During this second week of Advent, the pupils and staff have been asked to consider the second Synod question on the theme of ‘Peace’.
- Who are the people who feel excluded and left out in the Church?
- How can we reach out, listen to and love them?
Some of the children’s responses will be posted here.
All of the responses will be condensed into an overview and shared with Father Gabriel at St Wilfrid’s Parish Church.
6 comments
In Year 3 the children have been discussing who they feel are excluded and left out in the Church and how we can reach out to them. Some of the people they discussed were the sick, those who don’t have transport, those with mental health issues and the elderly. They suggested that we can ask these people to play in our games, talk to them and smile at them.They also suggested that if they aren’t part of the Church, invite them to join..
In Year 6 we had a good discussion about the people we felt were left out in church and spoke about the different reasons people may feel excluded. We thought that the people who probably felt the most left out were those who were physically unable to attend church for example elderly people or those with disabilities that stop them from accessing the church such as in a wheelchair. We said the church could reach out to them by asking parishioners to help escort people to church if they need support, offering some masses online even after the pandemic and making churches themselves more inclusive by introducing ramps, wider doors and pews for wheelchair access. We also said people who have small children might feel left out as they might be worried about their child settling in a service. To help this we thought there could be a children’s area with activities based around the service provided or perhaps a separate room with a different child-focus service/activity that is supervised to allow parents to enjoy mass. Finally we thought that the wider community might feel left out if they aren’t aware of the events and activities the church offers, we suggested banners and leaflets could be made by children of local schools to tell the community what the church is doing over special seasons such as Advent and that they are welcome to join.
In Year 1, we talked about people who we feel are excluded or left out in church. Some of the people who we felt were left out were homeless people, refugees, and poor people. The children talked about ways we could support them and we came up with suggestions such as welcoming them to church, praying for them, and smiling when we meet them.
In Year 4 we discussed who is left out of the church and how we can help them. We thought that we could include them in church activities through zoom if they were unable to get to church or provide transport. We also said that by smiling at each other we could make everyone feel a part of the church family.
We wrote lists of things we could do which include:
Giving up your time to talk to someone who is alone.
Inviting people to join in your games.
Make people feel welcome in our homes, church and school.
In Year 2 we discussed the different types of people who could feel left out of the church. We talked about homeless people, people who may be ill or people who could not get to the church for many reasons. We discussed and thought of some ways we could make people feel included and welcome to the church. These were being friendly and welcoming to new people, sending invites and information out to people about the church so they feel welcome and making some church services available to watch online so people at home can join in too.
In year 5, we discussed what the word peace means and what it would feel like to be left out. We were asked to write letters to Father Gabriel outlining Who are the people who feel excluded and left out in the Church and how can we reach out, listen to and love them? Our main ideas involved people who are sick and bedridden. These people cannot physically go to church and therefore are left out. We can help these people feel included by having more opportunities to take part in Mass online and live streamed.