Lasallian Association for Mission in Bristol (LAMB)

NEWS

• we all want to belong to LAMB, we have not yet outlived our roles, though these may not yet be clear, there is an ongoing commitment
• those of us who went to the Trowbridge day valued the experience of working together on the day of reflection for the Trowbridge group of young people
• we wonder how to attract others into the ambit of the mission, what would be an attractive style of life for young people to join in, and at what age, and under what circumstances
• we wonder if it may be necessary or effective to move to Bristol, in order to provide some kind of out of school experience that small numbers of us could staff, not to impose on all our other commitments unduly;  that beginning this may be possible before such a move, with negotiations with Fr Jim at St James.
• these meetings at Clevedonhave been useful for us to recognise issues that we need to address
• we are in the process of discovering the mission, the need in young people in the Bristol schools is clearly there, and that there is a need for ongoing formation
• a lot of people have been touched by LAMB/St Gabriel's, it has already done so much excellent work
• it is important to be aware of our own limitations and gifts, perhaps to draw up an inventory of these amongst the current members
• it would be valuable to establish contact with groups that have been to Kintbury, a rolling programme outside school, as well as the contact various of us have in school

some clear directions were indicated:


• that St Gabriel's is probably only able to stay in Clevedon for one more year, therefore issues of location and personal accommodation become urgent, there are various possibilities being thought of
• that we don't need to wait until then to evaluate the direction for the community mission now and of LAMB inasmuch as it is different
• the image of loosening the soil came up as way of letting our minds become creative in ways of interpreting the mission, who we are and where we are going
• the fact that a junior LAMB team is up and running at St Bernadette's and can we do more to develop their formation
• that we should visit the Diocese to update them on the mission of LAMB and all the progress so far.
• the imminent closure finally of all schooling at St Tom's means that there are time and resource implications for the resident community

Bro Benet's report (19/9/04)

St Gabriel's community, Clevedon, in association with LAMB

We are up and galloping. We are a community of four: Owen, Caroline, Michael and Benet. A fifth young woman has expressed an interest and we have responded with an invitation to "come and see". Caroline was in charge of a house of prayer and acted as a chaplain/counsellor one day a week to one of the schools; she has lots of local contacts; Michael is the equivalent of the volunteers at Kintbury. He is keen to be involved with the students and is a superb musician. We hope to find someone of similar age to offer peer support.

The LAMB group has been wonderfully helpful and supportive. They really are a dedicated group. Some students with Kintbury experience also wish to be associated with our community and work. Fr Bob Rainbow, Catholic Chaplain at UWE (University of the West of England) is also a keen supporter of LAMB.

We began with four days in St Brendan's 6th form College for their enrolment days and managed to meet nearly all of the 600 new students. We gave out a leaflet, explained who we were and outlined the activities and experiences we would be able to offer in conjunction with the Chaplaincy team.

We visit St Brendan's 6th Form College on Mondays, St Bede's School (11-16) on Wednesdays, St Thomas More (11- 16) on Thursdays and St Bernadette (11-16) on Fridays, all of them in Bristol.

We have already been approached by the parish to help with a post-confirmation youth group once a month on Monday evenings, and to act as Eucharistic Ministers.

We have tried to engage with students and staff in all four places. The SMT and staff of the schools have been extremely welcoming and have gone out of their way to make it easy for us to be involved. So far we have attended (and explained ourselves) at assemblies and staff briefings, have organised staff prayer and staff Mass; have led a beginning of year service for the 6th form college; have taken groups of students for reflection modules (Pilgrimage, and Justice issues for Racial Justice Sunday), have gone into classes; have run lunch time chaplaincy activities; invited students to morning prayer before school; have helped to run Year 7 retreat days in St Bede's and St Thomas More. We have met with the wider LAMB group on four or five occasions. We are booked to do a day retreat for Cathsoc at UWE (University of the West of England), and have been approached to help the Quaker Chaplaincy team at UWE on one of their reflection sessions. Some of the team have also helped students with difficulties, and given them support on a one-to-one basis.

We have met with a number of students who had been on retreat to Kintbury and who wish to continue that experience. One group of about 20 in St Bede's are really enthusiastic and intend meeting every Wednesday (the day we are there). We have promise to support them. Two of the schools are taking groups to Kintbury in October. Michael has offered to go with them.

On our training days we went into detail about each different establishment. They are very different in size, clientele, social background and ethos. The 6th Form College is about 40% Catholic and is probably our greatest challenge; St Thomas More (which will be closing in two years amidst all kinds of local/diocesan politics) is an inner city school with lots of life and the most diverse ethnic mix, and probably about 40% Catholic; St Bede's is about 95% Catholic and has a reputation of being one of the "preferred" schools in Bristol. St Bernadette is a rich mixture: Caroline, who had worked there before, established a strong chaplaincy tradition which made our involvement so much easier. Lots of students turn up for the voluntary activities (workshops, meditations, etc). On Friday over 50 youngsters came to the lunch time chaplaincy activities we organised. We are also able to give students in all the establishments the gift of time. We are pleased to be able to support so many really devoted staff in their care for the young people.

We have met as a community and drawn up various understandings about our life together. We worked on our prayer life and our own faith sharing; this latter comes naturally now. We continue to review on a regular basis what is effectively a Community Annual Programme, though without any real formality.

We are an open house and have received lots of guests - friends of members of the community, and LAMB members in particular. We have met with the Franciscan friars in the parish and the Mercy Sisters who live opposite the church, and members of staff have also visited for a meal in the evening.

The house is a pleasant bungalow with magnificent panoramas over the Bristol Channel. The personal rooms are a little small, but we have all adapted to them. Initially we feared that the travel would be particularly wearing. While it is not easy, the journeys have not proved as bad as expected. We leave on two mornings at 7.15, and the other two at 7.30. After school we usually stay on and meet with staff to discuss the day and plans for the next visit. We then return home (usually between 45 minute and 1hr 15 minute journeys), someone cooks; we eat leisurely and reflect on and talk over the day and the next day(s) in order to refine preparations. We pray at about 9.15 p.m. It's then time to make sandwiches for lunch, and retire (or continue to finalise details for the morrow). We are fortunate that two of the schools have morning Mass for staff. One other has staff morning prayer, and we arrange morning prayer at the remaining one. Tuesday is our community day, when we spend time together, but also do the house work, laundry and shopping. Having said that, occasionally we are called away for meetings and other activities.

Other "plans" include helping students develop the Millennium Wood at the 6th Form College; improving the wild garden at St Bernadette, and tending the garden of the local Maximilian Kolbe chapel at St Thomas More.

The reality of the need is such that we could spend the whole week in any one of the schools. The present arrangement is a compromise with all of them. If the community increases in the future, it might be possible to "share" ourselves out and go to a school more than once in the week. This is perhaps running before we can walk!

Benet

LAMB's mission started

The period of Formation is now (25/8/04) complete. During five days spent together, the community looked at its mission and development, plus much time spent in prayer.

The LAMB team has now started working in three schools and one college in Bristol. The team will generally be present in each location for one day per week.

Accomodation

The lease has now (end July) been signed on our community house in Bristol and Bro Benet has moved in. The rest of the community will arrive in August. Photos are available here.

LAMB attendance at De La Salle Brothers' Chapter

Several members of LAMB w ere present at t he Brothers' District Chapter between the 2nd and 4th of April . We tabled a paper describing where we are now and what we are asking the Brothers for. Many Brothers present expressed personal words of encouragement. The final version of the Chapter report confirms the Brothers' support for this venture.

Dulverton retreat

Between 12th and 14th March 2004, LAMB organised a weekend retreat for Year 9 pupils from three schools in Bristol: St Bernardette's, St Thomas More's and St Bede's. The feedback from this retreat was very encouraging: the top request for next time was for a longer retreat. Seventeen out of seventeen pupils would come on another retreat, and fifteen would recommend it to their friends. Detailed feedback (anonymous) is available.