SHEEPDIP
It’s a funny name for a Youth Festival

One priest who works in a farming parish insisted that he could not send anyone to anything called ‘Sheepdip’. It appears that dipping sheep - the real thing, not the youth festival - is a highly toxic substance. Many farm workers have been seriously hurt using sheepdip.

We called out youth festival SHEEPDIP because I would not allow my teenage daughter to call it .... something else! It’s just a name, a funny name. However, it occurs to me that unless sheep are dipped, or treated in some other way, they are liable to contact all sorts of nasty diseases. Now, unless we are dipped regularly in the Scriptures, the Creeds and the Fathers of the Church, we too are liable to contract serious diseases - like liberalism!

The first SHEEPDIP was held in Birmingham in 1994 and was just for local teenagers. In 1995, the second SHEEPDIP was for teenagers from all over the West Midlands.

Gathering from about 6pm on the Friday evening for registration, everyone has to find their way about. Upon arrival everyone is given a pack of information, map, timetable, menu and a copy of the first edition of the youth festival newspaper
‘The Gazette’.

A strange place; new people; it’s all very odd . . . but its fun!

Having found our way to the bedroom and sorted out our stuff, it is time for the opening worship; a simple mixture of prayers and praises, easy to sing songs, and plenty of things to look at.

Supper follows, and then each workshop leader has five minutes for a commercial. ‘Come to my workshop, because it will be the best workshop ever!’ is how many leaders approach this.

Not so for one leader - Fr Peter Green - who said, ‘Yes, they are right. The other workshops will all be better than mine. Go to the other ones!’ Needless to say, his workshop - the Drama one - was crowded out! Some ‘getting to know you’ and ‘getting to know the place’ games are on offer before bed at midnight. The Coffee Shop is open all the time, except bed-time.

Saturday morning begins with the chance to have a shower, and the Workshops begin at 9am. There are lots of workshops on offer, all in creative subjects. Drama, Art and Music (both church and secular) are always popular; but we can also offer things like poetry, mime and dance. The teenagers choose which one to attend.

Mass is at noon, and Lunch at one. Saturday afternoon is semi-free time. Swimming can be arranged, but most opt to go abseiling! After tea, Evening Prayers and an opportunity for Confession, some preparation time, and then the Saturday evening Disco.

The pattern on Sunday is similar to Saturday. After Lunch its time to pack, before Benediction and off home.

Many new friendships are forged, old ones renewed and deepened. The energy surrounding so many teenagers all gathered in one place generates its own atmosphere. But when all is done in the name of Our Lord it is an exciting weekend.

There are lots of problems with any Youth Festival. The first evening is always chaotic, the food never satisfies everyone. But all in all a good time is had by all our SHEEPDIP teenagers. After all, some of them come back year after year!

There is no doubting the fact that SHEEPDIP has been a great success over the years. Beginning in Birmingham, Festivals have been held in London and Plymouth and north, across the border for SHEEPDIP Scotland. We also had a Festival for the younger age group called Sheep Pen.

We felt that we had been spreading ourselves too thinly because, after all, we also have ordinary lives to lead! There had been requests for an event with a wider age range which prompted us to rethink the enterprise. After much thought, prayer and hours of discussion we came to some decisions.

From 2003 onwards we decided that there should be just one SHEEPDIP event. In 2003 it was held in Birmingham in the centre of the country. It was aimed at young people aged 11 to 18 years. This was not to say that people are not encouraged to organize their own Sheepdips, but we can only allow ourselves to run just one Festival.

We also revamped the programme so that there would be a number of new workshops run by some friendly circus folk! The fun, the essence of SHEEPDIP, of course, remained the same. At the outset, SHEEPDIP was designed for young people from our churches with well-established young groups, and others with just one or two. SHEEPDIP is for them all.

In 2004 Sheepdip branched out and organised a Pilgrimage to Holy Island for the young and the young-at heart - young people and their parents, unaccompanied young people and adults (minimum age 11 years) to Lindisfarne, the home of so many English Saints. A total of 30 people made the Easter Pilgrimage to Lindisfarne from as far afield as Plymouth, Derby, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Manchester and Sunderland.

The Pilgrimage was an opportunity for us to spend time with the Lindisfarne Saints, to explore the beautiful Island and the surrounding county-side, as well as learning about some of people and issues that go to make Lindisfarne what it is.

A Pilgrimage is not only a time for prayer, it is also an opportunity for us to learn more about The Faith and our response to that Faith. The Pilgrimage leaders were Mrs Jackie Ottaway; Fr Ronald Crane SSC and, Fr Beresford Skelton SSC.

This Pilgrimage is different only in that it is for young people and adults. A chance for you and your parents, or for you and your children, to come away together and learn together, as well as growing in the Faith, and have fun together. It is chance to experience the way of life lived by those early Christian Saints on Holy Island. During the week we shared in various workshops - Drama, Music, Worship, The History of one of England’s most ancient Christian sites, The lives of those who built and lived on Holy Island.

There were also commercial boat trips from Seahouses to the Lonsdale Lighthouse (Grace Darling), seals and other off-shore islands. Visits to Alnwick Castle and Berwick-upon-Tweed were also arranged. The first Pilgrimage was such a great success that we plan to make it an annual event. Full details about the latest new of such events will be found by looking through the FiF UK News Pages.

All these events give us an opportunity to Celebrate their Faith, have fun in the context of the Christian faith, and to experience the sheer joy of Catholic worship and life. Using the liturgy of the church, we keep the rules of Holy Church both liturgical and moral. That we can advertise this and have fun is testimony to the skill and dedication of our Leaders, who are second to none.

For more information just ring 0121 373 8348 or write to the
Sheepdip Office, 6 Saint Hugh’s Close, Bicester, Oxon, OX26 7UT.
You may also, of course, contact the Forward in Faith Office in London

Ronald E Crane

Fr Ronald Crane is Vicar of Emmanuel, Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield
and Regional Dean of Mercia