During the Papal Visit last year, Pope Benedict met with school children from all over the country at the BIG Assembly. There he reminded everyone that God simply wants our friendship and he called all of the young people who were there to become living saints. Bishop Malcolm McMahon announced that the BIG Assembly also saw the beginning of the Year of Catholic Education. We were to spend the next twelve months celebrating all that is good about Catholic Education, the many accomplishments of the past and our great hopes for the future. The theme for the year would be: ‘Life to the full’ (John 10:10) which builds well on the foundations of the BIG Assembly and the theme: ‘Called to be saints.’
MYMission, the Middlesbrough Diocesan Youth Mission Team joined forces with In Reality, the Youth Ministry Team from the Diocese of Hallam and at the request of the Diocesan Schools’ Service began planning for a Diocesan-wide event that would allow us to bring people from every school together to celebrate our own Catholic schools. The Little BIG Assembly would hit the road at the end of June and visit Middlesbrough, Scarborough, York and Hull. Over 2,000 young people from over 60 schools came together to join the celebration.
Canon John Lumley, Diocesan Schools Commissioner said, ‘I asked the teams to come up with a celebration that would be out of the ordinary. Our Little BIG Assembly was certainly that! What a great time we had. It was more than I could have hoped for. I wanted a celebration which would not only recognise all of the good that happens in our Catholic schools but that would recognise the good that Catholic schools do for the wider communities which they serve.’
The Little BIG Assembly was a two hour event which included prayer, praise, song, dance, drama and personal witness. Dom Boyes led all of the music for the celebration and made sure that everyone was in good voice.
Rochelle Nestor of St Margaret Clitherow School, South Bank said, ‘We all had a wonderful time! We haven’t stopped singing “Shine”. The staff were simply overwhelmed by the reaction of children who are often hard to reach.’
Tia Skelton of St Mary’s College, Hull said, ‘I loved the way the message was put across to us in and easy, simple and interesting way.’
Dave Houghton, Headteacher of St Aelred’s Primary School, York said, ‘I attended the event at Our Lady’s in Acomb and thought it was a fantastic experience for our children. The Team put a great deal of effort into it and it paid off I think. We’d definitely go again!
As the celebration came to a climax in icon of Christ entered the Church and as the young people processed by it they were given a badge which said either, ‘Life to the Full’ or ‘Called to be Saints. Upon departure from events each child received a bookmark ‘Life to the Full’ or ‘Called to be Saints’ with the Little BIG Assembly prayer that was created by the children of our diocese.
