Equipes Notre-Dame (Teams of Our Lady)

Some time ago, we were looking for a prayer group as a couple, and after browsing the myriad of leaflets on the boards at church I found an interesting flyer about a group called TEAMS.  It sounded just right and so we made contact with the secretary and were then invited to join a local group. From the moment we sat down, we just knew that this was the right group for us. We seemed to fit into the group just as the  next piece of a jigsaw would fit into the puzzle.

I include the introductory information about TEAMS, that can be found on the British website: http://www.teamsgb.org.uk/ (do follow the link to gain more insight into how TEAMS operates.)

Teams is for Christian married couples who wish to assist each other to develop their married spirituality and relationship. Equipes Notre-Dame, known in GB as “Teams” was started in France in the 1940’s and has flourished so much that there are now 10,000 teams across the world with over 100 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 new 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 has a missionary objective: Teams couples proclaim to the world, by word and by the witness of their life, the values of Christian marriage.

Through TEAMS we have met the most amazing and inspirational Catholic couples who come from our parish, who we may never have met without having joined this group. Every month we meet and discuss the readings and topics for the month and follow a pro forma for prayer and meditation. We soak up God’s Word, discuss our responses and then move on with the meeting. It has been 5 years since we joined and we are still enjoying the special time set aside each month  with our friends, sharing our Faith,  ideas and lives with them.

Through TEAMS we have come together with other groups who are also part of the TEAMS movement from across the different regions of England.

On one occasion we invited four members from a  group in South Africa who were over here to experience the movement in England. The evening proved to be a huge success, and it felt as though we knew these strangers from far away, as we ‘spoke the same language’ in Christ. What a blessing!

Not only have we grown spiritually and matured as a couple in Christ, but our hearts and eyes have been opened to different ideas about meditation , topics  and prayer and we have been encouraged by the faithfulness and love of Jesus that we witness in our fellow Christians each month.

I highly recommend joining TEAMS of Our Lady if you want to grow as a couple with Christ Jesus at its centre.