A men’s group, a cup of tea and more than 50 people searching: Canon Malachy on how the Cathedral responds to the Mission Plan.
Canon Malachy Brett was early. Half an hour before Adoration began at Corpus Christi Church in Clifton, the Cathedral Dean was already in his pew. He waited quietly while the church filled.
People came in slowly, and Bishop Patrick McKinney thanked each of them at the door. Just before it began, a woman hurried in with her three children and took the last row. Then everyone knelt and sang. When the singing ended, the church fell completely silent.
The evening on Thursday 1 October opened the Bishop’s visitation of the Nottingham Deanery. Like each visitation before it, it began with Adoration, a time of quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. It was a way of asking the Holy Spirit for guidance before anyone talked about their parish mission plans.
Afterwards, Canon Malachy admitted that new starts can be daunting, and that he has felt it himself. “I myself was anxious about the social media,” he said. “I was very apprehensive about it, but it has been very successful for the cathedral parish.”
What would he say to a brother priest nervous about becoming more missionary? Look outward, he said, and try “not to be afraid to do things very differently”. He pointed to Pope Leo XIV at Lourdes only days before. “We all saw for ourselves how he came down among the people, and he walked with them,” he said. “He shared their journey.”
He also borrowed a phrase from Pope Francis: “we need to be able to smell the sheep.” It pictures a priest as a shepherd, close enough to his people to share their life.
Bishop Patrick’s message to the deanery was the same: start where you are. “If you’ve begun, that’s brilliant,” he said. “That’s exactly where we want you to be.”
Go, Make Disciples, the Diocesan Mission Plan, asks each parish to choose just three steps towards becoming more missionary. The Cathedral has chosen its three. The first is Sons of Encouragement, a men’s group named after the Cathedral’s own patron, St Barnabas, whom the Bible calls the “son of encouragement”. It will meet every two weeks for prayer, honest conversation and support.
“Men in the Church are a bit reluctant to share as the ladies are able to share,” Canon Malachy said. He remembers when “the two princes came out and talked about mental health”. Everyone talks about it now, he said, “but men are still a bit reluctant to do so”.
The second is a Places of Welcome hub, open on Wednesday mornings in the Cathedral hall, especially for people who are lonely or isolated. “They can come, and they can talk, and they can have a cup of tea,” he said, “and maybe even set a puzzle going.” He hopes it will mean that “everyone has a place to start somewhere”.
The third step grows out of the Cathedral’s course for adults exploring the Catholic faith (RCIA), which he says “has shown us great strength”. Last year more than 35 people became Catholic at the Cathedral, many of them young adults.
But people don’t arrive on a timetable. They come through the door all year round, so the parish is building its ongoing formation offer with a monthly gathering to pray, learn and share stories of faith. The Parish Mission Team hopes this means that no one who arrives is left waiting for next year’s course.
It has also made sure there are people to meet them. Around Easter, the Cathedral recruited new catechists, who teach the faith, and companions, who walk alongside someone on their journey. It wanted to be ready in case even more people came forward.
They did. More than 50 came to the first night of this year’s course, which began at the end of last month. “The people are all searching,” Canon Malachy said. “There is a space in our hearts that only God can fill.”
Some are “wanting to know a little bit more”. Then, at the right stage, he said, “people will step forward and say, ‘I want a bit of this.’”
If you recognise that space in yourself, you could start with a cup of tea on a Wednesday morning in the Cathedral hall. Or ask about the course for adults exploring the Catholic faith at nottinghamcathedral.co.uk
Wondering how the Cathedral chose its three steps? Read its Mission Plan update, from listening to the parish to the plans for year one: Cathedral Mission Plan.
Has your parish chosen its three steps? We’d love to hear them. Email communications@dioceseofnottingham.uk or share them on social media with #GoMakeDisciplesNotts. If you’re still wondering where to start, you’re in good company. The Adult Formation for Mission team can meet with your parish to help you find a first step: adult.formation@dioceseofnottingham.uk.
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