Teams of Our Lady is for Christian married couples who wish to assist each other to develop their married spirituality and relationship.  Equipes Notre-Dame, known in Great Britain as “Teams”, was started in France in the 1940’s and has flourished so much that there are now 11,000 teams across the world with over 120 in Britain.

Teams has a specific and direct mission: to help couples, themselves, to live fully their sacrament of marriage. They do this with the support of a team using the Teams method. The founder, Fr Henri Caffarel, gave this “method” including monthly ‘Team meetings’ and a small number of ‘endeavours’ for couples.

The principle is to follow the commandment which Christ, himself, gave us, namely Love:

“You must Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, with all your Soul and with all your Mind… You must Love your Neighbour as Yourself.” Matthew 22: 36-40

Teams have a missionary objective: Teams couples proclaim to the world, by word and by the witness of their life, the values of Christian marriage.

There are currently two active Teams in Bishop’s Stortford, meeting monthly to share news, a meal and pray together.  In addition to the monthly meetings, each team goes on an annual retreat together to get away from day to day life and focus on their faith as a team and as individual couples.

This is a great opportunity for any Christian couple to share their journey with other Christian couples and support each other in that journey.

If you would like to know more:

Reflections from Some of the Couples

Fran and Martin (B/S1):

Around thirty years ago we were invited along to a ‘Teams’ meeting by a couple we had recently met at St. Joseph’s Church. We didn’t know the other couples at the meeting very well. However, getting to know each other over a shared meal proved to be a good format for developing friendships and the result is a Team that has endured over the years

In the early days, when our children were young, the Team meeting was a moment of calm within our otherwise hectic family life. As couples, we would meet once a month where we shared life’s ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ within a confidential yet relaxed environment – always finishing with prayer intentions, following reflection on the month’s bible reading. Our children are now all grown-up however, our Team meetings continue.

For us, Teams is a chance each month to ‘catch our breath’ and support each other in our Christian married lives. The friendships that have developed over the years have been a true blessing.

There are two Teams which have started in St. Joseph’s Parish. But, there is always room for another Team – so please get in touch if you are interested in joining either of our Teams; or perhaps being part of a new Team…

Felicity and Mark (B/S1):

Julian of Norwich talks about focusing on the spiritual rather than the things of creation. Although creation is good, we are not to be too bound up in it.

Equip Notre Dame – Teams of Our Lady was started by young people – students attending university in Paris. They went to a priest at Notre Dame – they wanted to know how to maintain their spirituality as they were entering marriage. They began to understand that marriage was a sacrament, and that all sacraments are about the spiritual. God’s presence in our lives: reinforcing our lives.

We joined Teams as we got married. So, we have always known the support of God in our marriage. We have been fortunate to have friends in our team, supporting us through the good and the difficult times. As St. Paul said it is good to have friends that are Christians to support you in your faith.

Different friends provide different perspectives, but sometimes you want to talk about faith, your relationship to your partner and Jesus. To support you in the challenging periods of your life.

Cristina and Robert (B/S2):

When Cristina and I think of Teams certain words always come to mind: safe space; friendship; a sense of belonging; a place to listen and pray together; good food; interesting conversation and genuine support.

We love our group because it has lots of fun and laughs while we grow together as we live through life’s varied experiences. As well as meeting every 4-6 weeks, we try to have an annual ‘away-day’ retreat. These get-togethers, combined with occasional WhatsApp chats, have developed our friendships and ability to offer each other a listening ear, practical support and prayer when needed.

We’d love to welcome new members to our Team and enable other married couples to enjoy the very real spiritual and personal benefits we are experiencing.

Sabine and Stephen (B/S1):

Being in Teams of Our Lady enables my husband and I to enrich and share our Catholic faith in an informal and intimate environment with fellow members of our Bishops Stortford 2 Team. Before each meeting, we will sit down together to discuss the monthly Study Topic contained within our Team’s Booklet, and we love the special communion this exercise in itself offers us as a couple.

Each meeting affords a very special time for us to strengthen the bonds of our friendship with the two other couples in our Team. There is much joy and laughter around the table as well as time for deeper exchanges. After the meal is over, our spiritually based discussions around the Study Topics are most enlightening and towards the conclusion of our meetings, we really enjoy the communal praying and find it incredibly uplifting.

Thus after more than 20 years involvement, we would struggle to envisage going about leading our life without the love and support of the Teams of Our Lady.