• OUR NEXT MEETING

    1pm Thursday, 3 April at North Bar Harrogate

    2D Oxford Buildings Cheltenham Parade Harrogate HG1 1DA

Resources

A Post-Clerical Synodal, Contemplative Parish

Thanks to David Jackson

 

 

Role of Priests in a Synodal Church

Thanks to David Jackson

FROM THE VATICAN OFFICE OF THE SYNOD

How to be a synodal church in mission

 

INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS extracts

Thanks to David Jackson for creating this worksheet

 

20th Sunday of the Year. Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58

Part of the reflection for the 20th Sunday of the Year, taken from ‘DIALOGUE OF THE HEART  ‘Reflections on the Sunday readings of the lectionary’ by David Jackson.  Years A and B ( the current year) are available from Amazon, the volume for Year C will be available from this autumn.’ Cost – about £5

Dialogue

Dialogue is a process of formation. It is not new.

At best Bishops, priests and people have been in “dialogue” since the foundation of the Church. But as Pope Francis acknowledges in Evangelii Gaudium it now takes place to meet a specific need –to enable the laity to play their rightful part in dialogue:

“A clear awareness of this responsibility of the laity, grounded in their baptism, does not appear in the same way in all places. In some cases, it is because lay persons have not been given the formation needed to take on important responsibilities. In others, it is because in their particular Churches room has not been made for them to speak and to act, due to an excessive clericalism which keeps them away from decision-making….. The formation of the laity and the evangelization of professional and intellectual life represent a significant pastoral challenge.”  (Para 102)

Included here are papers given by speakers at our Open Meetings between 2013 and 2015 which make contributions to what we mean by “dialogue” and how it has emerged from the recent story of Church teaching, from the Second Vatican Council onwards.

Worship, Scripture and Prayer

A parish massAs well as example liturgies that could be adopted for your own parish use there is advice about leading services – such as Eucharistic services or a funeral service – where no priest is available to serve the community.

Liturgy and worship are core to faith life of each parish. So several examples and ideas are presented here. Along with these are some ideas about exploring our faith more deeply and some ideas for parish information leaflets.

Liturgy resources

Celebrating Sacraments

Exploring Faith

Parish Information Leaflets

Community

church_meeting_680x508pxJust because people come to mass on a Sunday does not mean that there is a vibrant and growing parish community. In this section are resources about how to do things like set up a parish social committee or Liturgy group, about the ways of working that will bring people in and make them feel valued and included.

Practice

How do we make our parishes living communities? Things do not happen by themselves. People have to be prepared to volunteer to help build up a parish community. Many probably hang back because they do not think they have the right sorts of skills. Below you will find some practical ideas around how to go about developing your parish. You won’t find all the answers you want – but we all have to start somewhere. Some of these may seem a bit basic – but only if you are already familiar with these sorts of processes. Many people are not and yet they may have a lot to offer in a parish if we can encourage them in the right way.

Parish Pastoral and Social Practice

Community

Finance and Management

At a practical level the development of the parish community requires the skills and leadership of many people. So, here you will find resources to help you in the practical task of being part of the development your own parish community.

Mission / Outreach

An inter-faith walk in KeighleyOur parish is not a way of avoiding the world outside, though it seems that way when you talk to some people. How do we find out what contribution we can make to the wider community in order to bring the Good News to them? Then, how do we go about doing it?

Dialogue is one way of describing the process whereby the whole people of God – laity and clergy – develop the life of worship and the community of the parish. But these are not simply “ends” in themselves. Saint Pope John Paul 2 says  in “On the Threshold of the new millennium (“Novo Millennio Ineunte”) that worship (“contemplating the face of Christ”) and “building a loving communion or communion” are ways of preparing and equipping us to go out to fulfil and follow the way of Christ – in “the loving service of all that exists”. We can call this the mission of the Church, or using our baptismal gifts to be “missionary disciples” of Christ.  It can take as many forms as there are needs in the world beyond our church doors. Dialogue makes us missionaries!

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