L'Arche in the city

The first L'Arche home opened in Liverpool in 1976. The core members came from long-term institutions to live in the house called Anchorage. Today, L'Arche has five homes, a group of flats and a workshop not only for its own members, but for others with learning disabilities who live in the larger Liverpool community. L'Arche has grown and changed here and throughout the United Kingdom; regulations governing the care of people with learning disabilities have likewise changed. And in the past few years, as we all know, the economy has changed, causing more adjustments by organizations and governments. So of course, what L'Arche Liverpool is facing now is how to deal with lots of change.

These are certainly the realities of the community, but my first sense of them was a warm welcome and a feeling of devotion to every member of the community. I stayed in Tabor House, a place for guests and new assistants making their way through the various paperwork and regulations to become employed. (There was a note of welcome and a Twix bar on my pillow!) Martin made sure I had all I needed for a comfortable stay.

My guiding host, The Rev. Jean Winn, set up my visit so I would get the broadest picture possible of Liverpool L'Arche. I spent time in the workshop, where jobs are done and crafts are made for sale. In the printing room, we worked to assemble greeting cards and stationery. Candles and weaving projects, like bags and scarves, were made in other parts of the workshop. There was coffee break and prayer time, all the while with other members' needs being taken care of. In the yard were chickens, and a garden of vegetables and flowers. The workshop is exploring new ways to generate income and provide good work for its members.

I ate dinner at three different homes, enjoying the company of Jean's family one night and the Spring and Coracle homes the others. The prayer times led by the members continued to be the moments of grace they have been in every L'Arche home I have visited.

In the midst of this visit that filled my head with ideas and questions and awe for the members of this community, I had an afternoon off to go to the city center. Liverpool...home of the Beatles...is a lively and funky city. I enjoyed it from the Liverpool Cathedral to Matthew Street to Albert Dock.

Back in the library, I await one more link on my journey. There is a woman in Nottingham connected with the Faith and Light movement (another of Vanier's creations which are communities of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends, who meet together regularly for friendship, prayer and celebration) whom it might be good for me to meet.

But if that does not happen, the folks I met at L'Arche Liverpool have given me more than I had hoped to gain here. I know I don't know their whole story, nor do I have a grasp of what challenges may lie ahead; I do know they have everything they need to continue to do amazing and faithful ministry in this place.

And in a country where I felt so much a stranger, at L'Arche I felt at home.

Peace+
Cathy