A Programme of Pastoral and Spiritual Renewal
in the Diocese of Westminster 2002 - 2005

 

CORE COMMUNITY CONGRESS
CELEBRATES THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
 ‘AT YOUR WORD, LORD’ RENEWAL PROGRAMME

 

Mass celebrating the achievements of At Your Word, LordOver 800 leaders of the Diocese of Westminster’s ’At Your Word, Lord’ renewal programme attended a special Core Community Congress at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 10th December 2005. Representing 137 parishes from across the Diocese, the Congress celebrated the achievements of ’At Your Word, Lord’ and shared ideas for continuing the pastoral and spiritual renewal of the Diocese in 2006 and beyond. The ‘At Your Word, Lord’ process began three years ago with a Clergy Conference held in November 2002.

  • The day opened with a welcome from Fr. Stuart Wilson, who has been Director of ‘At Your Word, Lord’ since its launch in November 2002. He said: “We began as individuals but now we come together as communities to tell the story of Jesus. Through ‘At Your Word, Lord’, all of us have met Jesus afresh through the Gospel and through the Eucharist. Today is a day when we can say thank you for all that we have achieved.”

    Commenting on the achievements of the ‘At Your Word, Lord’ programme, Fr. Wilson said: “We have a new vision in the Diocese and in our parishes and this is a new understanding of our communion with God and a new understanding of being part of a vibrant community. Over the last three years we have created a new sense of mission and all now have a renewed desire for our lives to witness further the message of God’s love.
  • In a key-note address Fr. John McDade SJ, Principal of Heythrop College, said that ‘At Your Word, Lord’ was helping to revitalize the relationship between the common priesthood of the baptized and the ministerial priesthood of the ordained in the Diocese of Westminster: “Perhaps what we’re seeing with the success of ‘At Your Word, Lord’, is the Church being made from below. I think we’re ready for this. That’s not a threat to the Church being made ‘from above’ through the ministry of bishops and priests: it complements it. The divine gifts are poured out through the whole community for the building up of the whole community. We’re experiencing ways in which the common priesthood and the ministerial priesthood are developing together in a spirituality of communion and trust.” ('A Living Prayer: Common Priesthood and Ministerial Priesthood’, by John McDade SJ)
  • The Congress culminated with a special Mass of Celebration led by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. In his homily, he praised the energy, skills and dedication of Fr. Stuart Wilson, the ‘At Your Word, Lord’ team and the Core Communities, faith groups leaders and other participants.
  • “ 'In At Your Word, Lord' the people of our Diocese, assisted by your leadership, have shown themselves to be courageous, faithful, and willing to put out into the deep. And this is why, my dear friends, I have no hesitation in asking us, now that we are out in deep waters, to go deeper: to deepen our prayer life, to love the Mystery and Gift of the Mass which is the summit of the celebration of our faith; to help people to know more about Jesus and His Body, which we call the Church; to gather people together so that we can walk together as pilgrims in our parishes, in our communities, in our diocese”
  • ENDS

 Notes to Editors:

  • Facts and Figures about ‘At Your Word, Lord’.
  • There have been 5 seasons of ‘At Your Word, Lord’
  • Season One: God, a Community of Love
  • Season Two: Conversion
  • Season Three: Reaching Out through Evangelisation
  • Season Four: Reconciliation – Promoting Deeper Unity
  • Season Five: Recreate the Face of the Earth – Build the Kingdom of God
  • The ‘At Your Word, Lord process’ was launched in November 2002 with a Conference for Priests and in December 2002 with an invitation for parish participation from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. The Launch of the ‘At Your Word, Lord’ programme was marked at Wembley Arena in September 2003 when over 10,000 people joined together celebrating in Mass the beginning of the journey of renewal.
  • Over 20,000 people have actively participated in some 2,000 faith sharing groups which have been set up in parishes through the AYWL process
  • In the course of his work as Director of ‘At Your Word, Lord’, Fr Stuart Wilson has travelled over 30,000 miles throughout the Diocese of Westminster.

For further information contact:

Eddie Tulasiewicz
Diocesan Communications Officer
Tel. 020 7798 9031
Email eddiet@rcdow.org.uk
Address: Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue, London SW1P 1QJ.

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