Violet Long from St Edmund Campion, Maidenhead, was a participant at the April 13 2002 Landings Training Workshop. Her account of it, reprinted below, appeared in the May 2002 issue of Portsmouth People:

Recovering on Easter Monday from the Dawn Vigil and the celebrations of Sunday, I cast an idle glance at my neglected correspondence. A bright yellow leaflet from our Department of Evangelisation and Catechesis caught my eye. 'Landings Training Workshop - creating a welcome landing place for returning Catholics'. This caught my interest immediately. As the parish co-ordinator for RCIA, I had long felt that returning Catholics who tacked themselves onto our faith inquiry course were greatly to be admired - but as our priority was to serve the incoming converts were we really meeting their needs?

The workshop was to be facilitated by Father Jac Campbell CSP from Boston, USA and by Pauline Gilbertson (Co-ordinator, Landings UK). So it was American in origin but already established in the UK. Four of us went from St Edmund Campion, Maidenhead, joining the friendly buzz in the foyer as 87 inquirers downed their coffee, registered and donned their labels.

The initial talk was by Fr Jac Campbell. He was a lively speaker with a genial smile who salted his talk with humour. He had been directing Landings in America for about ten years, with encouraging results. He reminded us that in many parishes the number of inactive Catholics outnumbered the active. Although many would like to take a second look at the Church they find it very difficult to make the return journey home. As in families where there has been alienation through the breakdown of relationships, the longer it lasts the more difficult it is to heal wounds and achieve reconciliation. If we are really the family of Christ, we have to help members of our family who wish to return to ease themselves back in.

In Boston parishioners were invited to form a welcoming back ministry - a ministry of reconciliation. To do this, no knowledge of theology or teaching ability was required - people simply needed to be warm, friendly, open and willing to share their faith with others. In each group there were five or six active parishioners to welcome back one or two returning Catholics. Once a week for 8-10 weeks they met in a comfortable environment. The meeting was structured but simple and informal. The emphasis was on compassionate listening not on debate; crosstalk or argument were to be avoided at all costs.

Groups were not to see themselves as the 'saved' helping the 'sinners'. Judgmental and patronising attitudes are far from appropriate - many of the returning Catholics have rich prayer lives and deep spirituality and are in no way the 'poor relations of the family'. They have much to contribute to our family life.

So that we could experience a meeting for ourselves, we broke up into groups of seven. Every group had a facilitator and a story-teller. It was suggested that the holiness of encountering Christ in each other might be conveyed by setting up a table with a lighted candle, an icon, a bible or some objects which had inspired those who were to lead the prayer. The meeting began with check-in time - a brief opportunity for members to tune into each other and establish respect for one another's state at the time of the meeting. We did this for brevity's sake by choosing a number from 1-10 to indicate how we felt and then saying why we had chosen it.

The value of this was immediately illustrated in our group when one member felt only the lowest "1" was appropriate. When we listened with sympathy to her reasons we knew that if she proved to be quiet it would not be due to any failure of the group but to the traumas she was experiencing. Check-in time was a valuable two minutes. There were periods of prayer and reflection. The storyteller told her faith story sharing with us simply and honestly how God had been active in her life. Each of us responded to her story in turn. Everyone was listened to with respect and without interruption. After lunch we repeated the experience with others taking the roles of facilitator and storyteller.

After watching a video from Boston and a final few words from Fr Jac and Pauline, we shared ideas on how to capture the interest of potential returners. We asked questions. For example, what if a returner does not want to come to meetings but only to see the priest for reconciliation? This is fine - the Landings co-ordinator just helps him to make the contact.

My friend and I felt we had had an inspiring day and a useful experience. We have invested in the training material for our parish and are looking forward to sharing it with others and getting a group going. We are a warm and caring community and we need to extend that love to those who for whatever reason have distanced themselves from their Christian family. Returner need to feel as cherished as any convert, and sadly for every one of our converts there are ten potential returners.

Joan Horn, Landings International Coordinator from Texas USA and
Pauline Gilbertson, Landings UK Director, following a Landings workshop for the Diocese of Lancaster in June 2003

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