Why mission weeks matter

Father Simon Gore from Animate Youth Ministries explains why school mission weeks are as rewarding as they are demanding. Although 2023 will be in full swing by the time you read this issue of the Pic, I am writing these words only a few days after Christmas. And I’ve got to say, I found Christmas a little more stressful than usual. Not for the more usual reasons, but rather because we had spent the week before on a school mission.

A school mission is at the more intense, more intensive end of the work we do. A mission will often begin months, or even a year, before the actual week itself. The preparation time involves working with staff to ensure their lessons that week will be on the theme of the mission. We also work with pupils so they will understand the theme of the mission when the week starts. And we work closely with a small group of young people who act as an extended team for the week, assisting with dramas and sessions.

A mission can be a great way to add impetus to an on-going school theme or project; or to act as an introduction to a longer-term goal for the school. However, with all the preliminary work that a school has to do for a mission to be effective, and the energy and flexibility needed during the week itself, full commitment is required from all sides to make the mission successful.

Probably because of the fairly long lead-up, and the fact some uncertainty had bled into the last academic year about gathering large groups of young people together, we had not done a full school mission since late 2019. It was the only part of our work that had not got fully back to normal after the pandemic.

We always knew missions would start up again – it was just a matter of when. And the first school to ‘step into the deep’ was St Joseph’s, Horwich. I use the biblical quotation deliberately as they chose that as the overall theme of their mission.

We worked with the school in the final weeks of the last academic year to introduce the theme to each of the pupils through a series of day retreats held in the school. Then, after some last-minute preparations this term, we were back for the mission week proper in the week before Christmas. Although I started by saying it meant the lead-up to Christmas was more fraught than I might have liked, it was equally a great way to look forward to Christmas. We added a subtitle to the overall theme of the mission, taking to heart the words of the Gospel that we had heard on the Sunday before the mission began: ‘I am the servant of the Lord.’

Then, through the week, we encouraged the pupils to reflect on how they were called to be servants of the Lord yet must also have the same courage as shown by the Blessed Virgin to say ‘Yes’ to that call.

Of course, as with any work we do, we as a team must reflect too on the theme and message as, if not, it does all become a clanging gong or clashing cymbal.

All in all, it was great for us to be able to get back that more intensive way of working that a school mission demands – and a nice way for us, as a team, to be able to take some time to reflect on some of the themes of Advent.

We have more weeks booked for this academic year and next so please keep those school communities in your prayers as they prepare for what we hope will be successful missions.

God bless.