Prophets of Hope

‘Prophets of Hope’ – Jer 29:11, Ps 125:1-6, Is 35:1-2

My wife and I lived in France for 15 years undertaking a ministry of ecumenical cooperation in mission, within our local Roman Catholic parishes.

We have also regularly holidayed in the Champagne region for around 20 years. Each time we are there we attend the nearest Sunday Mass in a Roman Catholic Church.

This has often been a moribund experience – small and aging congregations, fewer and fewer aged priests, all desperately trying to keep a worship cycle going when they no longer have enough people to do that well. (This even though all church buildings belong to the state and their upkeep is paid for by the local community.)

This year, when we visited in May 2024, the situation was very different. The Sunday mass was well-attended (75+), all ages were represented, it was truly intergenerational. It was also intercultural – African nuns welcoming and being involved in the service, an Asian family providing the music, and with an intergenerational chorale. The priest was dynamic and preached an amazing sermon about conversion and being filled by the Holy Spirit.

My wife and I were amazed by the transformation, so we decided to look at what had changed. We quickly came across a diocesan from the Diocese of Châlons that explained their new vision and how they were working to make it happen. (This document will be translated and summarised below.)

It was of interest to us because our own Church of England diocese of Leicester, has embraced a very similar vision for the future of the church.

We are moving to Minster Communities, central teams of lay and ordained people who will work with a larger group of parishes, helping them to re-focus on the essentials of what it means to be followers of Jesus and church, to discern how God might be calling them to respond to the missional opportunities in their contexts, given the resources and experience they have, and to create new grouping, new activities, new and diverse ways of expressing the life of faith that speak to the changed cultural landscape in which we now live.

This approach has much in common with the vision expressed in the Châlons document. Their vision is also for teams of lay and ordained to work with larger groups of parishes and to develop a network of ‘spiritual oases’ to welcome new believers. These ‘oases’ are new missional projects, new ways of announcing the gospel, new ways of making disciples, new ways of serving the poor, new ways of being church.

It was amazing to think that a different spiritual tradition, in a different country, had come to more or less the same conclusions about the way forward for the church. Coincidence? Or is the Holy Spirit moving us both in the same direction?
Read on and judge for yourself.

[What follows is a summary translation of a Pastoral Letter entitled ‘Prophets of Hope’ written by Monseigneur François TOUVET during his time as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chalons, France (2015-2023). In this document, released in October 2020, Bishop TOUVET outlined his vision for a renewed diocese, with a new parish structure, totally focussed on mission, and on forming and releasing missionary disciples into new and innovative ways of being church.]

Prophets of Hope – A Summary Translation
This vision grew out of the experience of the COVID lockdown. ‘Save Lives’ was the government watchword, but this raised the question, ‘What about the spirit and the soul?’
Lockdown had significant negative impacts, particularly social and economic, but it also gave birth to new ventures, ventures that re-kindled community and which brought joy and hope.

This experience fed into the Bishop’s reflections about a new way forward for the diocese.
Some facts and figures;

The diocese of Châlons has 280,000 inhabitants, 34 parishes, 20 deacons, 20 active priests (under 75), 2 priests in training. Priestly vocations have been exceedingly rare, apart from a Vietnamize priest ordained 10 years ago, the last priest ordained in the diocese goes back 27 years.

The core conviction in this vision is that all those born again in Christ are called to be ‘Prophets of Hope’. We accomplish this by bringing together the spiritual and the social, gathering those with contemplative gifts, word-based gifts, social action gifts. We must not put Martha and Mary in opposition, we must bring them together.

The state of the church in Europe is that of a remnant in exile – but there are still signs of hope. We live in a desert of social breakdown, unemployment, loss of community and friendship groups, violence, indifference, loneliness, and a spiritual desert, all seen in the cliff-edge drop-off in baptisms, marriages, confirmations; all of this has happened over the past 50 years.

Local parishes find themselves engaged in an activity of trying to preserve the vestigial remnants of what once was – particularly in rural parishes.

No longer must we leave the 99 to find the one lost sheep, now the 99 are lost.

We need to head towards a different future, a future where small communities of committed believers seek to reach out and make new converts.

From his ordination in 2016 and the charge to ‘increase the dynamism of the diocese and to renew it’ Bishop TOUVET worked hard consulting priests, deacons, the laity, religious communities, schools etc. 500 written responses were received to his initial ideas, 450 people attended in-person meetings. Finally, in 2020 the ‘Prophets of Hope’ vision was launched.

The clarion cry is, ‘We are not going to stay in Babylon, we are going to rebuild Jerusalem!’

The vision is to develop a network of ‘spiritual oases’ in order to welcome new believers.

These oases will not be isolated but connected to one another.

The church’s vocation is not to look after a museum, to keep things as they have always been, the Church doesn’t need either bureaucrats or diligent managers, what she needs is passionate missionary disciples, consumed by the love of sharing the consoling words of Jesus and His life-giving grace.

The Bishop’s desire is that rather than let ourselves choke and rot in defeatism, we launch ourselves with confidence and hope into a dynamic of growth through the establishment of these ‘oases’.

These oases will be based around the 5 components of the life of the Acts church;
A. Training – Listening to the Apostles’ teaching
B. Worship – Prayer and Eucharist
C. Evangelism – Welcoming new believers
D. Service – Sharing and Serving those around us
E. Fellowship – Developing a communal life together

Any Christian who nourishes themselves with these 5 ‘vitamins’ and distributes them to those around them, will accept the inevitable and unavoidable changes this entails. They will learn to look farther than their own church steeple. They will stop feeding conflict and power games. They will live in the ‘spiritual oasis’ and then go out into the desert to make new believers.

What is an Oasis?
Physically –
It can be a geographical space, a human community, a parish, a team, a family, a school…
An oasis can also be a new type of ‘space’, networks in digital space, but also around shared activities such as sports clubs, music groups, cultural activities etc.

An oasis could also be some known and understood visible space with symbolic meaning and spiritual vitality – a religious community, or a sanctuary.

The main thing is that these oases are interconnected. No longer can we be isolated ‘fortresses’ where everyone does their own thing. We need to create fraternal links, sharing our projects with humility and welcoming each other with joy, without jealousy or competition.

Temporally –
An oasis might be short-lived, or periodic, or sporadic. It needs to fit the lifestyles of all the different generations. It could be based around Sundays, periodic celebrations, serving opportunities, festivals, community projects, trips or pilgrimages.

We need to accept the fact that a constant global coverage of the whole territory is no longer possible. Neither can our activities be programmed slavishly following an unchanging pattern.

Some oases may develop progressively across the diocese.

Sunday Holy Communion – Eucharistic Spaces will be established in each of the 5 ‘Missional Areas’ of the diocese. This will be according to the number and availability of priests.

This has the advantage of regularity and incentivises the chosen parish churches to invest in the things that will make them more welcoming – heating, sound systems, organs etc.

Another option would be to move around the different churches. This would engage local expressions of faith and also recognise the investment of local councils in their parish church’s upkeep.

Everyone needs to be aware of the effort this requires in comparison to our old habits – to accept that the mass is no longer in ‘my’ village, the effort of travelling, car-sharing, the effort of priests to ensure as much as possible access to the mass for the Christian community.

Whatever the chosen solution – we will all need to mobilise in order that these liturgical events are truly a spiritual oasis – by the beauty of the worship, music, flowers, welcome, the quality of the preaching etc.

The singular importance of the eucharist does not in any way prevent Christians from gathering for prayer in their local church, for Bible reading, adoration of the sacrament, the liturgy of the hours, praying the rosary, the stations of the cross, and all that the Spirit might suggest.

No more need for the priest’s authorisation, or organisation by the Parish Committee.

Teams of Lay and Ordained
We are moving to having teams of priests working with lay-people. Our 2017 diocesan reorganisation into 5 ‘Missional Areas’ is becoming a reality that cannot be overlooked. We no longer speak of deaneries – however parishes are not going to disappear, nor are they to be merged.

Across the diocese we have 18 active priests (under 75 years of age). A team of priests is to be named to each Missional Area. These priests will hold this charge corporately and bear pastoral responsibility for the area.

Each parish will retain its own identity, but working together and joint projects will be encouraged.

A Moderator will be appointed over the team of priests, and they will organise themselves in a common life – especially when they live together – and in missional activity.

Each team will work with lay-people according to the locally appropriate model. This will be led by pragmatic considerations, seeking to lighten the structural and institutional burdens – focussing on the essential, under the Spirit’s guidance – rather than exhausting ourselves trying to maintain existing structures.

We hope to see fraternal teams of lay, ordained, and religious working in community.
It is hoped and believed, that this new way of working will give rise to new vocations – men called to the priesthood. We believe we see the first signs of this happening.

A Commitment to Missionary Discipleship –
We need to provide ways of enabling young people, adults, couples, families to commit themselves to missional activity in their local church.

To this end it is proposed to hold an annual service in which people can commit themselves to involvement as ‘lay missionary volunteers’.

They will spend the day hearing about what lay missionary disciples have been doing over the past year, confirm their faith to the bishop, and commit themselves solemnly to living as Missionary Disciples.

Over 18s should also be able to offer themselves for work in short-term mission projects across the diocese.

A School of Prayer –
The diocese will create a school of prayer for many Christians agree with St Paul, ‘We do not know how to pray as we should’ Rom 8:26.

The school of prayer will provide materials to enable all ages to engage with many different forms of prayer.

Pilgrimage –
This is to be renewed in more accessible ways, with a priority for local pilgrimages.

Kerygma –
We need to put the gospel at the centre of all our preaching. An explicit presentation which calls for a saving response. An explicit presentation that excludes no-one.

We need to learn how to share the gospel in the language of everyday life – ALPHA courses etc.

Missions –
‘Diocesan Mission Weeks’ will be organised twice a year, coming to work with local parishes who have requested it. This will be run by volunteers from across the diocese formed into an intergenerational, multi-cultural missional team.

For a week or two the team will stay in the parish, running meetings, fellowship, prayer, preaching etc. This will be supported by a team of pray-ers.

Catholic Schools –
Across the diocese 6,000 pupils attend Catholic schools. They are a missional priority. We need to develop real and permanent relationships between the diocese and our schools.

We will work to create ways for activities of ‘Initial Proclamation’ of the gospel, focussing on children, youth and families.

Tools for the New Evangelisation –
I want the church to be more and more ‘out and about’, ‘going to the margins’. Some tools to support this are already being developed;

• A diocesan magazine ‘PARVIS’ – a way of introducing the gospel and connecting people to the church.
• Diocesan Youth Day
• Châlons Annual Fair – The diocese will have a stall at the significant event (270,000 visitors over 10 days). This stand will focus on presenting the gospel message.
• Ecological Progress – We want to become an eco-diocese.
• Permanent Deaconate – The diocese wants to respond to the needs of society with a team of permanent deacons, who will create spiritual oases in places of precarity and poverty. Sending ordained ministers is a response that the Church brings to offer the world the service of charity, accompanied by the service of the Word and the service of the liturgy, and thus illuminate the life path of so many people in difficulty. The generous commitment of deacons is a facet of evangelization through actions. A charter for the permanent diaconate, prepared by the diocesan diaconate committee has just been published. By relying on the benchmarks it gives for questioning, discernment and formation, we will all ensure that we renew the call to the permanent diaconate. In parallel with this, the diocese will ensure the training of future chaplains (lay people, deacons or priests) in health establishments and of detention centres/prisons, according to the legal provisions in force.
• Church House – The diocese want to set up a place where an intergenerational community will live together simply, and be a place of welcome and hospitality, and particularly to welcome new believers.
• Healing and Deliverance – We need to have ministries to bring healing to the wounded.
• Missionary Brotherhoods – We want to set up ‘base communities’ who will live in simplicity and fraternally the 5 essentials with their neighbours and invite them to ’come and see’. Place where each Christian can become a missionary disciple, a way to integrate new believers, a place of growth. Each baptised person is asked to join a fraternal group, or to create one with a few friends – mix generations, leave space for young people – keep inviting.

[Translation and summary by Rev Stephen John MARCH – Pioneer Curate in the Hexagon benefice]

Original document in French can be accessed here in PDF and EPUB formats, along with audio files for each chapter (mp3) –

https://chalons.catholique.fr/prophetes-de-l-esperance

A video interview (in French) where Mgr TOUVET explains his vision can be accessed here –