TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR MILL HILL MISSIONARY APF ORGANISERS

by Brian Oswald MHM, APF ORGANISER for Arundel & Brighton Dicoese

In service training is generally taken for granted in many jobs and careers: teachers, doctors, nurses and many others take part in it regularly. Even diocesan priests in some diocese are offered the possibility of taking part in workshops covering different aspects of their ministry. What about those doing APF mission appeals? There are of course the occasional meeting for MHM APF organisers. These meetings tend to focus mainly on discussions about the number of appeals planned for the year and about the difficulties in booking mission appeals. Useful as they are, they can hardly be called in service training sessions.

Last year, I came across an organisation called the Isaac Project at a Christian resources exhibition near London. The Project is a network of comedians working in the mainstream comedy scene who share a Christian faith and a desire to use their talents as a resource for the Church. The comedians involved in the project total four in number. Their team leader, Andy Kind, also trains Christians and Christian ministers in preaching skills and how to integrate humour into their homilies. I met Andy at the exhibition and discussed with him the possibility of giving a workshop to MHM APF organisers. He was interested in the idea and was willing to facilitate a workshop providing there were at least 6 participants. I later contacted the APF national director, John Dale, who was enthusiastic about the idea. After contacting a number of MHM’s involved in APF appeals, eight showed interest in coming along to such a workshop, including two members of the General Council. It was eventually held one morning in October 2007, from 10.30-2.30pm. Ten people came along, including John Dale.

Did Andy teach us anything that we didn’t already know? After all, some of the MHM’s present at the workshop had been on the mission appeal road for at least 10 years. Others, like me, had recently started. A number of things did stand out. We had to do most of the work! As an introductory exercise, each of the participants had to spend one minute talking about himself to the group – not easy when you’re told to do so there and then, with no preparation! We were then given other tasks: we each had to address the group, talking about an object pulled out of Andy’s travel bag. Much to my surprise, the humour sprung naturally out of such an exercise. Andy commented at the end of each activity on some of the communication skills being used – the importance of making eye contact with the audience, how to develop the trust of a group of listeners, self-deprecation as a form of humour; and the right use of body language. We watched a short snippet of a DVD, in which we saw a professional comedian in action on stage. We then had to pinpoint the communication skills that helped to make him so effective.

Our final exercise was to give a short homily which was to last no more than a few minutes. Andy gave us a number of clues on how to prepare it, but we had no more than 3 minutes to do so! Topics varied from the connection between the home web-page and home to the theme of the following Sunday’s Gospel, the parable of the Pharisee and Tax-Collector. 

The workshop concluded with lunch, followed by a short meeting between John Dale and the APF organisers present.

Most of the participants found the work-shop helpful. It was also very striking how gifted some of those present were in preaching and integrating humour into their message.I personally found it very useful: normally I would read part of my homily at a mission appeal. The following week-end, I tried to preach without looking at my text! Not easy, but somehow I just about managed it! Hopefully, this will be first of more in-service workshops to come.