Fr Victor Vella, parish priest of Holy Innocents’, Orpington in
Southwark diocese, concerned at the way he has seen parish numbers
declining in the Church over the last couple of decades, is taking a
radical steps to explore a new way of being parish in the 21st century.He comments: “It has become clear to me over the last few years that the old model of home-school-parish, which has been the bulwark of Catholic evangelisation for so long is no longer effective. We need a new model if we want to support our existing Catholic population and to reach out to those who have stopped practicing their faith or who are spiritually searching.”
He feels that the parish evangelising cells model (PECs) which has been pioneered in Europe by St Eustorgio’s in Milan could be the way forward.
Small groups have always played a strong role in the life of the Church and in one sense cells are simply an extension of this. The ethos of the cell is very holistic and incorporates service, study, prayer and evangelisation. Cell members are encouraged to recognise their responsibility to share the gospel with their “Oikos” (Greek for “household”).
These are their personal network of relationships and the people they will have most influence over – family, friends, work colleagues and those they come into contact with over the course of their day – in their neighbourhood, at the surgery or the hairdressers.
The weekly or fortnightly cell meeting provides an opportunity for teaching (usually provided by the parish priest on CD), mutual support and prayer. The members of the group also share with each other how they are managing to evangelise and share their faith. This is often very low key and might simply be giving someone a suitable book or finding a way at work to identify oneself as a Christian.
The outward looking dynamic of the cell means that the group grows in numbers. When it reaches 12 people, however, the cell multiplies into two and the process begins again.
In Milan the practice of the faith in the city is generally about 7% but St Eustorgio’s has a Mass going population of about 1500 with over 1000 people in 150 parish cells. These meet at different times of the day in homes and cafes and workplaces. Parish priest Don Pigi Perini credits the cells with totally transforming his parish over the last 25 years.
At a time when parishes are often too large for the priest to keep contact with every parishioner, many people on the fringes can fall through the net. The cells, however, because they operate like an extended family, are an ideal way to ensure that this doesn’t happen.
Here giftings and talents are discovered and put to use and leaders found to help the rest of the work of the parish.
Fr Victor has already visited St Eustorgio twice, and on the second occasion he brought 14 members of his parish with him. The whole group came back on fire, and since then they have been meeting monthly and recently organised a three day national seminar, “Come and See: Putting Evangelisation into Practice” with talks by Fr Pat Collins CM, Michelle Moran, Fr Frank Sullivan and Don Pigi Perini, the parish priest of St Eustorgio, who flew over from Milan to participate.
This took place 23rd-25th November 2012 and was attended by 200 people – 120 from the parish and 80 people from outside the parish.
People travelled from Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, and Northamptonshire as well as locally and the Greater London area. One man even came from Ireland.
Parishioners showed great hospitality to the visitors, and those coming from long distances were put up in their homes.
The Holy Innocents’ team are organising another visit to Milan this coming May – 19th-24th May to attend the 2013 International workshop on the parish cells, where participants will get an opportunity to hear about how the cells work and also to visit them in practice.
Those who are interested in going to Milan in May to find out more about this dynamic parish model should write to Fr Victor Vella, parish priest, Holy Innocents’ Catholic Church, Strickland Way, Orpington, Kent, BR6 9UE tel 01689 817537 / fax 01689 817539 parish@holyinnocents.org.uk or victorvella@hotmail.com
Closing date end of February.