Proclaim is alive and active in Bethnal Green as the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption has risen to the challenge and identified aspects of parish life to be improved. It is very much work in progress, but a good start has been made so far. Following the Westminster Proclaim ’15 conference, the parish formed an evangelisation team which meets monthly in the Priory. The three areas of parish life that have been identified for improvement are prayer, outreach and children’s spiritual development. Currently, the team are exploring ways to improve the prayer life of the parish. Indeed, prayer is fundamental to the success of this initiative, as Bishop Williams pointed out in his keynote address at the inaugural conference in Birmingham. Parishioners were offered an opportunity to participate in different kinds of prayer, e.g., Lectio Divina or the Rosary. A member of the evangelisation team offered her home as a place to host these prayer meetings and the invitation was gladly accepted by many. Further initiatives are in the pipeline. For example, a guided prayer retreat for busy people led by trained prayer guides, and a weekly Gospel reflection (for the following Sunday) between the Sunday Masses.
Proclaim in Bethnal Green
