The first step was to bring people together. Out of a desire to replace isolation with fellowship, the Catholic Mission Covenant was formed—a partnership of fifteen Anglo-Catholic parishes across Hackney and Islington. It was a covenant not of structures but of friendship, prayer, and shared vision.

The covenant gave clergy permission to breathe. It created a rhythm where they could gather three or four times a year to share stories of what God was doing, to eat together, and to encourage one another. Alongside this, prayer became the heartbeat—Monday morning prayers at a resource church, pilgrimages to St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and parish-by-parish Advent prayer nights. These moments reminded priests that they were not alone, and that the treasures of the tradition—the sacraments, the rhythms of prayer, the depth of liturgy—could still speak powerfully when held out creatively to their communities.

The covenant also created space for learning. Groups travelled together to parishes that were modelling good practice in mission, asking honest questions and exploring new possibilities. These “Come and See” visits fanned the flames of imagination. Parishes began to see that mission did not mean abandoning their tradition, but rather rediscovering it as a source of life and renewal.