Pastoral Placements
Continuing a series of articles written by students for the priesthood from our diocese describing their Pastoral Placement. This article is from Lee Barrett, our Diocesan student who is at the Venerabile English College, Rome, and who will be ordained Deacon on July 13th at Pallazola in Italy.
This Summer I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks on pastoral placement working with Fr. Simon Lerche who has care of the parishes of St.Paul’s, Cramlington and Our Lady and St.Joseph’s, New Hartley. Cramlington and New Hartley are very different places, Cramlington is a somewhat sprawling “New Town”, New Hartley meanwhile, despite being increasingly swallowed up by its neighbours, still retains something of the warm close-knit feel of a village. In both places however the Church is key in providing a focus of community life and I am very grateful to the people of both parishes for so quickly and generously welcoming me into their midst. It was very enjoyable to take part in many parish celebrations both social and liturgical during my time on placement and to get to know so many of the parishioners in Church, in their homes and elsewhere. It was also good to see good new models of collaborative ministry and shared co-operative responsibility coming into operation in both parishes and also to see a little of the ecumenical work which takes place in the area.
A placement is supposed to give us an insight, albeit a brief and incomplete one, into the life we feel called to live as secular priests. I feel very lucky to have been placed with Fr. Simon who generously allowed me to take part in all of the various activities which form part of his ministry as well as letting me see into and share in his priestly life beyond just what happens in the parish. Amongst the latter must be mentioned Fr Simon’s Sunday lunch group. This is made up of about a dozen priests, all of diverse ages and outlooks, who each taking a turn hosting the group, which provides not only a fine meal after a busy morning but also an opportunity for (very) informal support and fraternity. Such supports are increasingly important as priests come to live more and more on their own while taking on ever greater burdens. I greatly enjoyed the groups’ camaraderie and thank them all for their encouragement, advice and welcome. They were perhaps not quite so welcome when in my second week it fell to us to host the group but in spite of much chaos in the kitchen involving blowtorches all escaped well fed and unharmed.
Placements show us too the great privilege we will have of sharing in the lives of our people and of getting to know each of them as we help each other on our Christian journey. As priests we often share in times of joy such as the passing of exams, of marriages and baptisms, and I was pleased to be able to assist in the preparation for and celebration of both of these sacraments during the placement. We share too in times of difficulty and distress, such as sickness, death and bereavement. It is perhaps even more of a privilege to share in these latter hard and vulnerable times than it is to take part in the happy occasions however no matter the circumstances it is always humbling to be there, to see Christ at work through His Church bringing His grace, strength, and consolation and joy to His people, and to be a part of that work. Fr Simon particularly showed me the importance of knowing one’s flock well in order to be able to help and guide them individually as well as the great pastoral usefulness of a sense of humour.
My time in the parish also coincided with the start of the new school year, this not only meant I had the pleasure of reading out a rather long letter from the Bishops of England and Wales celebrating the importance of a Catholic vision of education but also of seeing this vision put into practice in the parish schools St Peter’s and St. Paul’s as well at the local secondary school, St.Benet Biscop’s in Bedlington. It was great fun as well as a valuable experience sharing time and the celebration of Mass with the staff on their inset days as well as spending time with them and the children in lessons, at break times, lunchtime and after school. It was also very valuable to learn how the restructuring of educational provision in Northumberland is progressing as well as learning more about the teaching of RE in our schools. I thank Felicity and Nick, the headteachers and all their staffs for giving up their precious time to help me and for putting up with me wandering into and round their lessons. A special thank you to all of the children especially to Class 2 who had to suffer me singing with them and to the nursery for letting me play with their sand.
I am especially grateful for all of the words of encouragement and prayers as I hopefully enter my final year before ordination as a deacon and would be very grateful for more. It is always a great support knowing that the people of God really do appreciate their priests and are very happy to see others taking the path which will hopefully lead to priesthood and indeed knowing that there are others too, maybe even reading this article, taking their first steps in exploring a vocation to priesthood; “be not afraid”. In spite of the challenges and sacrifices, from what I have seen so far and especially over this past summer it is a great and enjoyable life and an honour to serve God and His people.