On April 20, a pilot modular education program on management of social projects at the Vibrant Parish Studio ended in Lviv-Briukhovychi. The nationwide program started in February 2018, involving about 40 participants – priests and laymen – representatives of parishes from different eparchies and exarchates of UGCC.
The participants gathered three months in a row in Briukhovychm and during 3-4 days learnt about parish social service and ways to intensify social initiatives in their communities. The educational process was rather active, including a wide range of interesting cases, real examples, visits to parish social centers and informal communication.
During the last module, the participants presented drafts of their project applications for mini grants. Final versions of projects will be submitted to the special commission by teams on May 15, 2018.
Vibrant Parish Studio participants focused their attention to such key directions as work with the youth and families, training and social clubs, service for children. A great deal of attention was paid to the homeless people seeking social adaptation.
The unique education project was implemented by the Lviv Education Foundation under Caritas Ukraine “Increase of social responsibility of parishes and their participation in community life at local level” project.
Please note that the three year project “Increase of social responsibility of parishes and their participation in community life at local level” was launched in autumn 2017. The project aims at activation of the social service in Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parishes through education programs for parishioners and church representatives, provision of small grant proposals and active media support.
Not only representatives of the Lviv Education Foundation (LEF) and Caritas served as project trainers, but also specialists from Lviv, Odesa, etc were invited.
The education program is implemented under the patronage of the Social Service Department of the Patriarch Curia of UGCC with the financial support of Renovabis, Catholic Relief Services and CNEWA.
This is the first but not the last project of such type. Caritas and the LEF plan to continue cooperation and provide further education for representatives of parishes and local communities.
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