What began with a simple leadership gathering became the spark of something deeper: a parish rediscovering its mission.
By Divine Renovation Communications
On the outskirts of Liverpool, the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption has been serving its community since the 1940’s. Like many parishes, it carries a steady history rooted in the Church’s sacramental life.
When Fr. Stephen Pritchard arrived in 2015, the parish had recently been reconfigured through the amalgamation of several churches. The community was resilient — but it was also navigating change.
When public worship resumed following Covid, Sunday attendance stood at roughly 300 — about half of what it used to be.
“Well, how do we do this now?” Fr. Stephen thought. “We really started again. I had no idea who was returning.”
Faced with these diminished numbers, Fr. Stephen and his team of leaders didn’t focus on what had been lost. Instead, they asked: Who is God calling us to become now? They started to have conversations among leaders because the reality they were in felt like going into a new territory.
Out of those conversations, and after taking a year of preparation, leaders gathered for what they called Ignite Day.
It marked a deliberate shift in culture.
The focus was simple, but also significant: they spoke about shared leadership, excellence in Sunday worship, and evangelization not as a programme, but as an identity. Ministries clarified their purpose. Goals were set. On Holy Thursday, those leaders were commissioned before the parish.
The message was clear: mission belongs to the whole parish. Leaders support one another. Ministry is intentional rather than assumed, resulting in not simply activity, but alignment.
“Ignite Day was an amazing catalyst for a renewed spirit of lay leadership,” says Helen Reynolds. “What began as a day of reflection has quietly reshaped our community, deepening our shared mission and strengthening the life of the parish.”
Was this revolutionary? In one sense, no. It was simply intentional Catholic life. But in another sense, yes: because in a culture accustomed to maintenance, clarity can feel radical.
“It was an awakening of gifts we hadn’t yet recognised and inspiring parishioners to step forward,” added Helen. “We are growing into a community shaped by shared leadership and a clearer sense of who we are called to be.”
Planning laid the groundwork, but it was experience that brought momentum. The parish’s next step brought faith into the streets.
VIDEO: “Easter passion play held in Liverpool shopping centre” • BBC
The parish organized what became known locally as the Belle Vale Passion: a full-scale Passion Play performed in a nearby shopping centre. Over a hundred volunteers participated, including many from outside the parish community.
“Being involved in the Belle Vale Passion deepened my personal relationship with God and what it was to be a true disciple,” says Karen McCoy, a parishioner and volunteer at the passion play. “Friendships were formed and we explored our living faith and that we all had something to contribute.”
For six weeks, they rehearsed together. Then on the day itself, over 500 people from the wider neighbourhood gathered to watch.
The event was reverent and public, bringing the story of Christ’s Passion into everyday space and the rhythm of ordinary life.
“I was overwhelmed with emotions when both young and old asked what it was all about,” added Karen. “It was reaffirming that we could take our faith to the wider community.”
For many in the parish, it marked a turning point. Faith moved visibly beyond the walls of the church building. Confidence in their missionary outreach grew, so they didn’t stop there.
On Ash Wednesday, they took their public witness of the faith once again, offering prayers and distributing ashes in the shopping centre — which now felt natural rather than daunting. The parish was rediscovering a new ease in outward expression.
In the years that followed, Sunday attendance may have remained modest — but something deeper what happening.
On Holy Thursday two years ago, when Fr. Stephen invited ministry leaders forward for commissioning, nearly the entire congregation rose and only a handful remained seated.
So many of his parishioners weren’t merely consumers of what the church offered: they stepped into their leadership and share in the very life and mission of the Church.
Reflecting on the power of creative minorities — or communities that may be small in number but strong in conviction and outward-looking posture — Fr. Stephen envisions his parish community along the same lines, saying how even “small groups can make an impact that is far greater than their numbers in a community if they are fired up…if they are mission-focused.”
"Small groups can make an impact that is far greater than their numbers...if they are mission-focused."
VIDEO: Archdiocese of Liverpool • Facebook
Rather than measuring vitality by comparing to the past, Our Lady of the Assumption has embraced the present moment as an opportunity — focusing not only on reclaiming former scale but on deepening discipleship and strengthening witness.
“What I see now is people who are more intentional about their faith and their service,” says Clare O’Brien. “It reminds me that when a smaller group of people are committed, prayerful, and outward-looking, they can bring real life to a parish and make a difference in the wider community far beyond their numbers.”
In recent years, other priests have taken interest in what’s happening at Our Lady of the Assumption. Consequently, Fr. Stephen has supported conversations in Manchester and contributed to renewal gatherings in Belfast. What began as local renewal is gradually inspiring a wider network of conversation and encouragement across the region.
What is unfolding at Our Lady of the Assumption is not dramatic reinvention, but something more enduring: the new life a parish experiences when it rediscovers its missionary identity.
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