MFL Project Office's Elizabeth Davies, on developing welcoming, family friendly parish communities at the Proclaim '15 National Evangelisation Initiative on 11th July 2015.

For enquiries to the Steering Group or if your parish has any Family Group news that you would like to share on this blog please contact Hannah Moruzzi.

St Joseph's Parish, Bromley, Joins the Family

Many thanks to John and Penny Cassidy for sharing with us their lovely photo collage of the Family Groups' launch in Bromley last weekend.


We welcome St Joseph's Parish to the family and wish them every happiness on their journey together.  John and Penny (St Mary's Parish, Ipswich) and Glenda Clarke (Our Lady of Victories Parish, Kensington) have been working alongside Fr Tom McHugh and his parish team for the past few months to prepare for the launch.

John told us, "The Family Groups have successfully been launched and in St Joseph's Parish at the moment it’s like the start of the London Marathon (in nearby Greenwich).  Some 55 have already begun their journey, while crowds (yes, literally!) are in the background ready to start.  They just need to be nudged forward and this is already in hand.  The leaders of the nine groups (many more groups predicted) were really positive and will be proactive.  To echo the words of St Paul to his beloved Philippians: “I am sure that God, who began this good work …will carry it on until it is finished.”

For more information about Family Groups in England and Wales and enquiries to the Steering Group please email Hannah Moruzzi at the MFL Project Office

A Christmas Feast Banishes the January Blues for the Rafiki Family Group

Many thanks to Chris and Vince Joyce for sharing the photos of their Family Group's shared Christmas dinner in January!

Chris told us that it was 'an amazing feast' and that the gathering reminded them why they had joined their Family Group in the first place - and stuck with it for the past eight years.


Chris and Vince were recently elected as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Steering Group for Family Groups in England and Wales.


The Steering Group is made up of representatives from nine Family Group parishes and is supported by a Chaplain and regional FAMILIAS (Association for Diocesan Marriage and Family Life Ministry) representatives.

The Steering Group members are all passionate about the gift that Family Groups bring to our parishes and are working together to support and affirm existing Family Groups and to help new Family Groups get off the ground. For more information about Family Groups and for enquiries to the Steering Group please email Hannah Moruzzi at the MFL Project Office.

National Steering Group Convened For Family Groups in England and Wales

Following a period of consultation and two regional meetings with Family Group leaders,  a National Steering Group for Family Groups in England and Wales was convened in October 2014. 

The Steering Group is made up of representatives from 9 of the 11 Family Group parishes in England and Wales, regional diocesan family ministry coordinators, the PFGM's UK development team and a chaplain.  Administration and support of the group is currently carried out by staff at the Bishops' Conference's Marriage and Family Life Project Office.  The Steering Group has agreed three principal objectives for its work:-

• To provide a means of communication between Family Group parishes
• To support and affirm Family Group parishes and their leaders
• To offer a central contact point and a reservoir of energy, experience and support for the development of new Family Group parishes                                                                     

The Steering Group will be meeting in Leeds in January 2015 to discuss the support, resourcing, development and promotion of Family Groups in England and Wales and will assist in the launch of a new Family Group parish pilot in the diocese of Southwark in February 2015. The following parishes are represented on the Steering Group: 

Holy Rosary Parish, Aintree
Our Lady and the Apostles Parish, Stockport
Our Lady of Victories Parish, Kensington
St Bernadette's Parish, Scunthorpe
St Helen's Parish, Caerphilly
St John Vianney Parish, Northwich
St Mary's Parish, Ipswich
St Michael and St Bernadette's Parish, Whitefield
St Philip Evans Parish, Cardiff

For more information about Family Groups in England and Wales and all enquiries to the Steering Group please email Hannah Moruzzi at the MFL Project Office

St Bernadette's Family Groups put on a Truly (Frightful) Delightful Evening for the Parish

Many thanks to Chris, Denise and Lee from St Bernadette's Parish, Scunthorpe, for the following report and pictures of their Family Groups' 'delightful, frightful' parish party in October.

'St. Bernadette's family groups in Scunthorpe have celebrated their most successful event to date - a 'delightful, frightful evening'. Willing hands themed the parish centre with spooky figures, creepy cobwebs and dangling spiders in preparation for an evening of 'frights and delights'.  Chris, our Family Group coordinator, compered a fun evening of games and activities, which were thoroughly enjoyed by our parish family and friends.

Pre-carved pumpkins were lit with tea lights and background 'horror' music was played to create the ambience for the evening, which included apple bobbing,  pin a wart on a monster,  face painting, find the 'critters in jelly', creating pasta skeletons and spooky word searches, whilst enjoying 'mummies' fingers' in rolls, cups of 'poison' and delicious 'monster' buns. 

The highlights of the evening were team games which included 'glow in the dark' skeleton building relays, 'dress a mummy' and 'build a scarecrow' competitions, which were hilarious and enjoyed by both the participants and the audience.  

The evening was brought to a close after the children paraded in their fancy dress outfits and prizes were awarded to the best entrants in the fancy dress and pumpkin lantern competitions.'

If your parish has any Family Group news, details of upcoming events, reports or pictures that you would like to share with other Family Groups on this Blog please contact the MFL Project Office.

St Philip Evans' Family Group Braves Gale Force Gower Winds

We thought you might enjoy the pictures and highlights of a report sent to us by Bernie and Paul Nolan of Cardiff's Gold Family Group's infamous camping trip to the Gower in 2012.  It may be two years ago but the memories are still fresh in their minds!  We hope their recent weekend in York was less blustery.

'We are lucky to have many talented people in the Gold Family Group, including doctors, teachers, a dentist and even a Deacon. What we don’t have is a weather forecaster! The two outdoor events that we have staged so far have coincided with the wildest, wettest, windiest weekends so far this year. The barbecue in April was a washout (although we had a contingency plan and enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon in the Hall instead). Our next adventure was camping at the Hillend Campsite, Llangennith, Gower. Surely the weather would be much nicer come mid June. Wrong! People camping at Hillend last weekend could be put into one of three categories. 1: the very sensible (who had camper vans); 2: the pretty sensible (who used low tents pitched in the lee of their cars) and 3: us! Bernie and I borrowed a tent from our daughter who assured us that it was spacious and waterproof - it was. However, she forgot to tell us that it was so tall it needed a light on the top to warn low flying aircraft - not the best idea when the wind is gusting 60-70 mph.  After a brief fight with the conditions all the tents were erected successfully. Gareth, Val and Steve and Jan were staying in a nearby cottage and the plan was that they would join us for a barbecue. If you’ve never tried lighting a barbecue in a force 10 gale then take a tip from me - don’t bother.  Fortunately we were invited back to the cottage to eat there and thanks to the ladies we all enjoyed a lovely meal then spent a most wonderful evening together. 

At about 1 am we decided to return to our tents, assuming that they were still there. They were - I’m glad that I tied ours to the car! By now I had been out of bed for 20 hours, done a day’s work and then some, had a couple of glasses of wine and about 3 months ration of fresh air. Theoretically my head should have touched the pillow and that would have been that. Wrong! The noise inside the tent had to be heard to be believed, the wind noise was greatly amplified and the sounds coming from the tent itself were very alarming.  At about 5am Bernie and I were still wide awake.  She retired to the car and I tried to soldier on, but at 6.30 realised that the only real solution was a cup of tea.  I went to the car to get the tea making stuff and discovered that Neil had had the same idea.  As the other campers rose it became apparent that the only one to sleep successfully was baby Izzy - 4 months old and totally unfazed by the whole experience! 

Nobody fancied staying another night, so we packed up and returned to the cottage where we all enjoyed a Gower breakfast (a a full English with cockles and laverbread.) We listened to the rugby then decided to head for Rhossili where the winning entries in this year’s photographic competition were taken. Afterwards we descended on a local tea room where we all enjoyed various Lattes, Cappuccino’s and hot chocolates. Yana and Neil, Roy, Jess and Izzy and Bernie and myself agreed that we had had enough fun for one weekend and left for home (and the others, I believe, returned to the cottage).  And so the $64,000 question. Would we do it again?  Personally I can’t wait!'

If your parish has any Family Groups news, details of upcoming events, reports or pictures that you would like to share with other Family Groups on this Blog please contact the MFL Project Office.

       

Happy Second Birthday to the Family Groups in St Mary's Ipswich!

Congratulations to the Family Groups in St Mary's Parish, Ipswich who have just celebrated their second birthday!  And many thanks to John Cassidy for sending us the following report and pictures of their party:- 

"Not even a cold, foggy, wet November Saturday could dampen the spirits of the huge crowd (from 88 year old Horace to a quartet of one year old's)  that flocked to St Mary's, Ipswich.  They had come to celebrate the second birthday of our Family Groups.  All arrived clutching a plate of food (sweet or savoury) resulting in a wonderful array of deliciously different dishes from more than a dozen nations of the World.  Fr John Warrington, our Parish Priest, in his prelude to the opening prayer, expressed his joy at the growth of Family Groups in our Parish.  With great delight, and surrounded by excited children, he cut the cake and our three hour celebration began.  Yes, we have reached the age of two but we are just 'toddlers'.  Like all toddlers we have found our feet and are running about full of life.  We're keenly aware though, that we have much to learn from our older 'siblings' around the country and still need encouragement from our 'parents' in OZ."

 Chris Robertson and the Family Groups from St Bernadette's Parish, Scunthorpe are running a workshop on 'Building Family Groups' as part of the Diocese of Nottingham's Families and Faith Resource Day on Saturday 22nd November. For more information and to book a place please telephone: 0115 9539841 or email: formation@nrcdt.org

St Mary's Family Groups bring Southern India to Suffolk

Many thanks to John and Penny Cassidy for sending us the following report on their Family Group's October gathering to welcome Gwen Wintersheidt on her recent UK visit. We hope it inspires you and makes your mouths water!

To say that 23 of us sat down, last Sunday to a full South Indian meal with all the trimmings is to only tell half the story. When we told Gwen that one of our group, Anna, would cook something from her native Kerala, we didn't tell her that she, too, would have to roll up her sleeves as it was all to be cooked on site in St Mary’s Hall! 

It would have been easier for Anna to do it herself  but, with her two daughters, she gave us  all  the opportunity for hands-on cooking lessons & practical tips throughout. It was fun - for us! As their mum poured over the hot stove of the too-small cooker, in the overcrowded kitchen, Leeba and Litty tutored, encouraged and nudged us into chopping, peeling, stirring and rolling. Sojan came and shared his considerable cooking skills too. Somehow, amidst all the apparentchaos, the following meal appeared:

Chicken (breast) Curry

Puri

Poppadoms

Pilau Rice

Potato Bhaji

Dessert: Plantana in butter flavoured with Cardamom

Cathy, one of our parish cantors, gave a hauntingly beautifully rendition of   “An Irish Blessing” as our Grace.  As Anna had paired down the cost to an absolute minimum, £60 has been sent to Familia, a charity helping orphans in Northern India.' “Best Indian meal ever,” was the general consensus and “A great Family Group activity.” 

St Mary's Family Groups will be celebrating their second birthday on Saturday 15th November from 2pm to 5pm at St Mary's Hall.  If any Family Groups from other parishes wish to join in the celebrations please contact Hannah Moruzzi and she will put you in touch with the Parish Coordinators.