Hi everyone!
I hope you are all well, recovering from the Christmas period and looking forward to the New Year.
Unfortunately, my resolve to blog more regularly has completely gone out of the window over the last month. That explains the length of this one. Feel free to have a cup of tea whilst reading this!
We at the White House were completely thrown into the preparations for Advent. This proved worthwhile, so any Advent exhaustion was certainly a sign of a job well done.
Outreach at New Hall school was fantastic. My first outreach experience, the group were brilliant and I enjoyed talking to all the Sixth Formers about the future plans. Walking into their wonderful chapel for the end of retreat liturgy, it’s easy to forget this is a school in Chelmsford and truly be caught up in the experience.
November ended with a great retreat, concert and an early Christmas dinner. Yes, that’s right. For someone who always waited until the end of the school term to decorate the tree, this was a new experience altogether. If you’re wondering why this happened so early, we wouldn’t have had time to do it any other community night! Michael and Leighton cooked Christmas dinner (not with a massive turkey- this was to come later in the term) but all the trimmings, the crackers and the ridiculous jokes were there, along with feel good Christmas music. After dinner, we set about decorating the White House in epic proportions. I was personally very proud of mine and Ian’s efforts in the living room, where the silvery tree was proudly next to the fireplace. A wonderful job was done by Michael and Jade on the other tree in the dining room and there was even a mini one for the kitchen. It was quite a nice change to decorate without fear of being attacked by the tree! The highlight though was the very strong mulled wine, mince pies and photos in front of the fireplace, where our stockings proudly hung. Some of these photos failed to upload due to problems with internet but all the same, it was a great night.
Year 7 residential retreats were in full swing, and I was soon familiar with the format of the programme. It’s similar to the day retreat, but with more sessions. Each programme leader adds their own spin on the retreat to keep us on our toes and to give the young people the best retreat possible. One thing we did notice though was the number of them who were ready for bed after dinner. Telling my group they would be awake until half 9 brought fear into some of their eyes! However, they did all survive without napping in the corner. During night prayer I told them how much we’d achieved over 6 hours and they couldn’t believe it!
The highlight of these retreats for me was being able to lead the Auction of Body Parts. Just to clarify, nobody is harmed during this session! The theme for Year 7 retreats is one body, many parts. The idea of the auction is to bid for body parts to add to their mascot’s head and torso drawn on the board. I was pleasantly surprised at my abilities as an auctioneer and the young people really engaged with it. At the end, they are challenged to think what they can and can’t do with the body parts they have won. It’s basically a chance for them to appreciate what they have and the talents they each have. This isn’t normally run as a workshop, it’s normally a very lively whole retreat competition between groups hosted by the programme leader. But I really enjoyed it – it was in complete contrast to the meditation being held in the chapel next door, but thankfully, Jade didn’t lodge a complaint!
The primary school concerts were definitely a highlight too. I helped at the Friday concert, selling raffle tickets with Rebecca, one of the young people, meeting more BCYS staff and volunteers and watching some of the performance. The children did a great job, as did Edwin who wrote the performance and Michael who hosted. The children enjoyed the games and challenges he set, his X factor impression and certainly felt his enthusiasm. I’m starting to wonder whether Michael shouldn’t consider going into children’s TV rather than the X Factor?
So with that, December began with my second confirmation retreat of the term. This was a day retreat with plenty of enthusiastic young people. Then the mad dash commenced. Ian and I rushed from Walsingham House to the House of Praise in Camberwell to watch Matt Redman and Rend Collective. It was a brilliant night, even if we did leave early. We were with Tim from college and his girlfriend, and we all really enjoyed the show. I’m still wearing my wristband. The concert was hopefully the first of many Big Church Night In events, following on from the popular Big Church Day Out events I’ve been attending for the last 3 years. Definitely worth a try, even if you aren’t a regular Christian music listener.
December brought with it more new experiences. A wonderful Christmas do with the BCYS was closely followed by my first community night. If I annoyed the team with my constant messages I’m not too sure, although indecisiveness on my part about fancy dress may have been slightly irritating. Yes, that’s right. I did dress up. I organised a superhero themed party for Ian, who was relegated to his room for a couple of hours whilst I rushed around like a headless chicken. This included Italian food, and then a rather lengthy game of hide and seek whilst Ian (now a superhero) sought out his comrades. Olivia was trodden on a number of times during this, having somehow wedged herself between the drier and conservatory door. Ouch! What followed was an epic superhero quiz, culminating in a create your own superhero challenge. Although the final result was controversial, it drew scores level. There was a concert to appeal to Ian’s musical side. There was a wonderful song, a rap and two piano pieces by Jade and I. I had been practising for ages, so was pretty pleased with the result, shocked though when Ian and Olivia announced I’d won the contest. My encore was accompanied by the team dancing, which turned into chaos when someone fell over. Despite their attempts to turn this into a team bundle, I was professional and kept going until the end. I don’t think they could quite believe it! We were all rewarded with a slice of Olivia’s fantastic homemade Batman birthday cake.
The highlight for me, and for many of the team, was the Advent Open Retreat. I was delighted to welcome Simon from Stansted parish for his first ever Walsingham House retreat and see many of the Ilford Ursuline girls I had enjoyed working with in October. Ian and I had a group of Ursuline girls and they were great company for the weekend. I’ve decided Ian and I make a dream team – the night prayer was wonderful and it was all brilliant. Aish and I delivered the Tell the World CAFOD based session, which I really enjoyed, and CAFOD themselves turned up the next day to deliver a World Gifts session. I was also able to lead my first Adoration, which was something I really enjoyed. For those of you unfamiliar with adoration, the blessed sacrament (real presence of Christ) is placed on the altar in a monstrance, a special container. It often reminds me of sunshine, with the rays coming out of each side. I’ve always found Adoration to be truly peaceful, a chance to gather sometimes confused thoughts and just pray quietly with others. It has also helped me during confusing times and when needing to make an important decision, such as whether to go ahead with my application to the youth work course in 2011. I introduced the session by opening my gift of a St Francis medal and our crib which is placed by the TV at Christmas. The connection? St Francis created the first nativity scene, and he also had a great love for adoration. The atmosphere in the chapel that night was one of teamwork, companionship and shared faith, It’s amazing to be part of. Some of the young people also commented they enjoyed the chance to be in the presence of Jesus and pray. Other highlights were Jade’s fashion design task, leading a meditation written by Ian and myself, prayer times, some of the challenges and the affirmation session. The young people also had a chance to blog and attend Joe’s photography session, which I’m sorry to have missed. There were so many and everyone did such a fantastic job!
What a busy term! We finished off by celebrating together as a team with our families at our White House Christmas party featuring Jon’s culinary genius (ham in coke, turkey, goose AND salmon ensured we didn’t go hungry!) Olivia and I also helped Jon mix his JD Christmas cakes. Secret Santa was also a highlight. Mum and Dad are very pleased to have their copy of The King’s Speech back after a great decision by Leighton. My card from Colin Firth and mini-hot water were also wonderful. Joe was very excited by my gift of a Stella clock and everyone was really happy with their surprises. The Hammy Hall Christmas party rounded off the term nicely.
2012 has truly been a year of new discoveries. This time last year, I hadn’t yet experienced a Walsingham House retreat, now I’m doing my dream job. One of the girls in my Advent Retreat group summed it up saying she wasn’t sure what had changed in me between October and December, but whatever it was, it was for the better. I’m not quite sure what it is. I can take many guesses. Perhaps it’s my increasing commitment to my prayer life, the opportunity to lead groups at fantastic retreats, and the fact my confidence has grown, the chance to share some creative (and some crazy) ideas, the fact I’ve been away from home for the first time in 3 years. I know that each person who’s been involved in this term has impacted on me and my youth work and also my personal experience. So to each one of the team who have become my White House family and helped me find another home on Canvey Island, thank you very much to each one of you. It’s been a wonderful term and I’m looking forward to the next two. Also a thank you to everyone who has supported me this term, with the transition and through the good and more challenging times. To my college friends assisting me in adapting to MA study as well. To my family and close friends particularly who’ve had to adapt too, and my Parish who always show a real interest.
What does 2013 offer me?
The chance to take part in a Volunteer’s Conference with other retreat centres
Opportunity to edit a CAFOD newsletter
2 visits to Lourdes
More retreats, BCYS events, community nights and celebrations
More time with family and friends. Having Grandad spend Christmas with us was my personal highlight. It was great to have him, and I’m looking forward to more celebrations and visits to see him next year. Also to catch up with friends I haven’t seen for ages!
Hopefully continued success with my MA (if this Trinity essay works out alright!)
An Il Divo concert (yes Elaine, it got a mention!)
More blogs too! Which reminds me, here is a link to my blog for the BCYS Tell Out My Soul blog on 13th December http://bcys.net/blog/tell-out-my-soul/light-of-the-world When you’ve read that, please click on blogs and have a look at some of the others, especially those by other team members. The blog is running until 27th January.
Thank you for reading this rather long post, but I wanted to do the last term and the experiences justice!
Wishing you a happy, healthy and successful 2013!
Katharine xxxx
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