For the last twelve years, my husband, James, and I have been part of a team seeking to bring renewal to our local parish church, St Joseph’s, in Guildford. During formational years as members of Cor et Lumen Christi community and Holy Trinity Brompton (where James attended before becoming a Roman Catholic) the Lord gave us a heart for parish renewal. When we moved to Guildford, the obvious starting point seemed to be to run an outreach course but instead the Lord led us to form a small group – somewhere for people to come for fellowship and formation and to be as a family. From the outset, the vision was to bring about a renewed parish rather than the group being an end in itself. Through giving people the opportunity to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and continuing their formation it was hoped that through them the ministries of the church would be renewed making the parish able to provide more for both parishioners and the town beyond.

Over 100 people involved in ministries within and outside the parish

We have seen growth as the initial group of four has swelled to well over a hundred people involved in ministries within and outside the parish. Belonging to a small group, or home group as we call them, is the norm for many Christians and we have found that belonging to one is, along with Sunday Mass and personal prayer, essential for our Christian walk. A previous article (Good News Jan/Feb 2006) outlined how the groups developed. The key has been to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in the next step forward and to develop team ministry. The verses in Acts 2:42-47 have become foundational. They show a snapshot of the early church and help us to remember first principles, one being the need to meet together regularly.

Mission team to Galway

People often say to us ‘that could never happen in my parish’ but the truth is that God can do anything! (Mt 19:26). We have a responsibility to share what we have received through Baptism in the Holy Spirit and can have a faith vision for what God can do in our parishes. This doesn’t mean it will be easy and at times it can almost feel impossible! Remaining focussed and being prepared to make sacrifices can help through difficult times. It’s often been when I’ve felt most discouraged that our two daughters have reminded me of all God can do! Encouragingly, through us speaking at conferences, most notably giving seminars at Celebrate, there is now a network of people in parishes across the UK and Europe wanting to see renewal of their parishes and doing something about it. Some of them, through using home groups as a starting point, are seeing new life and real signs of hope.
It needs to start with us

There are numerous reasons why renewal is not impacting our parishes as it could. Some people are reliant on their priest, feel burnt out or are unaware of spiritual warfare. Often there is a lack of vision and the question ‘what’s in it for me?’ is asked rather than ‘what can I give to my parish?’ Sometimes people are not prepared to try new initiatives or they insist on doing things their own way. But we can do ‘all things through Him who gives us strength’ (Phil 4:13) and we can take encouragement from other Christian denominations who have seen great renewal; they show us it is possible. The bottom line is that it needs to start with us. We can start right where we are and ask the Holy Spirit to equip and inspire us.

Find one person to start praying with

Not long ago someone called me saying she was desperate to see renewal of her parish so I suggested she find one other person with whom to start praying. She did not feel that she knew anyone who she could approach to pray in this way so I recommended that on the following Sunday at Mass she ask the Holy Spirit to show someone to approach about praying together. She rang me excitedly to say that she had done just that and, led by the Spirit, approached someone she hadn’t met before. She found they too were desperate to see renewal of the parish. Similarly, someone contacted us saying they felt called to run the Alpha course but did not feel they had resources to do it on their own. I suggested they link up with another parish locally that ran Alpha, for support. They assured me there was no one in the vicinity but I encouraged them to pray and ask the Lord to provide. They called back saying they had bumped into an Anglican clergyman and getting into conversation it transpired he had been longing to start Alpha too. Together they ran a very successful joint course which was a blessing to many. If we trust God and ask Him to provide He will never fail us but it does usually require some action on our behalf!

No programme or event is as attractive as community

A renewed parish is easy to imagine but much of what we hope for is peripheral and a conversion of heart needs to come first. Each individual needs to know God as Father, Jesus as Saviour and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything else – service, giving, evangelization etc – flows from this. No programme or event is as attractive as community. We need to show others Jesus by our lives and by our relationships. We need to make sure that we are praying, fasting, discerning and serving as these elements will make a firm foundation for building and sustaining parish community. There then needs to be outreach, continued formation in small groups and ongoing training.

Becoming involved in others’ lives can be time consuming and demanding and building God’s Kingdom can involve unglamorous tasks! People say to us ‘I don’t know what my gifts are’ but often through serving, others recognize our giftings and the Lord is able to use us if we are prepared to do anything for Him. Choosing to find time to serve is contrary to the current culture that tells us to indulge ourselves and sticking at it is even harder. The Holy Spirit, however, helps to sustain us through our difficulties so that we bear long term fruit for the kingdom of God...

Home groups include people from many different walks of life

At St Joseph’s our home groups are charismatic and include people from many different walks of life. The groups are arranged to each include younger and older people, male, female, married and single and this reflects God’s family. Alpha and CaFE courses have been our main sources of outreach and led to the groups multiplying. Growth is essential if we are to include others even though it may feel more comfortable to remain as we are.

We are accountable to our parish priests and our current priest is a blessing and supportive of the work we do with other parishes. A core team is responsible for planning programmes, sourcing material, training new leaders etc., and a wider team of leaders are responsible for organizing and leading meetings in the homes. The home groups meet fortnightly and each meeting includes teaching, praise and worship, ministry and refreshments. We all meet together twice a term for an evening with an outside speaker and have social events, prayer breakfasts and evenings of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There are also teams for intercession, worship and PA, prayers for the priests, church cleaning, meal provision, prayer ministry and social action. Some of us are Alpha advisors and work with other churches in Guildford on various projects. We have no formal commitment to one another but we ask members of the home groups to pray the novena to the Holy Spirit daily and to fast on Thursdays for the parish.

We are very grateful for all that God has done here so far but know there is more to come! We recently visited St Eustorgio’s Catholic Church in Milan which has received Vatican recognition for the parish cell system of evangelization. Here we met Don Pigi the parish priest. It was wonderful to hear their story of renewal and development in the parish through the cell group system and how small groups remain at the heart of everything they do. Someone in our groups recently wrote ….being part of the Home Groups is a lifeline to my faith, because it keeps me learning, encouraged and accountable - and equips me to do the same for others. It transforms community from a buzzword into a reality’ and if that can be true for more people then it is indeed a work to pursue.

If you have been touched by this article and would like to know how to set up a parish cell, please contact: 01483 820833

Michelle and James Harrison are parishioners of St Joseph’s in Guilford, and part of the leadership team for the Parish Cell System network.