Faith Friends 2009

Faith Friends is a Confirmation preparation programme which ran in our parish on three Sunday mornings: 22nd February, 8th March and 22nd March 2009.

David's group, 'The Holy Humans' hard at work, and their finished poster (below)

We know that St Bernadette's school prepares the children very well for their Confirmation, and that their parents are the first and most important educators of their children in faith. So we decided to join up the so-called 'triangle of faith'- home, school and parish- by running a parish programme.

Lucy's group 'The Doves' at work on their poster (below)

Fr Stephen approached some local young parishoners: Lesley Ann, Pauline and John, who are all teachers, and asked them to co-run the programme. They adjusted the materials and together trained the young leaders.

Louise's group 'Bob to You' discuss what to put on their poster

Next we had to choose the leaders. All of them are aged 17-20 and attend our parish. They are quite a mixed bunch: a 6th year pupil, some student teachers, a sports science student, a trainee electrician etc. Some but not all had travelled to Lourdes with ALMA last summer. Many thanks are due to them for their dedication and creativity: David, Siobhan, Louise, Lucy, David, Paul, Kathleen, Paul, Chris and Donna.

Siobhan's group 'The Amigos' look at some magazines for their collage. The finished product.

The first week's session was about Confirnmation as an invitation from God. A few weeks before, the children each received a personal hand-written invitation from their team leader, and on the day they reflected upon different types of invitations. They had fun matching up invitations from The Simpsons, High School Musical etc to their sender and receiver, and reflected on why someone would accept an invitation or not. After exploring the idea of Confirmation as God's invitation to them, they were able to write a personal Confirmation invitation to a family member or friend.

David's group 'Team North Motherwell' prove why they're 'number one'! (below)

The second session looked at each person's unique response to God's invitation to Confirmation. After talking a little about their own gifts and talents, the groups read the story of Pentecost, and heard how the early Christian community brought their talents to the temple to pray together. The children mapped their way to church on a huge map of North Motherwell with 'feet' stickers. They then discussed a cartoon which featured people in church with speech bubbles coming out of their mouths, with each person in the cartoon saying why they go to church. The children filled in the other speech bubbles and put into words why they go to church.

Donna's group 'The Frosties' were always very involved and animated as you can see (below)

The final session was a very creative one. During the previous two weeks the children had been blogging on the parish website in school. The blogs could be about a talent they have which they use to help other people, or else any way in which they are preparing for Confirmation. We would like to thank Mr O'Raw, Mrs McIntyre and Mrs McKerr for allowing the time in class and encouraging the pupils to blog. The url for the blogs is www.stbernadettes.co.uk/faithfriends

During this session the groups decorated posters which were about their blog entry, and you can see how creative their posters are, using digital photography, drawing, collage, even medals stuck on one poster.

Chris' group 'The Siete Amigos' putting together their collage-style poster. Looks like two of the amigos were off that week! (below)

The Faith Friends programme concluded with a special celebratory 11 a.m. Mass after the final session on Sunday 22nd March. The hymns were specially chosen for the kids to sing, and two of them, Rachel and David, read the readings. At the offertory procession all of the posters were brought forward, and after Mass everyone had a chance to view them.

Paul's group 'The Kool Kidz' have the marker pens at the ready to make a great poster (below)

The posters will be on display in the church soon.

Kathleen's group 'The Athletes' were right at the fire door: but no one made a sharp exit! They all enjoyed Faith Friends (below)

So many thanks are due to everyone involved in Faith Friends. Pauline, Lesley Ann and John were excellent overall leaders and contributed lots of expertise. The team leaders took on a great responsibility, and proved to be outstanding role models to the confirmandi. The hall committee made sure everything was clean and ready for each session. The primary 6 and 7 teachers in St Bernadette's provided lots of support and enthusiasm for the project from the word go.

Paul's group 'The Leprechauns' were sometimes short on numbers but never of talent and enthusiasm (below)

Parents encouraged their children to come along even though it was an early start each Sunday. Finally, the children themselves entered fully into the spirit of the programme and very worked hard. We hope that this will prove to be an unforgettable experience for them on their journey of faith.

The children will be confirmed by Bishop Joseph Devine on Monday 11th May 2009.