Hope in the Future

Hope in the Future is Bishop John’s invitation to every Parish in the Salford Diocese to recognise, celebrate and develop their missionary identity and their call to evangelise.
 Our Parish has responded to this invitation by embracing the programme.
Learn more and get involved.

October 10, 2022: Update from the Deanery

From Joe Howson, our Deanery Hope in the Future Representative.

Hope in the Future Stage 5

On Tuesday 04th October, Saint John Henry Newman Catholic College in Oldham hosted the Launch of Stage 5 of Hope in the Future.  “As we embark on the fifth and final Stage of Hope in the Future, entitled ‘Sharing the Hope’, we turn our attention to putting our Faith into action through caring for those most in need in our local area and caring for our Common Home.”

Faith and Justice

To help facilitate and implement stage 5 we are creating a deanery Faith & Justice Group. If you are interested in joining the group please contact Joe Howson at: joehowson@googlemail.com – one of the first actions to be undertaken by the group will be to undertake an audit/survey of all the faith in action activities that are currently taking place across our deanery.

Deanery Workshop on the environment 

A workshop on the environment will take place at St Mary’s Bamber Bridge on Saturday 22 October from 1 – 5 pm. It would be great to see as many parishioners as possible at this event. It fits neatly into stage 5 of the HiTF programme. A separate email advertising this event has been sent.  For more information see our Laudato si’ webpage

Journeys in Faith

We are currently producing a guide booklet for those parishioners who are interested in recording their Journey in Faith. We hope to have the guide booklet printed by the end of October. Those parishioners who want to record their story will be sent a copy of the booklet, which will help them to prepare for the ‘telling’ of their story.

October 4, 2022: Launch of Stage 5

Saint John Henry Newman Catholic College Oldham hosted the Launch of Stage 5 of Hope in the Future:  “As we embark on the fifth and final Stage of Hope in the Future, entitled ‘Sharing the Hope’, we turn our attention to putting our Faith into action through caring for those most in need in our local area and caring for our Common Home.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Throughout Stage 4 of our Hope in the Future journey, we have been reflecting on
‘Proclaiming the Good News’, reflecting on how we can develop links between our
schools, parishes and families and how we can help those who come into contact with our
parishes to experience the Good News of Jesus Christ.

As we embark on the fifth and final Stage of Hope in the Future, entitled ‘Sharing the
Hope’, we turn our attention to putting our Faith into action through caring for those most
in need in our local area and caring for our Common Home.

Our parishes already make an enormous contribution to the local community. This has
been shown greatly during the difficulties of the last few years. In these unprecedented
times there were many initiatives in the parishes that kept people in touch with one
another and made connections with people who would otherwise have been isolated and
alone. I would like to thank and commend all those priests and people who have given so
generously of their time in extra duties to the service of their parish and wider
community.

The Fifth Stage will place an emphasis on building on this existing outreach and resourcing
and providing new opportunities for the parish to be a beacon of hope within the local
area.

When Jesus was asked which is the greatest of all the commandments, he replied, ‘you
must love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and
with all your strength and you must love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:30-31).
Jesus makes it very clear that our Faith and good works must go together.
Pope Francis reminds us that everything is inter-connected and as Missionary Disciples we
have a duty to respond to the cry and the earth and the cry of the poor. This Stage brings
together the themes of Missionary Discipleship, Accompaniment and Synodality.
It is my hope that this Stage is an opportunity for individuals, parishes, schools and
deaneries to learn more about the needs in their community and then to prayerfully
discern how best to respond, with the resources available to them.
Please keep the Hope in the Future Programme and our Parishes, Schools and Homes in
your prayers. With my thanks for all that you do and my prayers for the success of your
Parish endeavors.

Stay with us, Lord, on our journey.

+ John
Bishop John Arnold

The Fifth Stage will place an emphasis on building on existing outreach and resourcing and providing new opportunities for our communities to be a beacon of hope within the local area.”  Much inspiration for this Stage comes from the writings of Pope Benedict in Deus Caritas Est, 25.  “The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility:

  • of proclaiming the word of God,
  • celebrating the sacraments,
  • exercising the ministry of charity.

These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable.”

There is a St John Southworth Deanery Hope in the Future Group which will take Hope in the Future Stage 5 forward for the whole deanery.  We have plans for a Faith and Justice Group and are working on a series of Journeys in Faith: “A project to provide parishioners and interested people with an opportunity to tell and share their journey in faith – how it has been influenced, challenged, matured, lost, found, changed over time.”  We already have twelve people ready to share their journeys.

You can see the Stage 5 resources pack here 

Contact Anthony Brown on 01200 422811 for details of the St John Southworth Hope in the Future Group