SPARKS OF LIGHT
PEACE | ADORATION | BEAUTY | SILENCE | PRAYER
"Come to me, all who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest."
Come and See
Why?
A desire for people to encounter Jesus Christ in and through His Church
What?
An invitation to enter a Catholic Church, light a candle, pray, or simply rest in the peace of Christ
An event of prayer with an invitation to passersby to come and see. Sparks of Light is a flexible event that can be taken up by any Church and used in their context.
How?
For Parishes
Sparks of Light is designed to be parish-led and locally owned. The AEC are here to equip and support you.
Parish-Led
Your Parish community organises and runs the event, creating an authentic local expression of outreach.
AEC-Supported
The Agency for Evangelisation and Catechesis offers training, customisable resources and support to help you put on your event.
Stories from Parishes
Hear from communities who have organised their own Sparks of Light.
You are invited
You are welcome to join us at a Sparks of Light event at Holy Cross Church in Carshalton on Saturday 4th July.
Register your interest
Come and participate in a Sparks of Light event
See how it works and consider how a similar day could work in your parish
Saturday 4th July, Holy Cross Church, 46 North St, Carshalton SM5 2JD
Register your interest now and receive further details soon
Could you support?
There is an increasing desire across our Archdiocese for more outreach events like Sparks of Light. Would you be interested in supporting Sparks of Light in our parishes? Please feel free to get in touch.
What you will receive
How to deliver on the day input for Sparks of Light events
Provide on-day support and encouragement for Sparks of Light events
Join a network of support for Sparks of Light events
Resources
Customisable templates and materials to help you plan and run a Sparks of Light outreach event.
Wallington
Around 35 people attended a Sparks of Light day at Saint Elphege’s Church in Wallington. Attendees came from across the Deanery to be a part of the day. The morning included an encouragement of how to invite people to come and see. The Church was then decorated, refreshments were readied and some even played music. The public were then invited into the Church.
A steady flow of people entered the Church to light candles, say a prayer, speak to friendly volunteers or just be in the silence of the Church. The team invited people using the Sparks of Light template resources (find above on this page).
Sparks of Light Examples
Many wonderful conversations occurred.
One local shop closed in order to bring their whole family into the Church. A young boy encouraged his mother to enter the Church. One family spoke to Fr Patrick about how they could come back to Church after some time away and asked about what Baptism preparation would look like.
Brixton Hill
Around 20 people entered Corpus Christi Church in Brixton Hill on a cold Saturday in February. They were passersby responding to an invitation to light candles, sit in the peace of the Church and say a prayer.
One couple had recently moved to the area and hadn’t stirred up the courage to look inside the Church yet. One older gentleman attended the school next door when he was young and hadn’t been in the Church since. Another gentleman was a regular parishioner but stopped going to Mass during Covid, this was his first time inside the Church since. He spent a long time in prayer with Jesus. A young woman spent some time in silence before requesting to speak with the priest.
Reach out to us with any questions or further support.
Please note: Nightfever is a separate international initiative which exists as a prayer movement of young Christians in the Catholic Church. It is a successful model organised, designed and aimed specifically at young adults between the ages of 16 and 35. For more information about Nightfever please visit www.nightfever.org/en/about-nightfever