It has just been SOOOOOO busy!

I am shocked at how long it has been since my last post. New Year's ACN NW Resolution: Shorter, but more frequent blogs...no, really. I can do that; I love writing this blog, but I haven't had two seconds spare since my last post. Let me take you through it all quickly so we can get our timing back to the present!

St Austin's Advent Service

18 December: I attended a wonderful Advent Service at St Austin's Church in Garston, Liverpool. I had a great evening. All of the readings were in different languages (as well as in English, of course!) at this vibrant, multi-cultural parish; when I stood up to give my talk I asked whether they would count 'American' as another language to add to the tally for the evening... After the service we all retired to the Parish Hall where I ran a stall and met lots of interesting people: the two priests, teachers and catechists. I was invited to attend a parish retreat in 2015 and I bought a beautiful scarf from the parish stall that supports embroiderers in Bangladesh. Despite the pouring rain and the 2 1/2 hours (!!) it took to get there from Lancaster (rain, darkness and rush hour all working seamlessly together to delay me), I had a wonderful time. Thank you, Fr Unsworth for inviting me!
 

Hearts and Messages for Iraqi and Syrian Refugees

19 December: Very busy day! Hearts and messages of support sent out to Baghdad and the Good Shepherd Sisters in Lebanon in the morning. The afternoon saw my first meeting with Hussein to talk about the Iraq Solidarity Campaign; Huss was v, v helpful and has showed me lots of ways to jazz up my blog--none of which I've had time to implement yet, but I shall get to it soon! We are planning an an ACN Overnight Prayer Vigil for Iraqi Christians in Manchester in April; more on this as it develops. Off home at the end of the day for a small, select NW Office Christmas party; all other staff took off leaving just the Manager and the (canine) Head of Security--much hilarity all around.


Two weeks off for Christmas (most of which I spent in bed with 'flu...)

Since I've started up again, I have:

Moving the NW Office!

• Moved my office (so now my family can have dinner in the dining room again!);
• Begun to spread the word about Prayers from our Hearts to primary schools throughout the region--lots and lots of positive response, so things are really starting to take off with this!
• Organised posters, invitations, service sheets and newsletter blurbs for the TWELVE...yes, TWELVE...Prayer Vigils for Religious Freedom that will take place in the NW between 6 February and 20 March.
• Worked with Holy Name Church in Manchester and Hussein from the Iraq Solidarity Campaign to get the Overnight Vigil plans off the ground
• Opened dialogues with the Education Departments in all five regional dioceses to talk about all of ACN's resources for schools--2 meetings so far...which have resulted in at least 4 further meetings; still waiting to schedule the other three dioceses...
• Spent a great day at Castlerigg Manor, the Diocese of Lancaster's Youth Retreat Centre; Ruth and her team can weave a mean heart after our afternoon together!
• Attended what feels like about a million meetings all over the place. Last week I spent only 1 1/2 days in my office!

Heart-Weaving at Castlerigg

ENOUGH! I am back on track now. Look out 2015---here comes the NW Office!

Here's what you need to know for now:

Please tell your parish primary school about Prayers from our Hearts; if schools get in touch I can fill them in on our other resources for schools as well!

ACN Overnight Vigil for Iraqi Christians: Saturday 18 April - Sunday 19 April at Holy Name Church (Oxford Road, Manchester); more details to follow!

Upcoming ACN NW Prayer Vigils for Religious Freedom:

Friday 6 February: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, 7:30-9:00pm (Archbishop McMahon will be there and Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director, ACN UK, will be the guest speaker)

Saturday 7 February: The Chapel, Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, 7:30-9:00pm

Sunday 15 February: Lancaster Cathedral, 3:00-4:00pm (Bishop Campbell will be there)

Will report back as soon as I can; please get in touch via Facebook or Twitter if you can!

Thanks for Reading!

Caroline