In February 150 priests and Deacons met for a wonderful retreat at Walsingham. At the end of the week 7-8 February, a group of clergy met in at Walsingham to plan the relaunch of the Fan the Flame initiative. Well over a hundred parishes have benefitted in the past from this week-long teaching mission, led by local lay co-ordinators and resourced by visiting missioners. The group of sixteen missioners who gathered at Walsingham included both those who had led such missions before, and those who were new to the task but were keen to incorporate the work of teaching missions into their priestly ministry. Bishop Lindsay Urwin, the originator and founder of Fan the Flame, framed our time together with a bible study on 1 Timothy to start us off, and with a concluding Mass in the Barn Chapel. In between, the sessions were led by Fr Mark Gilbert SSC (Vicar of St Wilfrid, Chichester) and Fr Damian Feeney SSC (Vice-Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford), both of whom will be overseeing the running of the initiative.
We have our first mission in the pipeline, for June, and we are hopeful that this wonderful gift to the church can be restored to its former vigour. Accordingly, we ask three things. Firstly of all, please do remember us in your prayers. Prayerful support is at the heart of the Fan the Flame process, and your prayers will be vital as we move forward. Secondly, please consider having a Fan the Flame mission in your parish. It is a wonderful opportunity for the renewal and energising of God’s faithful. Thirdly, we are looking to incorporate new missioners into the Mission Task Force so that we will be able to resource the missions effectively. Please do contact us if you would like to know more.
If you are interested in give in a week of your time to help another Parish as a member of the Task force please could you send an email to fantheflameweek@msn.com. More information can be found on our new website:
http://fantheflameweek.weebly.com