INTRODUCTION

When he arrived as Bishop of East Anglia in March 2003, Bishop Michael immediately set about a series of consultations about what were perceived to be the key priorities for our diocese over the next few years. On 26^th March 2003, just a week after his ordination, the Diocesan College of Consultors (the seven Deans and five other priests), rooted in their long and varied experience of the diocese, gave the following ten priorities, all within the setting of the Lord’s call to grow together in holiness, in faith and in love:

the evangelisation of East Anglia: where is the Catholic Church in all this?

becoming more outward looking (e.g. through overseas links)

the formation of lay people for fuller participation and collaborative ministry, partly to help us face an imminent future with fewer priests, but much more importantly to enable lay people to play their full part in the life and mission of the Church

better catechesis and adult education

a review of parish, deanery and diocesan structures

the welfare and ongoing formation of our priests and deacons

a more pro-active approach to vocations promotion, with greater focus in both parish and school

a renewed diocesan youth service, with a higher profile given to young people

moving towards financial stability in order to resource our future together

a review of the Schools Commission and Religious Education Commission.

The gathering of fifty of our priests and deacons in Merville in June 2003 echoed these priorities, and added some of their own.

greater focus on spiritual renewal: the call to conversion, holiness and prayer

a greater sense of mission

realistic planning for our future together with fewer priests
recognising the gifts of the laity, and lay formation leading to serious lay ministry and service

a structured adult education programme

viable and sustainable parish, deanery and diocesan structures

more coordination and sharing of resources between parishes, and greater cooperation among priests

a re-think of city/town centre ministries

a much better sense of being a single diocesan family

more focus on the Cathedral as the Mother Church of our diocese

young people to take their proper place

sharing best practice among parishes and dioceses

better care for the clergy from ‘ordination to the grave’, and better ongoing formation

These same priorities arose again and again in discussions among lay people and clergy at parish, deanery and diocesan level.

The clergy meeting in Merville also asked that we dispel the attitude of ‘something will happen one day.’ There has been a growing sense over the last year that we no longer have the luxury of being able to sit back and wait a little longer.

The March 2003 meeting of the College of Consultors agreed a new diocesan consultation process, echoing Bishop Alan Clark’s 1988 Pastoral Plan (“Deepening and Widening our Faith”) and taking up where Bishop Peter Smith’s later “Sowing the Seed” had left off. This new diocesan process came to be called “Forward and Outward Together”.

For twelve months, from May 2003 until May 2004, every parish and deanery has been involved in numerous discussions. There were also many individual responses. A lot of people gave much time to the process. Over 1,500 people were involved in the first phase of consultations, based on the bishop’s paper “Forward & Outward Together” and the accompanying “Points to Ponder”. These responses led to two further papers for the second phase: “Working Together” and “Towards New Structures”.

There have also been parallel consultations and meetings at diocesan level on the age for First Communion and Confirmation, our work with Young People, Justice and Peace, Disability Awareness, and Marriage and Family Life (‘Listening 2004’), as well as with our religious communities. Some of our Diocesan Commissions have also given time to exploring the best way forward. Alongside this, Fr David Bagstaff spent some of his sabbatical exploring how similar dioceses do things in the United States and here in England. The main results of our diocesan process are now brought together in this Diocesan Pastoral Plan. We are most grateful to all who have contributed in any way.

A draft version of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan was presented for discussion to a joint meeting of the parish priests of the diocese and the Council of Priests on 1^st July 2004. A large majority (86%) approved the document as something on which we could move forward together; another 10% gave qualified approval; 4% were unhappy to move forward in this way. A few small revisions were made, and Bishop Michael has now endorsed this Diocesan Pastoral Plan as the policy for our whole diocesan family and its parishes.

No such plan is of use unless it is practical and realistic, and is followed up carefully. Although a range of views were expressed in parish, deanery and individual responses to ‘Forward and Outward Together’, we can only move realistically into the future on the basis of Catholic teaching and current Catholic discipline. People will continue to ask challenging questions, and these need to be heard and answered, but a Bishop can only lead his diocese within the fullness of the Catholic tradition, united in full communion with the Holy Father and his brother bishops, and drawing his inspiration especially from the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

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OUR DIOCESAN FAMILY

Bishop Michael launched our diocesan review on the basis of the experience and priorities of the Diocesan College of Consultors and others. As this process has continued, the Bishop has got to know the diocese in some way, visiting every Catholic school before the Summer of 2003 and every parish at least once before Easter 2004. The best source of detailed insight and information on our parishes, deaneries and the diocese has come from the reflections given in reports as part of the diocesan process. It is those reports which have determined the way forward.

East Anglia is a geographically large diocese with a relatively small and scattered Catholic population. Catholics are a lower percentage of the population in East Anglia than in most other parts of the country. Just under 20,000 people come to Mass most Sundays, about half of whom live in the four main urban centres of Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich and Peterborough. The distances between rural parishes present us with a particular challenge when it comes to exploring practical and realistic ways to share limited personnel and other resources. The diocese is faced with an imminent future with far fewer priests, and yet a growing population in East Anglia, with large housing developments proposed for Cambridgeshire and other areas.

Although three people are beginning seminary formation in September 2004, the first for our diocese for many years, we have very few priests now available to replace those due to retire over the next ten years. We now have 56 parishes in our diocese. If all our priests were to preserve reasonably good health and none retire until aged 75, fifteen parish priests would retire over the next ten years. The actual figure is likely to be larger.

Clearly we cannot preserve all our parishes as they are, and we need to make practical decisions now about how to prepare for that future rather than react to each situation as it arises. Some of those decisions need to be implemented immediately. Some will need to come into play over the next few years. Others may never be necessary if our situation changes radically.

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WHAT IS THE CHURCH FOR?

Each of our parish communities is a portion of the ‘Local Church’ of the Diocese of East Anglia. We can make sense of our future together only if we understand as fully as possible the nature and mission of the Church. What is the Church? And what is it for? Any serious answer to these questions would require a long document, but the work has already been done. The New Testament, along with two key documents of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes, remain the key to understanding our identity. Certain ideas, however, remain central to Catholic teaching on the Church.

We are not just a community: we are a community ‘in Christ’. Through our Baptism and Confirmation, and our regular participation in the Mass, the Holy Spirit draws us into the mystery of Christ and into the inner life of the Holy Trinity.

The Risen Lord says to each of us: ‘Come to me’, ‘Follow me’ and ‘Go in my name’. We are transformed by the touch of his presence and become new people, ready and able to follow him and to live a new life ‘in Christ.’ We are sent forth by him into the world to proclaim with joy the good news of God’s love for all humanity, and ‘to make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28.20). Jesus’ call to communion with his life (‘Come to me’) is inseparable from his call to communion with his mission (‘Go in my name’). Jesus was deeply conscious of being ‘sent’ by the Father. If we are truly united with Christ as his bride and his body, and as branches of the vine, we will also be drawn into his mission to bring God’s saving love to the world.

The Second Vatican Council proclaimed the mission of the whole Church in its summary of the vocation of every individual: each ‘must stand before the world as a witness to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus, and as a sign that God lives’ (Gaudium et Spes, n. 38).

As the Second Vatican Council taught, ‘The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature. For it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she takes her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father’ (Ad Gentes, n. 1). Communion with the Triune God is the very life of the Church; communion with the mission of God’s Son and Spirit is the very mission of the Church.

WHY A DIOCESAN PASTORAL PLAN?

One thing needs to be said from the beginning. This Pastoral Plan does not cover everything. It does not even cover everything that is most important. For example, little is said about our Catholic schools which are so vital to our diocesan life. Although we have tried to take up many if not most of the key points from the two phases of discussions for ‘Forward & Outward Together’, many issues can only be handled at local level, and many others still require ongoing discussion. Our hope is that this limited plan will help us move forward in certain key areas, while in no way suggesting that this is all there is to be done, or that it can all be done at once. We will need to take up many different issues together over the coming years. We can work together to develop further guidelines on particular issues (e.g. care of marriage & family life; ecumenism; dialogue with Muslims).

Some of the things required or suggested here are already well established in many parishes. Someone recently suggested that the Catholic Church in our country is dying. That is not the impression we get from our parishes in East Anglia. There are many signs of life and many thriving communities with good practice to share. Part of the aim of this Pastoral Plan is to share such good practice, and to move towards a greater sense of unity and coherence in the way we do things together as parishes within a single diocesan family while leaving room for each parish to develop in its own distinctive way.

‘Many of the themes covered in Bishop Michael’s paper Working Together were met with heartfelt cries of “We should have been doing this years ago!” Many of the proposed priorities and initiatives have been desired for many years (e.g. better welcome, better community, better sharing, more lay leadership, etc) and need attention anyway.’ (St Mary’s parish, Ipswich)

The Pastoral Plan is divided into two parts.

PART 1: General Pastoral Plan

This covers a range of diocesan policies and recommendations, rooted in the initial round of discussions for “Forward & Outward Together” and responses to the document “Working Together”.

There are three categories of statements:

(1) Policies to be implemented everywhere across the diocese.

(2) Recommendations to be given full consideration in each parish and deanery.

(3) Points for further consideration by each parish and deanery, and the diocese.

The plan should be used as a check-list by priests and people together as they present pastoral plans for the future of parishes, clusters of parishes, deaneries and the whole diocese. Parish and Deanery Councils of different kinds should use it as an agenda for their ongoing work. It will also be used as a basis for the Bishop’s visitation of parishes.

PART 2: Structural Changes (page 59)

This covers decisions concerning structural changes regarding individual parishes, clustering of parishes and deaneries, some to be implemented immediately, others to be implemented gradually as appropriate.

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This Plan is not intended to be the last word on anything. It is open to ongoing and periodic review. As the Second Vatican Council reminded us, the Church is in need of continual renewal. Some things will not work. Other better ideas will come to light. This Pastoral Plan will be presented for radical review by the whole diocese in 2009, but there needs to be flexibility between now and then. Such a plan can only be provisional. Our situation may change for better or worse. We need continuity with our past; we need to consolidate all the good that we already have; but we are also a pilgrim people, and we need to keep moving “Forward and Outward Together” if we are truly to be the Church of Jesus Christ.

“People want more church – not less”

(St Mary’s parish, Ipswich)

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The motto of the Synod of Churches in the Holy Land, presenting its General Pastoral Plan in 2000, sums up in three phrases all that our own pastoral plan seeks to enable and encourage:

· Believing in Christ

· Participating in the Church

· Witnessing in Society

We need to hold together those three callings if we are to be truly the Church in East Anglia. All three belong together, and we cannot truly have one without the other.

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CALLED TO HOLINESS

Much in this pastoral plan concerns new ways of doing things, new structures for our future, and simply sharing good practice with one another. But there is no point to any of this unless it serves our fundamental vocation from God: the call to holiness, the call to perfect love of God and one another. Our prayer for this diocese and our parishes is that the Holy Spirit will renew us in love, and set us on fire so that others can catch fire from us.

Our personal lives, our families and homes, our schools and parish communities, are ‘holy ground’ where we encounter the transforming presence of the Living God. We are called to be like the burning bush Moses was drawn to in the desert: we should be people on fire with God’s love within us, so that others will be attracted towards us and meet God himself.

But holiness is never a private affair. It is deeply personal, but never private. We are called to love God with all our being, and to love one another as Jesus has loved us. Growing together in loving community is essential to being truly holy. We are called to be beacons of holiness – in our personal lives and in our communion with each other.

We are all called to turn our lives away from sin and towards the Risen Lord. Only God, ‘the fountain of all holiness’, can make us holy, and it is always by the power of his love – the Holy Spirit - that he renews and transforms us from within.

As Jesus changed the water into wine at Cana for the wedding guests to drink, so he seeks to transform our lives by his Holy Spirit so that the spiritual thirst of others may be quenched. Our personal growth in holiness is a gift for others, and that of others a gift of God to us.

We are not asked to do all this on our own. Above all, Christ is with us. Without Christ we can do nothing. We are totally dependent on his free gift of grace, the Gift of the Holy Spirit, the love which God pours into our hearts.

But also, our Diocese of East Anglia today and in the years ahead is not alone. We are united in full communion with the Catholic Church throughout the world, led and inspired by the ministry of the Holy Father and his brother bishops. Most of the challenges we face we share with the other dioceses in the United Kingdom, and with much of the western world. We can support and help each other. Our diocese is now united in special friendship with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Cambodian Diocese of Battambang. Throughout our own pastoral plan, we include quotations from the General Pastoral Plan of the Holy Land, which flowed from their Synod in 2000. Our problems and challenges are not unique, and we can learn much from our twin dioceses in the Holy Land and Cambodia. And we are in their prayers. We are also deeply united through our baptism with all the other Christians of East Anglia, and there are many ways in which we can grow together in faith and witness.

Nor are we simply united with the Church of today. We are supported and inspired by all those who have gone before us in East Anglia, by centuries of faithful Christians who have lived the Gospel message and sometimes given their life for their Christian and Catholic faith. We think especially of St Felix who came from Gaul in 630 to work for the conversion of the East Angles: we are all called, like him, to preach the Good News to the people of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. We are united with all the saints from East Anglia, with St Etheldreda and St Edmund, Saints Botolph, Fursey, Walstan and Withburga, and with the Blessed Martyrs of East Anglia who gave their lives for the Catholic Church. We can be sure that St Henry Morse, St Robert Southwell and St Henry Walpole, all born in Norfolk, will keep us in their prayers. And above all, of course, our diocesan family is commended to the prayers of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Christ-Bearer and God-Bearer: we pray that our personal, parish and diocesan lives will be so overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and so full of the mysterious presence of Christ that we, like Mary, may bring Christ himself to all the people of East Anglia. That is our mission, that is our calling, that is our sacred service to our world.

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A COMMUNITY OF WELCOME

Nearly all parish responses highlighted the need to become more welcoming communities. This is one of the main ways we will spread the Good News of Jesus together: by becoming visible beacons of God’s light, communities full of the joyful and welcoming love of the Risen Lord. Other people will be drawn towards our parish life and worship, and encounter there the presence of Christ.

The ‘gift of community’ lies at the heart of God’s plan for humanity. The Lord came to ‘gather together the scattered children of God’, and unity is central to a truly Catholic understanding of the ‘salvation’ Christ came to bring. Only if we are truly united with each other can we be a credible sign to the world of the Good News of Jesus Christ. ‘Being together’ and ‘going forth’, Community and Mission, belong inseparably together.

God our Father,

we rejoice in the faith that draws us together,

aware that selfishness can drive us apart.

Let your encouragement be our constant strength.

Keep us one in the love that has sealed our lives,

and help us to live as one family

the gospel we profess.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Roman Missal: alternative opening prayer for the 11^th Sunday of the Year.

Our diocesan family

Any church community is more than a gathering of people. It is a family. We should think of the diocese as our diocesan family, and each parish as a parish family. Once we think and feel that way, we may well have a very different attitude to much of church life, worship and mission.

Within the great worldwide family of the Catholic Church, we belong first to the family of the Diocese of East Anglia, gathered around the Bishop and with St John’s Cathedral as our Mother Church.

Your parish, and every parish in East Anglia, is an integral part of our diocese. We all belong to one great diocesan family, served by the Bishop as teacher, priest and shepherd of the whole diocese, and by your priests and deacons as his co-workers.

St John’s Cathedral in Norwich is the Catholic cathedral for all of East Anglia, for every parish and for every Catholic. It is as much the Catholic cathedral for Cambridge, Ipswich and Peterborough as it is for Norwich itself. It is the Mother Church for the whole of our diocesan family, and the visible focal point of our life and worship together. That means it is your church, and a place where you belong. There has been a very generous response from the diocese to the first phase of the Cathedral Appeal: our hope is that the developments there will make the cathedral even more welcoming for everyone.

illustration by Derek Mahoney from the cathedral parish

Many reports highlighted the fact that we are blessed with two focal points in our diocese: our Catholic Cathedral in Norwich and the National Shrine at Walsingham. We need to make more of both places in our diocesan life. Neither is in competition with the other: each has its distinctive role. We intend to hold more diocesan events in each place.

Our diocese is divided into parishes, each of which is “a living cell of the body of the diocese” (General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p. 98). No parish can exist in self-sufficient isolation. Each is an integral part of the diocese, and needs to be open in welcome to other parishes. Collaboration among parishes is essential, not just because we need to but because it is part of what it means to be truly Catholic.

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Our parish family

Pope John Paul reminds us that each parish should be “a fraternal and welcoming family home, where those who have been baptised and confirmed become aware of forming the people of God” (Catechesi Tradendae, n. 67). A parish is “a Eucharistic community” with the Mass as the “summit and source” of its whole life and mission, but it is more than simply a ‘Mass station’, a place where we go for Mass.

Every parish should be a community of faith and of love. We need to cultivate a spirit of belonging among all members, so that everyone really thinks of the parish as their family and their church as their home. The natural extended family has been weakened in our society in recent years. Every church community should be an extended family for all its members.

Each parish is a network or ‘cluster’ of communities. Some parishes have more than one place of worship, and this will probably be the norm in the future with fewer priests. No matter how strong and distinctive those communities may be, each is a fully integral part of a single parish family served and led by its parish priest. No matter how many places of worship there are in a parish, the whole community should see the one parish church, after which the parish is called, as its centre. Just as an example, the distinct Catholic communities at Blakeney, Burnham Market and Wells, each with their own church, are integral parts of the parish of Walsingham, with the parish church in Walsingham as their local ‘mother church’.

There should be a real desire in such parishes for distinct communities to share their life together.

St Paul’s image of the Church as the Body of Christ is a challenge to every parish and to each community within each parish. It is well worth re-reading 1 Corinthians 12.14-26, and applying St Paul’s words to our diocese and our parishes. We are all different, but we are all essential parts of a single body. And we all need each other. No community within a parish can say to another community, ‘I do not need you’; no parish can say to another parish, ‘I do not need you’. And as St Paul says, “If one part is hurt, all parts are hurt with it. If one part is given special honour, all parts enjoy it’ (12.26). What are the implications of these words for your particular parish, in your particular situation today, and as part of the Diocese of East Anglia? What would St Paul be saying to us today? This might be a useful reflection for a parish meeting.

But we must not limit our understanding of ‘parish’ to the needs of its members. Any truly Catholic parish will have a missionary orientation. “The parish is not a community for itself, it is rather a community for mission (an apostolic community)” (General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p. 96).

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Renewing our parishes

There is little doubt that the parish will remain the fundamental local community to which we belong as Catholics, although perhaps a different kind of parish than we have been accustomed to. Although there is much renewal which can happen at diocesan, deanery and ‘cluster’ level, it is above all the renewal of each parish family – and of each individual, family and community within that parish – which is the key to our moving forward and outward together.

There is no room for elitism of any kind in Catholic spirituality. No one Catholic group or movement can say to another, ‘we are better than others’ or ‘we are the way’. Organisations and movements suit some but not others. It is the diocese and parish to which we most truly belong. Any groups we join should always enhance and enrich our involvement in the life, worship and mission of our local parish and diocese.

Our primary focus should be the spiritual renewal of our local parish communities in faithfulness to the Scriptures, and of course to our whole Catholic Tradition in general and to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council in particular.

“The parish is called to be the centre of Christian life in the future and, as a consequence, the centre of our continuing pastoral effort. The renewal of our Churches, before all else, must pass through the renewal of our parishes”

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p. 104)

The most important part of our diocesan process is not this Pastoral Plan, but rather the positive and practical fruits of your local discussions. This plan is simply the bringing together of your ideas, hopes and dreams. Each parish should spend time making full use of the reports produced during the two phases of ‘Forward & Outward Together’.

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A truly Catholic welcome

One meaning of the word “catholic” is “all-embracing” or “inclusive”. Every parish needs to become more truly catholic in this sense, not simply being ready to accept anyone who comes to us, but reaching out pro-actively and positively to all in the name of Christ.

How can we make our parish more fully inclusive, so that everyone feels truly welcome? Truly Catholic unity is unity in diversity. We rejoice in being able to be truly united while cherishing and nurturing distinctive cultures, abilities and contributions. The challenge is to ‘count everyone in’, creating a culture of inclusion.

“ALL need inclusion NOW”

(Ipswich Deanery)

A welcoming liturgy

The heart of parish life is the Sunday celebration of Mass. It is there that we worship God together. It is there we are nourished together by the Word of God, the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation, and empowered afresh by the Holy Spirit for our calling to bring Christ to our world. It is there that we become more truly the Body of Christ, so that we can go forth together to witness to Christ in our daily lives and share with others the Good News of salvation.

It is at Sunday Mass that our Catholic welcome must be most powerfully evident and experienced: before Mass, during Mass and after Mass.

Ministry of Welcome

The ministry of welcome is not limited to those few people who greet us in the church porch on the way into Mass. If we are truly a family, then we are all called to make the effort to welcome, to reach out with a smile to newcomers, strangers and those returning to parish life after a time away. No matter how welcoming our official ‘welcomers’ may be, people will not feel truly welcome unless they are made welcome by all.

‘Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as brothers and sisters should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit. If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come, and keep on praying. If any of the saints are in need you must share with them, and you should make hospitality your special care’ (St Paul to the Romans 12.9-13).

Imagine someone being invited to join your family for Sunday lunch: you might welcome them wonderfully at the front door, but they may then be ignored by the rest of the family! We need to develop not simply a limited ministry of welcome, but welcoming communities. That is far more of a challenge, but essential. What is most needed is a change of heart, so that we become people of welcome, relaxed and joyful in our faith and open to all.

Our diocesan policy is that the diocesan family and every parish community should be pro-actively welcoming to all. Every parish is asked to explore the very heart of the way in which it welcomes all. The following recommendations are based on the good practice of many parishes.

Welcoming & including newcomers

(1) The word ‘Welcome’ needs to be seen and heard. Many parishes have a ‘welcome’ sign outside the church or in the porch, often in many different languages.

(2) Welcome leaflets should be available in the church porch, so that newcomers can complete them and hand them into the parish office or presbytery.

(3) A welcome pack should be given to all newcomers, with a letter of welcome from the parish priest and information on parish life, including the names and addresses of key people in the parish.

(4) A welcome card from the parish could be posted to each newcomer.

(5) As a priority, the parish clergy should visit each newcomer within a few weeks.

(6) A house blessing can be offered to all newcomers.

(7) A social event could be organised every few months for newcomers,

hosted by the clergy and parish representatives.

(8) If a ‘Parish Link Scheme’ is in place (see later), the Link Person should visit the newcomer as soon as possible.

‘Although an introductory pack for new parishioners is good, it cannot replace the personal sense of welcome that a parish offers, and a sensitivity by all to welcome new faces as part of a ministry of hospitality’ (individual response)

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Welcoming to Sunday Mass

(1) Although it is vital that every member of the parish community be welcoming, there is an important ministry of welcome before each Mass on Sunday. Most parishes now have some form of ‘welcomers’ before Sunday Mass, but this may need to be developed.

Parish reports stressed that welcomers need to be chosen carefully. Their role is not simply to hand out newsletters and hymn books, but to be the welcoming face of the parish community as people arrive for Mass. Ideally, this suggests people who can gradually get to know those who regularly come to a particular Mass; greet them by name; notice and focus on newcomers and visitors; give special care to anyone who has particular needs.

If this role is understood in this way, it becomes a true ministry of welcome rather than simply a job to be carried out. Not everyone is suited for such a vital service. It may be worth considering a formation day for such ministers, either in the parish, cluster of neighbouring parishes or at deanery level. Those taking up this ministry could then have time to reflect on the spirituality of welcome, as well as share practical ideas for making welcome.

(2) The special service of usher can be useful in helping newcomers, visitors and late-comers to find a seat at Mass without undue embarrassment.

‘It was felt especially important to promote a community in which people were known by name’

(St Peter & All Souls parish, Peterborough)

(3) We need to challenge everyone at Mass to ‘make hospitality their special care’. The prayers of the Mass, especially the Eucharistic Prayers, highlight God’s will that by taking part in the Mass we ‘grow in love’ and become ‘one body, one spirit in Christ’. Our parishes would be far more welcoming if everyone at Mass made a point of getting to know one new person each Sunday, perhaps on the way into Mass or the way out. Gradually we get to know each other by name, recognise each other in the street and the supermarket, and become more of a family.

(4) An essential part of making people welcome at Mass is the way we celebrate the liturgy together. The ‘ministry of welcome’ includes making sure everyone can hear (e.g. better training for our readers; improving the sound system; making sure there is a loop-system; use of sign language), and ensuring that active participation is possible for everyone (e.g. through the choice of music; provision for people with disabilities; full use of the cultural diversity and riches of the parish community).

(5) The church building itself must be a warm, welcoming and inviting place of worship. Creative use of art, flowers, banners, etc can help. Good lighting is essential, creating an atmosphere between ‘gloom’; and ‘glare’. The church building is a sacred space to be cared for with love and to be kept open as long as possible each day as a sign of God’s welcome to all.

‘A beautiful liturgy and a caring church

will attract young and old alike’

(Hunstanton parish)

Welcome after Sunday Mass

(1) As far as possible, and taking account of resources and the time of Mass, some kind of social gathering (coffee, tea & biscuits, etc) should be available after Sunday Mass. This tends to work best after the mid-morning Mass when people are in no hurry to get home to prepare meals, but it may be worth experimenting after other Masses as well. Such gatherings are a good opportunity for people to mix and get to know each other. and to feel more ‘at home’ in the parish setting.

(2) Whenever possible, the parish priest and other clergy should be in the church porch or outside the church after every Mass to greet people as they leave.

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Social events

Once we understand that growing in holiness involves growing in unity, and that God’s gift of salvation is a gift of community (of ‘at-one-ment’), then we appreciate more strongly that coming together as a family for social activities is a fundamental part of parish life. It is not simply a way of drawing people into the parish; coming together is central to the life and witness of the Church.

(1) Parishes and the communities which form them are strongly encouraged to develop a range of social events throughout the year, some for the whole parish family, and others for particular groups of parishioners (Over-Sixties, Young Wives, Men’s Group, etc). Family-friendly events open to the whole parish are particularly important.

(2) Each parish could have a Social Events Committee, with people representing the range of parish life. Their role is to initiate and facilitate the social life of the parish.

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A network of communities

(see a model scheme on page 60 of this booklet)

Even a parish with a relatively small congregation is a ‘network of communities’. Without in any way undermining the essential unity of the parish, there may be room for developing smaller, local Catholic communities (e.g. in each village or in neighbourhoods of our towns and cities). Larger villages or communities, whether or not they retain a weekly Sunday Mass, can develop their own local ways to ensure the cohesion and needs of that community. A parish could be divided into viable areas (with, for example, 10-20 known Catholic households), each with a lay ‘link person’ or couple responsible for getting to know each household, liaising with the parish priest about individual needs, and organising occasional gatherings (e.g. purely social, a House Mass, reflection on the Sunday readings).

Such a scheme would provide an important way for developing responsible and collaborative lay leadership at local level. It can also be an effective support for reaching out to the lapsed, and caring for the sick, elderly and housebound. Link people might play a part in organising transport to Mass for people from their area. An annual gathering of such link people may provide a valuable forum for discussing pastoral strategies.

The 1987 Synod of Bishops in Rome urged each parish to become ‘a dynamic community of communities’. This theme has been frequently echoed by Pope John Paul:

“One way of renewing parishes, especially urgent for parishes in large cities, might be to consider the parish as a community of communities and movements. It seems timely therefore to form ecclesial communities and groups of a size that allows for true human relationships’

(Ecclesia in America; 1999)

“The Church as Family cannot reach all her possibilities as Church unless she is divided into communities small enough to foster close human relationships” (Ecclesia in Africa; 1995)

“So that all parishes of this kind may be truly communities of Christians, local ecclesial authorities ought to foster…small basic or so-called ‘living’ communities where the faithful can communicate the word of God and express it in service and love to one another; these communities are true expressions of ecclesial communion and centres of evangelisation in communion with their pastors.” (Christifideles Laici; 1988)

Reconciling & welcoming less-active Catholics

On average, over three quarters of Catholics do not come to Mass regularly. Some have becoming alienated from parish life for some reason; others have simply drifted away. We need to appreciate the delicate issues sometimes involved in making contact with such Catholics, and possible past hurts. Sometimes vicarious apologies may be necessary as a way of moving forward.

“In our day and age, many people now stand on the threshold of our Church. They have many questions. Do I really want to go in? Will there be someone to open the door to me? What will stepping over the threshold involve? Might I feel trapped? Do I really want to be here anyway? Would I rather walk away? Will I be made welcome? If I walk away now, will I ever be able to come back? Whether it is on the presbytery doorstep or at the church or at the school entrance, standing on the threshold can be a nerve wracking experience, especially for those who, for whatever reason, do not feel at home in a church situation.”

(On the Threshold, Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, 2000; p.5)

Many are awaiting an invitation to return, to ‘come home’. That call has to be made explicitly and in an inviting and welcoming way. Ideally, a Catholic friend or neighbour should accompany them to Mass. Participation in social events can often be a way back into the liturgical life of the Church. Friendly contact with priests and people is essential. Something like the ‘Link Scheme’ outlined above, or some form of visiting by parishioners, can make a big contribution.

(1) The diocese will provide a leaflet aimed at less-active Catholics, with a message from the bishop and space for each parish to print local details (Mass times, etc). Alternatively, parishes could produce their own leaflet.

(2) Every parish should develop an outreach programme to less-active Catholics, using either the diocesan leaflet or their own.

(3) The parish newsletter could be delivered to less-active Catholics.

(4) A general distribution of cards for Christmas and Easter, with details of Mass times (perhaps with other churches) is a simple but effective outreach.

(5) Occasional adverts in local newspapers extending a welcome to newcomers and less-active Catholics may reach those untouched by other forms of outreach.

(6) Some parishes find helpful an informal ‘Come and See’ evening as a way of introducing people to the way the Catholic Church is today and to the life of a particular community. This could be advertised in the local newspapers.

(7) The diocese will explore existing programmes for reaching out to less-active Catholics, and provide training days on suitable schemes (e.g. Landings).

(8) The diocesan theme for 2005 will be both ‘The Sacrament of Forgiveness and Reconciliation’ and ‘reconciling less-active Catholics’.

(9) Generally, we need to develop a culture of welcome and friendship so that returning Catholics, visitors and newcomers do not slip through the net. We should seek to attract and inspire – rather than worry - others back to involvement in the church.

“COMING HOME”

“We want to let our inactive brothers and sisters know that they always have a place in the Church and that we are hurt by their absence – as they are. We want to show our regret for any misunderstandings or mistreatment. And we want them to see that, however they feel about the Church, we want to talk with them, share with them, and accept them as brothers and sisters. Every Catholic can be a minister of welcome, reconciliation and understanding to those who have stopped practising the faith’

(Go & Make Disciples, US Bishops, 1993)

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Welcoming and including the stranger

East Anglia is now a far more culturally diverse part of the country than it used to be. This is something in which to rejoice rather than lament. We belong to a world-wide Church which embraces as fully equal people of every nation, language and race. Our Catholic faith requires us to speak out openly and clearly against all forms of racism and discrimination, and to oppose any political party or organisation which seeks to divide people rather than unite them. Such cultural differences are an enrichment to our Catholic unity. To be fully Catholic is to be all-embracing and all-welcoming. To be Catholic is to be open to what we can receive from other cultures, and to be ready to celebrate and to share our gifts with each other.

‘I was a stranger,

and you made me welcome’

(Matthew 25.35)

We have long had among us in East Anglia significant numbers of Catholics from Italy and Poland. In the last few years, many thousands of Portuguese-speakers have come to live here with us. We have also been enriched by large numbers of Filipino nurses, as well as other people from all over the world.

There is sometimes a tension between the desire of such communities to retain their distinctiveness and yet also a desire to become integrated into our society. The Catholic Church has an important role to play, as ‘unity in diversity’ lies at the heart of our catholicity.

Some communities (e.g. Italians and Poles) are gradually becoming more integrated into ordinary Catholic life. Some of our parish communities have made considerable efforts to welcome the Portuguese migrant workers. As the process of integration continues, there are ways which we might use to make diverse groups feel more ‘at home’ in our ordinary parish lives. These are only a few examples:

(1) Copies of the Scripture readings and prayers for Sunday Mass could be provided in Portuguese. It would be helpful to have the main English text alongside the Portuguese text, to help people follow the Mass.

(2) All or part of one of the readings could be read in Portuguese as well as English at Mass.

(3) Place a ‘Welcome to our Catholic Church’ sign in Portuguese outside the church. Leave ‘Welcome’ leaflets in Portuguese in the church porch (including information on Catholic schools), along with government leaflets available in Portuguese on the rights of migrant workers, etc.

(4) Those from distinct communities could be invited to sing a liturgical song from their country at Mass, or contribute some of their distinctive liturgical customs.

(5) People from other countries and cultures are often delighted to have the opportunity to talk about their country, or to provide meals and social events from their countries.

(6) Organise English language classes for Portuguese-speakers, and encourage all parishioners to learn some basic Portuguese (at very least, words of greeting) in order to be more welcoming. The latter could be combined with a social event.

(7) The special annual celebrations of such communities can be marked each year, in the liturgy and in social activities.

Everything suggested for welcoming Portuguese speakers also applies to any other group of people as they arrive in our area. We also need to be aware of the particular needs of migrants who are not Catholics, but who still need to be made welcome in our local communities (e.g. Chinese).

‘Continue to love each other like brothers and sisters, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it’

(Hebrews 13.1)

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Welcoming and including people with disabilities

As a fully-inclusive community, the Catholic Church should in all ways be an example of ‘best practice’ regarding our welcome of people with disabilities of any kind. This is not simply a matter of fulfilling our legal obligations under the ‘Disability Discrimination Act’ (1995), but of being truly catholic in the breadth of our inclusiveness. In 1998, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales published a document entitled Valuing Difference. The very title sums up the Catholic approach to including people with disabilities in all aspects of the life and mission of the Church, and of showing respect, value and equality to all, no matter what their ability. People with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world; up to 20% of us have a disability of some kind. Every parish needs to ask itself: how can we better make the Gospel message, our parish community, growth in holiness, and forms of ministry and mission accessible to people with disabilities? People with disabilities are first and foremost people with abilities, gifted people with much to share.

(1) Each parish should have one or two representatives responsible for ensuring the full implementation of the Disability Implementation Act (1995) and of working towards a parish community which is fully inclusive of people with disabilities.

(2) Every parish needs to carry out a full audit of its facilities and activities with a view to enhancing access for people with disabilities. Useful materials were provided to all parishes after our diocesan disability study in March 2004.

(3) Parishes are required by law to make all reasonable adjustments in order to make their liturgy and community life accessible to people with disabilities. This includes necessary alterations to physical features (e.g. ramps and wider doorways for wheelchair users; suitable toilet facilities; providing additional help; adapting existing parish services and catechetical programmes).

(4) Our liturgy must be celebrated in such a way that people with disabilities are included as fully as possible. This includes practical steps such as ensuring that a good loop-system is installed; provision of large-print, Braille and taped newsletters etc; use of signing when possible; provision of suitable spaces for wheelchairs; clear marking of steps and uneven surfaces; providing suitable transport to Mass. The question to ask is: what are the barriers which prevent people with disabilities from full active involvement in our parish life and worship? We must then do all we can to remove those barriers. The first people to ask are the experts: ask people in your parish with disabilities to tell you what they need.

(5) Our forms of ministry should be open to people with disabilities. For example, can we provide a microphone for a reader in a wheelchair? Do we invite people in wheelchairs or with learning difficulties to bring up the offertory gifts, to minister Holy Communion, to serve at the altar? For example, what is there to stop a person with Downs Syndrome from being an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion?

(6) Our catechetical programmes, parish social life, youth activities and every other aspect of parish life must be as fully inclusive as possible.

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Welcoming and including the elderly, the sick and the housebound

Our Catholic welcome includes people of all ages, and must never neglect the sick and the elderly who have given and continue to give so much to the life of the Church. Those who cannot come to Mass need to be kept ‘in touch’ with the parish family:

(1) Through visits by members of the parish community, and the opportunity to receive Holy Communion especially from Sunday Mass. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion can make this possible. Care of the sick and housebound always remain a very important part of the ministry of priests and deacons.

(2) Social events for older parishioners (e.g. over 60s) are often very popular. These might include a fortnightly or monthly Over-Sixties Lunch (with home-made soup, rolls, tea and coffee), perhaps with entertainment of some kind.

(3) Tapes of Sunday Mass can be a great support to housebound people.

(4) The sick and housebound should receive copies of parish newsletters and diocesan newspapers, and be made to feel as fully as possible part of parish life.

(5) The sick and housebound have a vital role to play in the life of the church, through their personal witness and by becoming power-houses of prayer. They could be invited to be prayer-partners for children and young people preparing for First Communion and Confirmation, for couples preparing for Marriage and students for the Priesthood and Diaconate.

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Welcome and including the retired

As one parish pointed out, there are many parishes in our diocese where most people join through retirement rather than baptism! Retired people have their own needs. They also have much to contribute to the life, worship and mission of the church, including the gift of time.

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Welcoming and including our children and young people

Our children, teenagers and young adults are a vital part of our church community. They are not simply the Church of Tomorrow: they are also the Church of Today. We must do all we can to give them a sense of welcome and belonging, of being valued and included. Young people have a tremendous amount to give to our parish and diocesan life. When allowed and encouraged to do so, many take up the opportunity with enthusiasm. We need to be seen to place our confidence in the young, and to include them fully in the life of the Catholic Church in East Anglia.

Developing youth work in East Anglia is particularly challenging because of the scattered nature of our Catholic communities and the travel difficulties involved. We may need to organise diocesan events which include activities for parents who have driven their young people to the events.

(1) Children and young people should be included as fully as possible in each ordinary Sunday Mass, for example as welcomers, ministers of the word (readers), collectors, offertory bearers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion (once confirmed and aged 15).

(2) A strong and well-led body of altar servers remains a proven and well-established way to provide a way for young people to come together. When social activities are linked with their ministry, such a group can be an excellent focus for ‘faith, food and fun’. The diocese hopes to arrange an annual event for altar servers.

(3) Care should be taken to involve children at Mass, making full use of the options and flexibility provided for by the Church’s liturgical documents. Special reference should be made to the Directory for Masses with Children (1973) and the Bishops’ Conference guidelines Liturgy of the Word with Children (1996). The Eucharistic Prayers for Children authorised by Rome in 1973 should be used more widely. When there is a special children’s Liturgy of the Word at Sunday Mass, this should always be a true act of liturgy appropriate to the age group. There are plenty of occasions when it is good to include the children with the rest of the assembly for the whole Mass, but with care taken positively to involve the children. The Diocese will develop materials to help parishes with such celebrations.

(4) There should be reasonably regular Youth Masses wherever the number of young people and resources allow. This may be in an individual parish, in a cluster of neighbouring parishes, or at deanery level. The musical resources of parishes and our high schools can be combined on such occasions. A Sunday Youth Mass is not a Mass only for young people, but one in which the focus for preaching, music and ministry is on the young members of the congregation. Please see Appendix 3 on pages 67-68 for some thoughts on Youth Masses.

(5) A range of ‘faith and fun’ activities should be provided for the pre-school and primary school children of the parish according to their age, so that the parish becomes a ‘second home’ where they are nourished in the faith and enjoy being together as part of the family of the church.

(6) Regular youth activities are strongly encouraged, again at different levels (parish, cluster, deanery and diocese) as numbers and resources allow. The diocese will organise a series of diocesan and area events each year: every parish is strongly encouraged to give full support and encouragement to these events.

FAITH FOOD &

FUN

(7) We currently have three Catholic Scout Groups in the diocese: the 12^th Ipswich, 9^th King’s Lynn and 17^th Norwich. Granted the difficulty in finding suitable leaders, the diocese supports and encourages the development of Catholic Guiding and Scouting where this is possible. This could begin with the youngest age-groups (Beavers & Rainbows) and then gradually development through Cub Scouts & Brownies to Scouts & Guides.

(8) Special care needs to be taken to support parents in the ongoing catechesis of our young people who do not attend Catholic schools.

“We must listen to the young

and heed what they say”

(Newmarket parish)

(9) The Diocesan Youth Council (for those aged 16-21) works closely with the Bishop and the Director of our Diocesan Youth Service to develop youth activities in the diocese. Parishes are asked to encourage young people to join the council.

(10) The Diocesan Youth Mission Team (for those aged 18-29) is a group of young adults who give some of their free time to bring the Gospel message to other young people. They have begun to give missions in our secondary schools. When enough financial support is available, we hope to develop this team, giving an opportunity to young adults to spend part of a ‘gap year’ in such work.

(11) The Diocesan Youth Commission works with our Director of Diocesan Youth Services to promote and support youth work across the diocese. It is composed of one clergy representative and one lay representative from each deanery.

(12) Each deanery, and perhaps some larger parishes, are encouraged to consider the possibility of establishing Deanery and Parish Youth Councils, enabling young people to have a voice in local church life.

(13) There is great value in large international and national gatherings (e.g. World Youth Day, Taize, Lourdes) where young people can see that they are not alone in living their Catholic faith.

our Catholic schools

Absolutely essential to our diocesan programme for young people is the place of our Catholic schools and their partnership with parishes, deanery and diocese. Our Director of Schools Service and Diocesan Schools Service Commission seek to support and work closely with all our schools, as they are an integral part of the life of our diocesan family.

Our Catholic headteachers are key lay leaders in our diocese. All our teachers have a sacred vocation as stewards of God’s nurturing care for the young.

The relationship between parish and primary school, and parish priest and headteacher, is particularly important, as is that between our high schools and all local clergy.

Foundation Governors play a vital role as representatives of the Bishop and the Diocese in working to ensure both the Catholic ethos and high academic standards of each of our schools.

Our Catholic schools serve the whole diocese, even when a parish does not have a school of its own. Past, present and future parishioners benefit from our schools, and every parish is touched and enriched in some way by the schools we have.

We must work to maximise the partnership between our schools and our parishes and diocese. Almost everything in this Diocesan Pastoral Plan applies to our school communities as much as it applies to our parish communities.

Welcoming & including single people

Because marriage and family life need so much support today, we can too easily neglect those many people who live a single life, whether by choice or by circumstance. This includes the bereaved, and single parents who bring up their children with such dedication despite the special challenges they face.

(1) Single people of all kinds should be invited to suggest what might fruitfully be provided for them in parish life.

(2) Social events should be organised in a way which enables single people to be involved with ease and comfort.

(3) Special care should be given to those who have been widowed.

(4) Single parents merit special care and support from the parish community.

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Welcoming and including the separated and divorced

People who have suffered the pain of the breakdown of their marriages and family life often feel alienated from the Church, sometimes from a sense of ‘failure’ and sometimes because of a feeling of ‘rejection’ flowing from the Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. Any couple going through difficulties with their marriage and family life needs the prayer, care and practical support of the church community. People who have been through a civil divorce but have not entered a new relationship may need to be reminded that they may still receive Holy Communion. Our Catholic welcome must be more joyfully and pro-actively extended to people who are separated and divorced, as they are still very much members of our family.

(1) Our parish ‘welcome packs’ and outreach material for less-active Catholics should include explicit mention of the separated and divorced.

(2) The diocese, parishes and groupings of parishes (clusters and deaneries) will explore ways to give support and care to those experiencing difficulties and division in their married lives. Some parishes find it helpful to establish a befriending service or support group.

(3) The Association of Separated and Divorced Catholics has representatives in our diocese (names and numbers are in the Diocesan Year Book).

ababababababababab

‘It is even more important that we should put ourselves out personally to get alongside people

no matter what their colour, creed or problems, making them feel welcome and wanted”

(Gorleston parish)

The ring of the Prodigal Son

Catholic communities are sometimes reluctant to be totally all-embracing in their welcome and inclusivity. As just one example, while the Church has clear teaching on sexuality, we also insist that homosexual people be welcomed and ‘accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2358).

We rightly maintain the enduring character of Catholic moral teaching, and it can be all too easy to reject a person or group of people along with rejecting certain behaviour. For example, we continue to insist on the absolute sacredness of human life from conception, and we reject abortion, but we must always show the welcoming love of the Lord to the woman who has suffered the trauma of abortion, and do all we can to bring her to healing and wholeness. We must speak the truth, but always in love (cf. Ephesians 4.15).

There are many Catholics who know their way of life is in conflict with Catholic teaching. This is true for many of our young people. Some strongly oppose that teaching. Others know in their hearts that the teaching is correct, but feel unable to live by it. Some struggle courageously to live Catholic teaching, failing at times as we all do. Most do not expect to come into our parish life and find acceptance of their attitudes or conduct, but they do have a right to find there the compassionate embrace of the Lord who scandalised his contemporaries by welcoming sinners and eating with them (Mark 2.15-17). Each of us is among those sinners welcomed by the Lord.

The Pharisees complained when Jesus went into a sinner’s house; today’s Pharisees will say the same of us if we are truly Christ-like in our welcome (Luke 19.1-10). We need to make visible in our society the Lord who refused to join in the condemning looks of the crowd who brought to him the woman caught in the act of committing adultery, but who then looked up at her and said, ‘Go away, and do not sin any more’ (John 8.1-11).

Like the Prodigal Son, the returning sinner should find in our parish communities the welcoming embrace of the living God who put the best robe on his son, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, and organised a celebration with the fattened calf (Luke 15.22-24). That is the welcome everyone should receive in our church life, whether saint or sinner, regular worshipper or newcomer, young or old.

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A COMMUNITY OF MISSION

It is essential that we become truly welcoming communities, open to all and united in faith and in love. But if our only concern is the creation of close-knit worshipping communities, we will never be fully the Church of Jesus Christ. The Risen Lord calls us together, and binds us together, so that we can go forth together. As Pope Paul VI reminded us so powerfully, “Evangelising is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14). The word ‘evangelise’ comes from the Greek works for ‘good news’. The Church is called to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. That is true for our diocese, and it is also true for every parish. The call to proclaim the Gospel to the world, to be a radiant witness to everyone of Christ himself, is the heart of what it means to be a parish.

Our diocese as a whole, and each and every parish, should seek to become a beacon community – or a modern day ‘burning bush’ to which others are drawn and where they encounter the presence and call of the Living God.

“Outreach and bringing the Gospel to people

in many different ways, in particular by ‘living it’, is so very important”

(Gorleston parish)

Why did we call our diocesan process “Forward and Outward Together’? Because going forward together is not enough. Our deepest identity as the Church of Christ is about going ‘outward’ together as well as ‘forward’, reaching out with the Gospel to everyone around us. The Feast of Pentecost reminds us powerfully that Christian communities of any kind can never be content simply with being ‘holy huddles’, no matter how united in love and faith they may me. We are sent forth with the power of the Holy Spirit to be evangelising communities, and any renewal of our parish and deanery structures must always have that as our first priority. The Risen Jesus has given every parish its ‘mission statement’: ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you’ (John 20.21); ‘You are to be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1.8). We are to be Apostle communities, fired with the Spirit of Pentecost.

Pentecost is the key. That is why we focused so much on the Sacrament of Confirmation during 2003 and 2004. Our diocesan renewal of Confirmation at Pentecost 2004 reminded us of our calling as baptised and confirmed Catholics. It is tempting to stay put together in our cosy Upper Rooms, but the Holy Spirit drives us out into the market-place to announce the Good News that Jesus is risen from the dead, and that he is with us.

Like the Good Shepherd, and in his name, we must go out in search of the lost sheep rather than simply remaining at home with the rest of the flock.

The call to ‘evangelisation’ is vital not only for those already within the Church, but also for that majority of people in our cities, towns and villages whose lives remain largely untouched by the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The radiant witness of our personal and parish lives is vital to this, but we also need to reach out to others, taking the light into the darkness. As Catholics, on our own but also united with other Christians, we must develop an effective and fruitful ‘ministry of outreach’. We are called together to be ‘the living Gospel for all to hear.’ It is not enough to ‘witness’ to our faith in Jesus Christ; we must also ‘share’ that faith with others, spreading the Good News in an explicit way.

Loving God,

you called us each by name

and gave your only Son to redeem us.

In your faithfulness you sent the Holy Spirit

to complete the mission of Jesus among us.

Open our hearts to Jesus.

Give us the courage to speak his name

to those who are close to us

and the generosity to share his love

with those who are far away.

We pray that every person throughout the world

be invited to know and love Jesus

as Saviour and Redeemer.

May they come to know his all-surpassing love.

May that love transform

every element in our society.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer for ‘Disciples in Mission’

A beacon of holiness & welcoming love

Many parish responses highlighted the idea that we will most powerfully proclaim the Gospel by the radiant witness of our lives as individuals, families and parish communities.

Everything we have said so far about becoming welcoming communities lies at the heart of becoming truly ‘evangelising’ communities. But we cannot leave it at that! Like the Apostles, we are called to go out to others rather than just wait for them to come to us. We need to explore effective ways to do that in our society, each of us with our particular gifts and personalities. We are called to be Gospel-bearers in our families and to our friends, at work and at play, in school and college. We do that by the things we say and do, by the way we live, by the inspiration of our lives.

“Certainly our families, parishes, associations, schools, hospitals, charitable works and institutions give powerful witness to the faith. But do they share it? Does their living faith lead to conversion of minds and hearts to Jesus Christ? Does the fire of the Holy Spirit blaze in them?’

(Go & Make Disciples, U.S. Bishops, 1993)

It is not so much a message that we are asked to bring to others, but rather Christ himself. Like Mary, we are to be Christ-bearers, bringing the mysterious presence of the Lord into the lives of those we meet. Our own deeply personal relationship with Christ – our personal holiness – is absolutely essential for this mission we all share.

The Gospel story of the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is a powerful image of our own vocation as Christ’s Church. By going out to visit her cousin, Mary brought to Elizabeth and to the unborn John the Baptist the hidden presence of Jesus himself. When we go out to others in Christ’s name, we bear to them the mysterious presence of Christ himself.

(1) Parish life and liturgy must help to nurture and nourish each member of the parish family to be a Gospel-bringer and Christ-bearer to others.

(2) Together as a parish community, we need to find ways to be more publicly and openly the ‘living Gospel for all to hear.’ A Catholic parish should never be a hidden community, shut away in its ‘upper room’. The Holy Spirit calls us out into the market-place to proclaim the Risen Lord.

(3) Full use should be made of modern communications and media (see later).

(4) As a diocese and in our parishes, we should explore the possibility of training lay evangelists.

(5) It is very important that we do not limit our ideas of lay involvement and leadership to church activities. Lay people are called to go into the world with the presence and message of Christ: in school and college, at work and recreation.

(6) More Catholics should become involved in public life, including local government, the justice community (magistrates, police, etc), various agencies, and the media. It is essential that the Catholic community contributes fully to society as a visible Christian presence in East Anglia. It is here, especially, that Catholics can bring the influence of Catholic social teaching, and our Catholic emphasis on the sacredness of human life from womb to tomb (see, for example, Cherishing Life published in 2004 by the Bishops of England and Wales).

(7) We need to explore and make best use of the various resources already available for encouraging Catholics better to understand and share their faith with others (e.g. the CaFE programme, Echoes). The Diocesan Commission for Evangelisation will organise training days.

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‘A more caring and loving Church

is the greatest evangelisation’

(Sheringham parish)

A beacon of care and loving-kindness

In the earliest days of Christianity, pagans were drawn to Christ by the practical care shown by the Church to those in need, especially those often marginalized and rejected by society: orphans, widows and slaves. Although it can at first seem idealistic and impractical in our society, we have much to learn from the earliest community. The fundamental principle surely applies to many aspects of our church life together, both in our care for those in need and in our increasing collaboration among parishes with fewer priests: in that first community, we are told, there was no-one in need because everything was shared among them (Acts 4.34, 32; cf. 2.44-45).

Every Christian community is called to serve the wider community. We can take our inspiration from the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.29-37), as well as Jesus’ teaching that whatever we do for the least of his brothers and sisters, we do for him, and whatever we fail to do for them, we fail to do for Christ (Matthew 25.31-46). We are first and foremost called to holiness, but there is no holiness without love. We are called to a personal relationship with the Risen Lord, but it is in the ‘least of his brothers and sisters’ that we find and serve him.

“Come, you whom my Father has blessed, and take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” (Matthew 25.34-36).

The Lord calls us to a love ‘which is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active’ (I John 3.18; cf. James 2.14-17). It is a call to practical and effective service of the poor and needy, and anyone who is marginalized, a call to follow the Lord’s example as he washed the feet of his disciples (John 13.1-15). Every parish should be a ‘foot washing’ community, dedicated to humble service of the poorest of the poor.

It is diocesan policy that every parish community should be involved in some practical way in care for the poor and needy of their locality.

(1) Every parish should discern with care and with prayer the greatest needs of the local community. It should be active in its commitment to the poor and needy – both locally and overseas. Such action can often be done in unity with other Christians, people of other faiths, and with secular agencies. Existing groups such as the SVP should be encouraged. New caring groups such as ‘Helping Hands’ in Wymondham can be developed. It is up to each parish to discern the greatest needs and the best action, but every parish should have some practical programme for helping those in need. Many parishes have a ‘Care Group’ of some kind which coordinates practical work for those in need in the local community.

(2) Every parish will include care for and visiting the sick as a central part of their life. This is a ministry in which lay people can be increasingly involved. Visiting teams can be formed and trained, perhaps alongside the link people in any ‘neighbourhood communities’ which are formed.

(3) Parishes also need to develop ministries of support to the bereaved. This requires careful training and formation.

(4) Prison and hospital visiting is a special but essential ministry in which many can be involved, again with careful preparation and formation.

(5) The Catholic Church must be visible in its practical care for the homeless, ideally in partnership with other Christians. The ‘Open Door’ project in Great Yarmouth is an inspiration to all, and would value financial support from other parishes. There may be room for similar projects in other parts of the diocese. Some already exist.

(6) The Diocesan Commission for Social Concern represents caring organisations in the diocese, and administers the St Edmund’s Fund which supports many welfare projects and activities to relieve poverty and distress.

(7) The diocese will work closely with the Bishops’ Conference body Caritas-social action.

Website:

www.caritas-socialaction.org.uk

‘HELPING HANDS’

The ‘Helping Hands’ project in Wymondham began when a district nurse saw that many people who had been sick were neglected as soon as their medical condition was alleviated. The remit was broadened to include anyone in need, but especially those who had been ill or coming out of hospital, and also the lonely and housebound. The parish was divided into areas, with coordinators responsible for each area and volunteers allotted to coordinators. Each volunteer has identification and authorisation from the parish. Funds have been raised in the parish. Those involved were commissioned at Mass. Volunteers began by taking flowers and a card to those who had just come out of hospital or who were sick at home. Others now visit the lonely and housebound, take people with disabilities shopping, cut lawns, etc. This is a simple but practical scheme which brings the active love and care of the parish community to many in need.

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A beacon of justice

When he came to England in 1982, Pope John Paul appealed to the young people he confirmed at Coventry to be ‘devoted to the work of justice, which will bring peace on earth.’ The Scriptures, and the challenging and often radical social teaching of the Catholic Church, make it clear that working for justice is something central to living and proclaiming the Gospel message of the coming of God’s Kingdom.

Our Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission brings together those people in the diocese committed to justice issues, and works to encourage greater involvement by the whole diocese and its parishes in work for justice and peace.

Our Permanent Deacons have a particular part to play in the furthering of work for justice and peace in our diocese, as a key dimension of the ‘ministry of charity’ which has a priority in their call to serve.

It is diocesan policy that every parish should be actively involved in some way in work for justice and peace. This could be co-ordinated by a group (e.g. Justice & Peace Group, Human rights Group), but the whole parish should be involved as fully as possible. The diocese strongly recommends parish involvement in the following bodies:

(1) Life

The Catholic Church is committed to promoting the sacredness of human life ‘from womb to tomb’, from conception to death. Every parish should give its full support in a practical and effective way to the protection of unborn children, as well as the defence of the dignity of human life in every other way. We should also be openly and publicly committed to the support of mothers who decide not to have an abortion, and to compassionate care of women who have been through an abortion. In the Diocese of East Anglia, our primary focus is to support the work of the national charity ‘Life’ and its centres (listed in the Diocesan Year Book). All parishes are strongly encouraged to support these local centres. Beginning in 2005, there will be an annual national mandatory collection to support pro-life charities on the July ‘Day for Life’. However strongly we rightly speak out on pro-life issues, we should always ‘speak the truth in love’ and with the compassion of the Lord. Website: www.lifeuk.org

(2) CAFOD

CAFOD is the primary agency of the Catholic Church in our country for support and solidarity with people in need across the world. Parishes should be involved not only in the twice-yearly Family Fast Day but also in CAFOD’s campaigning activities and projects.

Website: www.cafod.org.uk.

(3) Traidcraft

Every parish is encouraged to use fairly-traded goods (e.g. tea and coffee) and to sell such goods (e.g. by establishing a regular Traidcraft stall after Sunday Mass, etc). We will work towards being recognised as a Fair Trade Diocese.

Website: www. www.traidcraft.co.uk

(4) Aid to the Church in Need

Aid to the Church in Need provides spiritual and material aid wherever the Church is persecuted, oppressed or in need.

Website: www.acnuk.org

(5) Amnesty International

Although all will not agree with everything this organisation does, a parish can be regularly involved in a practical and effective way in work for human rights through Amnesty International, inviting parishioners to sign petitions or write letters on behalf of prisoners of conscience. The names of prisoners could be included in the Intercessions at Mass.

Website: www.amnesty.org.uk

(6) Asylum seekers & refugees

The Holy Father has called the plight up of all uprooted people across the world ‘a shameful wound of our time.’ As part of our calling to ‘welcome the stranger’, parishes should embrace those who have fled their homes, and welcome asylum seekers and refugees, as well as playing their part in insisting on fair and just conditions and procedures for all of them. Please keep in your prayers all those resident at the Oakington Immigration Centre in our diocese.

(7) Jubilee Campaign & Jubilee Action

Jubilee Campaign has campaigned since 1987 on behalf of people suffering as a result of injustice. Its sister charity, Jubilee Action, provides practical support to those who suffer unjustly. Both have the support of David Alton. Contact Jubilee Campaign, Cranleigh Road, Wonersh, Surrey GU5 OQX. Website: www.jubileecampaign.co.uk

(8) Environmental issues

The Book of Genesis teaches us that we are the stewards of God’s creation, accountable to him for the good use of his many gifts. We are responsible for the preservation and protection of our planet and its resources. Parishes should take account of environmental concerns in managing their own resources (e.g. recycling, use of electricity) and help to educate the whole parish community on such matters.

(9) ‘Building Bridges’:

Cambodia & Holy Land

The Diocese of East Anglia is now ‘twinned’ with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and with the Diocese of Battambang in Cambodia. Deaneries and parishes are encouraged to become involved in these links, by fund-raising for diocesan projects in both places but also by establishing more local ‘twinnings’ with communities in the Holy Land and Cambodia. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land are encouraged, and young adults are invited to pay visits to both Cambodia and the Holy Land in order to experience Catholic life there and to contribute their own gifts and talents. This outward-looking communion with the Catholic Church in the Holy Land and Cambodia is to be an important part of our diocesan identity.

(10) Parish Projects

Parishes are encouraged to continue and develop the overseas projects they have already established. The ‘Building Bridges’ twinnings are not intended to undermine or replace such projects.

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Communication: a beacon of light for all

Good communication is essential at every level of the church. Effective and attractive publicity is important. The diocese now has a bi-monthly newspaper, and is currently working towards a new website.

(1) Every parish is to appoint a Parish Communications Officer. He or she will be responsible for pro-active contact with local media (especially local newspapers) in order to achieve coverage for ‘good news’ parish events.

(2) The Diocesan Communications Officer will organise training sessions for parish communications officers, including basic skills such as how to prepare a press release and be interviewed for local radio.

(3) We will also seek to develop more pro-active relationships with local radio and television.

(4) Many parishes have found it useful to develop their own websites. This is a further way of enabling the housebound to keep in touch with parish life.

(5) Parishes may find it fruitful to make use of the ‘What’s On?’ and church sections of local newspapers, and to target notices of Mass times on hotels, guest houses, caravan parks, etc,

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Earthen Vessels

We are called to bear to others the treasure of Christ himself and his saving presence. St Paul’s words apply to all of us in our mission from God:

‘It is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. It is the same God that said, ‘Let there be light shining out of the darkness’, who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ. We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us’ (2 Corinthians 4.5-7).

A tremendous amount has been asked of parishes so far in this document. At first, this could seem daunting, overburdening and draining, but we are always faced as Christians – alone and together – with the tension between idealism and realism, between the vision and the practical. We must never allow our limitations and weaknesses to impoverish the fullness of the ‘Good News’ that Jesus Christ places in our hands, but that Gospel should never become a heavy burden rather than a gift to be shared.

Faced with such an awesome vocation from God, we can feel deeply inadequate, but if we allow the Risen Christ to take our mere ‘five loaves and two fish’ he will take what we offer, bless it, and do great things through us in East Anglia.

God can never be tied down to plans of any kind, no matter how detailed. He will always have surprises in store for us. In him we place our trust.

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TOGETHER

IN TRUST AND PARTNERSHIP

A central theme which emerged throughout the discussions on ‘Forward & Outward Together’ was the need for trust.

· Trust in our Lord, who is always with us, whatever our difficulties. He says to our diocese, to our parishes and smaller communities, to our families and to each of us: ‘Do not be afraid; I am with you’. There may be times when we seem like the apostles in their boat on the stormy waters, with the ‘waves’ of the problems and challenges which we face breaking into our boat and threatening to swamp it. But the Lord is with us, and we have no need to fear (cf. Mark 4.35-41).

· Trust in each other: bishop, priests and deacons in the diocese; priests and people in each parish. Many parish responses included a plea to parish priests to grant the gift of trust to lay people, and to be ready to ‘entrust’ to them certain parts of their work for which they remain ultimately responsible as parish priest but which are not part of their specific priestly ministry. There can be no fruitful collaboration and working in partnership without the gift of mutual trust and openness. Such trust is both a gift and a task. We may begin by taking the risk of trust, but that trust still needs to be earned and confirmed day by day.

‘There is a need for trust for all those bringing about the development – for us to trust the bishop, the people to trust us and for us to trust the people’

(Clergy of Peterborough deanery)

‘Working together in partnership’ is essential to our way forward together, at every level of our life in the Diocese of East Anglia.

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Parishes working together

How is the universal Catholic Church structured? The whole people of God is divided into dioceses, each entrusted to the pastoral leadership and care of a bishop. The diocese is then ‘divided into distinct parts or parishes’ (Code of Canon Law, 374.1). Each parish is by nature an integral part of the diocese.

No parish family, therefore, is an isolated self-sufficient unit. Our very catholicity demands an openness to one another, and a sharing of life and mission. There is no room for narrow parochialism in the Catholic Church. Every parish is an integral part, a living cell, of the diocesan family, and every parish must be open in faith and love to all the other parishes, especially neighbouring ones. The universal Church is a ‘communion’ of dioceses; our diocese is a ‘communion’ of parishes; each parish is a ‘communion’ of small local communities, families and individuals.

There are various ways of enabling cooperation and mutual support among parishes.

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The Deanery

What is a deanery? ‘To foster pastoral care by means of common action, several neighbouring parishes can be joined together in special groupings, such as deaneries’ (Code of Canon Law, 374.2). Each deanery is led by a Dean appointed by the bishop to act in his name. In a scattered diocese such as ours, with many small parishes, working together in deaneries can be very fruitful, not only for the mutual support and care of the clergy, but also for pastoral and spiritual collaboration at local level.

In each deanery, there are regular meetings of the clergy, priests and deacons, both diocesan and religious, of that grouping of parishes. All are expected to attend meetings and participate as fully as possible in deanery life.

It is clear from many parish reports that there is little understanding among lay people of the meaning or value of deaneries.

The current urban deaneries (e.g. Ipswich & Peterborough) work better than rural ones. This is because urban deaneries are more compact, with parishes closer together. There needs to be flexibility across the diocese in the way we structure cooperation between parishes, and especially lay participation. In urban areas, the deanery will remain a valuable forum for lay people meeting and working together. In other areas, it may be better to focus on ‘sub-deaneries’ (clearly distinct areas of a deanery) or clusters of parishes. The best way forward needs to be decided locally. The deanery will remain a key structure for local coordination of both ordained and lay ministry (e.g. catechetics and youth work), led by the local Dean.

(1) The deanery remains a key structure for strengthening the cooperation and ‘communion’ of local clergy and lay ministers.

(2) There will continue to be deanery representatives on key diocesan commissions (e.g. Youth, Evangelisation, Ecumenism, Marriage & Family Life).

(3) Each deanery is to have a Deanery Coordinating Catechist whose role is to support parish catechists and to contribute to the development of catechesis and adult formation in the diocese as a member of the Commission for Evangelisation.

(4) Each deanery is to have both a clergy and a lay representative on the Diocesan Youth Commission. Their role is to help develop local youth work, and pro-actively to encourage and support parish involvement in diocesan youth events and activities.

(5) Each deanery is to have a clergy and a lay representative on the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission.

(6) Each deanery is to have a lay representative on the renewed Diocesan Commission for Marriage and Family Life.

(7) There needs to be flexibility as to whether the deanery, ‘sub-deanery’ or parish cluster is the best setting for joint activities and events: e.g. adult formation and training, sacramental preparation (especially Confirmation & Marriage), youth work, sharing resources, days of recollection & retreats, social events.

(8) The same flexibility is required in organising opportunities for lay participation in discussion and decision-making at deanery level. The Deanery Forum may work better in urban deaneries than rural ones. Elsewhere, such gatherings might better take place at ‘sub-deanery’ or cluster level. It is essential, however, that there be formal structures for such lay involvement within each deanery.

(9) Deans are encouraged to ‘exchange’ with parish priests in their deaneries, so that local parishes can get to know their Dean and the Dean gain a better sense of those parishes.

(10) Each deanery will organise an annual event with the presence of the Bishop. This may replace the Lenten Station Mass, and be organised at a more suitable time during the year when more people might attend. Such an event could include one or more of a number of possibilities: e.g. Mass, talk, social event. Each deanery is left to liaise with the Bishop as to the most suitable event for the locality.

“It is clear that the majority of lay people struggle with the concept of the deanery, and are much more comfortable with the concept of smaller clusters working together… Clustering seems popular: people can identify with it. It really looks as though it would be better to focus on clusters for lay participation …’ (King’s Lynn deanery)

“Sharing resources means sharing people. People are our main resource.” (St Mary’s parish, Ipswich)

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The Cluster

Deanery and parish reports generally agree that there is great scope for the clustering of parishes and sharing of resources.

Even if we were sure of having enough priests in the future to keep our present parish structures, it would always be the case that some parishes do not have the personnel or resources on their own to provide all that is needed for a fully thriving parish life. These can range from simple photocopying facilities to organising Confirmation or Marriage Preparation programmes, the employment of a pastoral assistant, parish administrator or buildings supervisor, or running a retreat for Readers or Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Many of these activities could be organised by ‘clustering’ neighbouring parishes and sharing resources; others may be more appropriate at deanery level.

In our diocese at this time, however, such ‘clustering’ is vital as a way to prepare for our future together. As our number of priests declines, parishes will need not only to work together ever more closely, but also eventually to be combined in some way.

We need to arrange most clusters in such a way that there is real potential for eventual combination into a single parish. Such clustering can be difficult in rural areas, and yet the combination of rural parishes may well become necessary over the coming decade.

Our future together is likely, therefore, to be a two-stage process. Firstly, the ‘clustering’ of distinct but neighbouring parishes, each with their own parish priest, but gradually working ever closer together, co-ordinating Mass times, and preparing for the time when they might be required to combine into a single parish. Secondly, the combination of two or more parishes into a single canonical parish with one parish priest, assisted when possible by other priests (newly-ordained, temporary visitors from overseas, retired, etc).

A fundamental principle is that there are to be no ‘priest-less’ parishes in our diocese. However we organise our diocese in the future, developing lay leadership of local Catholic communities and enhancing the role played by permanent deacons, every community will be entrusted to the servant leadership of a priest appointed by the bishop as ‘canonical pastor’.

(1) Within deaneries, or sometimes across deanery boundaries, two or more nearby parishes are to be ‘clustered’ to encourage the sharing of resources and to begin to prepare now for an imminent future with fewer priests.

(2) Parishes in such ‘clusters’ are asked to examine how many Masses are really needed each weekend, and if possible to stagger Mass times so that neighbouring priests can ‘supply’ for each other when needed.

(3) Parish priests of clustered parishes could consider occasional ‘parish swaps’ on Sundays, allowing neighbouring parishes to get to know the other priests in the cluster, and providing an opportunity for variety of preaching, etc.

(4) If and when necessary, such ‘clusters’ will be the foundation of a new form of parish, with three current parishes served by two priests, or two served by one. Such clusters probably work best between similar kinds of parish (e.g. ‘rural’, ‘urban’, etc). There may be opportunities for communal living when appropriate and desired. Further consideration needs to be given to the possibility of a team of priests living together and serving a city or area.

The agreed ‘clusters’ are presented in Part Two of this plan (see page 63). Such ‘working and planning together’ should begin immediately and develop over time. Some such clusters will need to become combined parishes quicker than others.

Progress in clustering will be monitored locally by the Deans who will report regularly to the Bishop through the College of Consultors. The Bishop will ask for a full report on progress when conducting his visitation of a parish.

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Communities within each parish

Every parish is a community of communities, whether villages or areas of a town or city. Although such local Catholic communities may not have Mass each weekend, they should still be encouraged to develop their community life within the wider life of the parish. This could include a local forum of some kind, weekday House Masses, occasional Sunday Mass, Scripture and prayer groups, and social events, giving much scope for developing forms of lay leadership.

‘In the villages, what is needed is a way forward in which the parish can develop and provide for people’s needs without the requirement for Sunday Mass there. A working structure in a parish is to build clusters of local communities, self-supporting and vibrant, with the parish church at their centre and as their focus. Such clusters should become a living presence of a lively Christian community, organising prayer groups, ecumenical events, providing support for those with needs at home, providing Christian education to all age groups, and communicating with others, both directly and through the parish centre.’

(St Philip Howard parish, Cambridge)

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Working together in the parish

The sacraments lie at the heart of our Catholic life, and these include the Sacrament of Holy Orders by which people are consecrated as Bishops, Priests and Deacons for the service of the Church. However few priests we may have over the coming decades, our priests will remain central and essential to our Catholic communities. Nothing said in this Pastoral Plan about the role of lay people should be seen as undermining the pivotal role of the priest, and especially the parish priest, in the life of every parish. Sharing the ministry of the bishop, the priest is a sacramental image of Christ the Good Shepherd. No-one can replace him in that role. Furthermore, the law of the Church gives the parish priest an ultimate responsibility for all aspects of parish life (including finance and administration, as well as liturgy, catechesis, pastoral care, etc) for which he is answerable to the Bishop and the Diocesan Trustees.

The priest does not lead and serve in isolation, however, but rather in collaboration and partnership with the whole parish community.

“The image of the parish priest as one who “does everything himself” and who is “the king of the parish” must give way to an alternative model of the parish priest “who works with…” despite difficulties and obstacles”

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, pp.100-1)

“The believing community is the natural place for the life of the priest. It justifies his existence when he lives his identity, vocation and mission in its midst. His life is life within the community, with the community and for the community; and his greatest joy is the accompaniment of the Christian community, patiently, gently and persistently, so that it responds to its vocation and mission. This obliges the priest to reside always and truly in his parish, in order to build it up and make it a community of charity and participation”

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p.101)

The primary reason for encouraging and enabling the development in our diocese of greater lay participation is not in order to ‘fill in’ for priests as they become more stretched, but because of the dignity and responsibility which flows from Baptism and Confirmation.

“The Church is not “you” and “us” and “them”, but rather all of us together, each one according to their place and vocation.’

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p.110)

Parish and deanery reports suggest there is an enthusiasm and a generous readiness among lay people in almost all parishes to take on many tasks of administration and other forms of leadership so that the priest can focus even more fruitfully on his role as pastor and spiritual leader. Although the parish priest is entrusted by the Bishop with an overall responsibility for the whole life of his parish, which he cannot hand over to others, there is tremendous room for developing the partnership of priest and people in every parish, with lay people being entrusted with the day-to-day administration of much of parish life as well as leadership of local communities within the parish (villages, neighbourhoods, etc), leading Scripture-reflection and prayer groups, catechesis, sacramental preparation, adult education, youth work, sharing chaplaincy work in schools, hospitals, prisons, universities and colleges, social events, welfare work, parish visiting, and ongoing care for the sick, the housebound, and the bereaved. A key role of priests and deacons is to discern the giftedness of lay people and to encourage them to use those gifts, always sensitive to their other responsibilities.

Encouraging lay people to take on such tasks is not simply a matter of helping fewer priests to focus on their vital tasks; it is far more about enabling lay people – women and men - to live more fully their call to active and responsible participation in the life of our Church at every level and in the Church’s mission to the world.

It is essential that the full dignity and equality of women be recognised in our diocese, and we hope that lay women will play an ever more fruitful role at the heart of our parish and diocesan life. The development of lay leadership and other ministries (at cluster, deanery and diocesan level, as well as in the parish) should provide opportunities for greater use of so many unused skills and resources, especially the often untapped intellectual and leadership skills of women in the Church.

Lay women are already generally far more involved than lay men in ministry and service in the Church. We also need to ensure that lay men of all ages are encouraged and welcomed into forms of leadership and involvement.

It is hoped that the ‘Structures for Lay Participation’ established on pages 36-37 will provide opportunities for lay women and men to be involved more effectively in decision-making in the parish, cluster, deanery and diocese.

It is all too easy, however, as we seek to involve lay people more in parish life, to put increasing pressures on people who are already busy and burdened, and whose calling may be to live and share the Gospel precisely in their home and workplace rather than by taking on yet more parish activities. Sometimes the best way to enable people to live their true Christian vocation is by reducing rather than increasing the number of ‘churchy’ duties they so generously take on. The joyful privilege of belonging to God’s family involves duty and responsibility, but it should not drain people of their little remaining energy as they struggle to earn a living, bring up a family and cope with the strains and stresses of our world. Many people simply do not have the time to give more of themselves to their local parish, deanery or diocese, and they should not be asked or expected to do so. There are some people who give much of their limited time to the Church who perhaps should be giving some or all of that time to their families as part of their sacred vocation as spouse and parent. It is in their ordinary daily lives, nourished each Sunday at Mass by the Word of God and the Bread of Life, that they live and share their Catholic faith.

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Needs and Skills Audits

Every member of our church communities has God-given gifts and talents for the service of Christ in his Church and the world. Each is a vital member of the Body of Christ. No-one plays the role of the ‘appendix’ in that Body! Everyone is needed (see St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, ch. 12, verses 4-30).

Before anyone is invited to offer their gifts and talents, each parish community must first explore what forms of ministry and service are most needed for the development of its life, liturgy and mission. What are the gaps in the parish, especially in the light of your local discussions on ‘Forward & Outward Together” and this Diocesan Pastoral Plan? A ‘Needs Audit’ should precede any ‘Skills Audit’.

Once the needs have been identified, simple but clear ‘job descriptions’ could usefully be drawn up so that those offering themselves – and the church community they are to serve – know what to expect.

Our church communities are full of gifts and talents, and they need to be revealed, discovered and used where possible, always with sensitivity to the limits of people’s time and energy. Once generously offered, every effort should be made to follow up and use those skills.

A ‘skills audit’ of some kind, perhaps linked with a general census, may be the best way of discovering what people have to offer and inviting them to become more involved in the life of the church. Such a questionnaire might well include a general question such as “What specialist skills do you have which you would be prepared to put at the service of the Church?”, as well as a ‘tick list’ of forms of service in which they might be interested, based on the ‘Needs Audit’ previously carried out. People should be asked to indicate a willingness to train when appropriate for any ministry or service. Not all forms of service require training. Some people will already have the skills and expertise required for those that do.

(1) We should not always wait for people to volunteer. There are times when it is best pro-actively to invite people to offer their time and talents for a particular service.

(2) An annual ‘Parish Opportunities Fair’, with stalls advertising various opportunities for service in a parish, can be a fruitful and fun way of encouraging people to sign up for ministries and service. It could be organised on the lines of the beginning-of-year ‘Freshers Fairs’ at universities, perhaps combined with a parish fete or social activity.

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Greater lay involvement & lay leadership

Lay people need responsibility, opportunity and encouragement. For some, this means deeper involvement and participation in the life of the life, liturgy and mission of the local church community. For others, it will mean sharing in leadership.

Several deaneries and parishes suggested greater use of lay pastoral assistants, coordinators and administrators, but no consensus on this has yet emerged. For some parishes, the possible funding implications are a disincentive, although it should be noted that Brentwood Diocese operates a widespread system of voluntary pastoral assistants with an established training two-year programme.

Once again, flexibility is required. The parishes in our diocese are often very different to each other with regard to the size and average age of the congregation, financial resources and general needs. Some parishes are already well-served by a team of volunteers. A few already have full-time or part-time lay people supporting the life of the parish, including pastoral assistants, parish secretaries, site managers, administrators. One thing is certain, however. In every parish, lay people should increasingly be entrusted with many if not most of the administrative tasks, as well as participating more fully in pastoral care and outreach. In developing job descriptions for those who take on such roles, it is important to distinguish pastoral ministries of evangelisation, catechesis, care, etc from roles of administration. Both are important to any parish; some may well be combined in one person with multiple responsibilities; but they are different roles requiring different skills and different training.

It is diocesan policy that we develop different forms of lay leadership in every parish and across the diocese.

Besides the possible use of full or part-time pastoral assistants, administrators, etc, this should include the leadership and coordination of:

(1) smaller communities within parishes (villages, neighbourhood groups, etc),

(2) adult formation and catechetical programmes including sacramental preparation

(3) evangelising teams

(4) youth work

(5) pastoral care of the sick, housebound, bereaved, etc

Some concern was expressed in parish reports that such lay leaders should not take over the distinctive role of the priest. This concern is echoed in Redemptionis Sacramentum, but any true working in partnership in the Catholic Church will always involve ordained ministers and lay people exercising their distinctive roles, in full harmony and with full respect for each other.

Such involvement by lay people should be as wide as possible in each parish, rather than focused on a handful of key people. ‘Working together’ is as vital for lay leaders among themselves as it is for priests among themselves and with deacons and lay people.

There are parishes where a few people seem to do everything. On the one hand, their generous dedication should be welcomed with gratitude: most parishes need such people. On the other hand, those few are in an important position to draw others into deeper involvement in the parish community. The more people who are actively involved at the heart of parish life, the happier the parish community will be. The service of the ‘faithful few’ will only change if everyone is made to feel they are a vital part of the life and work of the church, with their own gifts and talents to offer.

“Lay leadership supported by good training should be key to the overall development of the diocese” (individual response)

“Lay leadership is crucial and must be taken seriously” (Costessey parish)

Formation and training for ministry and service

Prudent selection and careful formation is very important for both lay and ordained ministry.

For some of these services, professional training will be needed. Some parish and deanery responses suggested, for certain forms of leadership and ministry, a formal diocesan programme of training, validation and commissioning.

Because of the nature of our diocese, and the flexibility needed, it may not be easy to develop a simple diocesan programme for formation and training for such lay people taking on key positions of responsibility. We will need to develop a flexible programme which can be of support to people in very different situations.

There clearly needs to be further discussion before we embark on a diocesan programme of any kind. We must identify the areas of need, and develop a programme which is as flexible and user-friendly as possible.

(1) Between September 2004 and July 2005, further parish, cluster, deanery and diocesan discussion is required to clarify our training needs and what can most usefully be contributed by a diocesan programme.

(2) Most reports suggest a diocesan programme delivered locally, either at county, deanery or cluster level. Appropriate funding must be found.

(3) There seems to be general agreement that such a programme should be flexible, modular, and incorporate distance-learning and on-line methodologies. Twice-termly Saturday sessions and/or ‘Summer Schools’ were also suggested. It is difficult for busy people to spare time for in-depth training: any programme needs to be realistic about people’s ability to commit themselves to regular meetings.

(4) Any training must be appropriate and effective. Although there was no complete agreement on this, there appears to be a balance in favour of some form of validation and certification on completing all or part of the programme. In some cases, a diocesan commissioning would be appropriate.

(5) The development of such a programme needs to take full account of the official Bishops Conference ‘Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies’ (CCRS) which was designed in part to answer the needs expressed above and which is usually run on the lines proposed in point 3. The CCRS is currently under review, nationally and in the diocese. There should be no unnecessary duplication of programmes.

(6) Where appropriate, any diocesan programme will be developed in liaison and cooperation with the Margaret Beaufort Institute, the Cambridge Theological Federation, etc.

(7) If people are to give their time and talents to such special training and formation, we need to ensure that whenever possible they are offered opportunities for service and not ignored.

(8) Those who give their time and talents need to be thanked and encouraged. Some parishes organise an annual Mass and social event for parish workers.

‘Volunteers

are one of the Church’s most valued assets, and as such should be cherished’

(individual response)

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Limited terms of service

We need to be very sensitive about placing undue pressures on lay people who are already busy, and especially those whose sacred vocation to marriage and family life may suffer from too much involvement in church affairs.

Nearly all deanery and parish responses agreed that a limited – though renewable – term of office should be adopted for all forms of lay ministry and service in the church. This would help to ensure that people do not feel ‘trapped’ in a role, and also that new people can be given opportunities for service. A limited term of office might encourage people to take on a responsibility without the fear of having to carry it on for life! On the other hand, it would be good if all were ready cheerfully to hand over ministries (e.g. Reader, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, Catechist) and other forms of service to others after a certain time, perhaps to take up other forms of service instead.

“A term of office is a very good idea. If people knew they would only have to do something for a number of years, they might be more confident about coming forward” (King’s Lynn parish)

Once again, flexibility is required, as it can be difficult in smaller parishes to find replacements. The expertise gained through formation, training and experience should not be automatically time-limited, but such gifts and talents can often be used in many different ways.

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Adult religious formation

All responses highlighted the need for a programme of adult religious formation, in addition to any specific programmes for training for ministry and service. Some parishes and deaneries have already initiated local programmes of adult formation. A diocesan input seems to be welcome, but delivered locally in some way (three centres, one in each county; deanery; parish clusters; parish) rather than in one place in the diocese.

(1) Every parish is to have a Parish Coordinating Catechist, working with the Deanery Coordinating Catechist to ensure the best possible catechesis, adult formation, sacramental preparation, etc. Those who have already trained as ‘Key Catechists’ are obviously very well prepared to take on one or either of these key positions, as a resource for other catechists.

(2) The ongoing formation of catechists throughout the diocese is vital, and a priority for the Commission for Evangelisation which includes all Deanery Coordinating catechists among its members.

(3) The place of the ‘Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies’ (CCRS) needs to be reviewed, in the light of the Bishops Conference and the need for a diocesan programme for training for lay leadership and involvement.

(4) The Commission for Evangelisation will organise diocesan training days on established programmes which may be of support to parishes (e.g. CaFE).

(5) The diocese also encourages the development of more informal faith-sharing and Scripture-study groups in parishes and smaller communities. Special attention should be given to lectionary-based groups which gather to reflect on the following Sunday’s Scripture readings.

(6) Deaneries, clusters and parishes are encouraged to make greater use of days of recollection, retreats and missions.

(7) Bishop Michael will continue to offer teaching sessions.

Greater emphasis needs to be given to the ongoing formation of parents as the first teachers of their children in the faith. Parents are the key catechists of their families. Their children’s preparation for the sacraments of Baptism, First Confession, First Communion and Confirmation, as well as the celebration of those sacraments, are a prime opportunity for the deeper Christian formation of parents. Such preparation programmes should always include and involve the parents in some way, at least for special sessions on the meaning of each sacrament. The diocese and parishes must do more to promote and enrich the Christian home as the place where Christ is to be found and encountered, and the family as the ‘domestic church’, a holy place where prayer, Christian witness and teaching, and loving care are woven into the fabric of daily life. Parents‘ responsibility for the Christian education of their children cannot be handed over to our Catholic schools or our parish communities: our homes, schools and parishes must work in ever closer partnership, but it is the vocation of parents to lead their children in the ways of holiness, above all by their example and witness, and by sharing their faith.

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Working together with other Christians

All of this section so far has been about ‘working together’ within the Catholic community, but our common baptism calls us to work together as closely as possible with our fellow Christians and their communities at every level of the Church.

Ecumenism is not always easy, but it is not an optional extra for Catholics. It is not only as individual parish communities, clusters of parishes, deaneries or even as a diocesan family within the Roman Catholic Communion that we move forward and outward. It is with our fellow Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

When church leaders meet, so often we find that we have the same challenges and problems. There is so much can be done together, above all in our public witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of East Anglia. It is united with other Christians that we can most effectively and fruitfully be ‘the living Gospel for all to hear.’

There are already very good and friendly relationships between the church leaders in East Anglia. Anglican and Catholic Bishops, and Methodist, United Reformed Church, Salvation Army and other church leaders, need to be seen together, praying together, teaching together, leading together, sometimes just being together. The same is true at local level.

Ecumenism is always a challenge, but especially so in East Anglia. Roman Catholics are a small minority in a part of the country which has not always been welcoming to us. Moreover, our geographically-large Catholic parishes often encompass a large number of Anglican and other communities, making good active relationships difficult to maintain. Catholic clergy cannot attend all fraternals and ecumenical meetings in their area, and this will become even more difficult as the number of clergy decreases. The involvement of well-catechised lay people will become increasingly important. Within these constraints, however, and always in accordance with Catholic principles (see the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms of Ecumenism, 1993) praying and working together with other Christians remains a priority:

(1) Catholic communities should be as involved as possible in local Christians Together or Churches Together. If there are not already effective clergy fraternals, it would be good for Catholic priests to initiate and host such fraternals. As so often, it is the building of good personal relations which is often a vital step towards effective ecumenism. Joint social events with other churches can build good relations.

(2) Scripture-study groups and prayer groups can often be organised on an ecumenical basis. Joint services are an established practice during Christian Unity Week, but there are surely other opportunities during the year to worship and witness together.

(3) Teaching can often be done together (e.g. Bishop Michael and Bishop Graham’s teaching session on Baptism at St John’s Cathedral in Lent 2004; this ‘Two Cathedrals’ event is now to become an annual one). Several churches could get together to run a series of talks and discussions on as common topic, with plenty of opportunity for friendly airing of differences as well as agreement). The various ‘agreed statements’ between Christian Churches should be explored together.

(4) Several Anglican and Methodist churches in our diocese already give a warm welcome to Catholics gathering for Mass at the weekend. When a Mass centre or church is too small for a congregation when we need to reduce the number of Masses, it may make sense to move to a welcoming larger Anglican or other church.

(5) There are several Local Ecumenical Partnerships in the diocese, including special chaplaincies. Reference should be made to the newly-published set of leaflets from the Bishops Conference on LEPs.

The Catholic Church is fully committed to pursuing the path to full Christian Unity. As Pope John Paul wrote in his encyclical letter Ut unum sint, ‘At the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church committed herself irrevocably to following the path of the ecumenical venture…’(4). Without in any way abandoning or undermining our distinctive Catholic teaching, ecumenism must be central to our Catholic life: ‘Thus it is absolutely clear that ecumenism, the movement promoting Christian unity, is not just some sort of “appendix” which is added to the Church’s traditional activity. Rather, ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work, and consequently must pervade all that she is and does…’ (Ut unum sint, 20).

In other words, we cannot be truly Catholic if we are not actively committed to working for the full unity of all Christians. At local level, we can pray and worship together, conscious of our unity in the Spirit of Christ. We can study together, learning to understand each other better and enriching each other in the process. We can work together to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to our communities, both in explicit evangelisation and in bringing God’s care, love and justice to the sick and the sad, the poor and hungry, the oppressed and afflicted. We can be friends together, enjoying each other’s company as fellow disciples and companions of the Risen Lord.

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Working together with people of other faiths

There is a growing opportunity in East Anglia, especially in some places, to grow in friendship with people of other faiths. We should not simply live side-by-side in a quiet co-existence with Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, etc. There should be an active co-existence, reaching out to each other in mutual respect and working to build good relations. There will be occasions when we can learn about each other, meet together socially, and work together for the common good.

The large number of Muslims moving into Western Europe in general, and to parts of our diocese in particular, challenges us to explore the relationship between Christianity and Islam. This is something which will be increasingly important for all Christian communities in East Anglia, not least because very many Muslims are ready to live and proclaim their faith in a naturally open and public way which Catholics often find difficult. Perhaps our Muslim neighbours will inspire us to be more joyfully open about our Catholic faith.

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“Parishioners who feel responsible for engaging in the work of their parishes are acutely aware of the need for priests to trust them more. The days of every single decision having to be personally sanctioned by ‘Father’ have to end if parishioners are to become responsible adults within the local church, rather than mere helpers to the priest in his responsibilities. Without this, people only see a diminishing Church and an exhausted clergy. This need for shared responsibility goes beyond the concept of ‘collaboration’, as there is real concern that, at least in places, there won’t be any priest to collaborate with if the present trend continues.”

(St Mary’s parish, Ipswich)

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Structures for Lay Participation

The church is a family, and as in any family, everyone should be as involved as possible in family life, each according to their particular place in the family. In Catholic teaching, bishops and priests – assisted by deacons - have a distinctive and irreplaceable role as making visible the Risen Christ as our shepherd and teacher. But the whole baptised community is the royal and priestly people of God, and our common dignity and equality is the setting for the role of ordained ministers. It is therefore essential that lay people be given every opportunity to play their full part in the life, liturgy and mission of the church in the diocese, deanery, cluster, parish and smaller communities, always in accordance with Catholic doctrine and Canon Law.

(1) A Diocesan Council of Laity will be established, with one lay representative from each canonical parish. Such a representative will usually be the lay chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council or its equivalent, or that person’s delegate. The Council will meet twice a year with the Bishop to discuss, be consulted on and contribute to the planning of key aspects of the life and mission of the diocese.

(2) As and when such a gathering is judged necessary or useful by the Bishop, in liaison with the College of Consultors, this Council will hold a joint meeting of a representative group of priests, deacons and religious from the diocese. This will constitute any future Diocesan Pastoral Council.

(3) Occasional diocesan meetings will also be held of lay people involved in particular aspects of diocesan life (cf. those already held on youth work, justice and peace, people with disabilities, marriage and family life). Such specialist gatherings contribute another dimension to the process of diocesan consultation.

(4) There will be a forum or fora for lay discussion and collaboration within every deanery. This could be (a) one forum for the whole deanery (especially in urban deaneries); (b) separate fora for parts of a deanery (for example, in the Cambridge Deanery, where the Cambridge city parishes, Sawston and Ely might meet separately from the four parishes of Buckden, Huntingdon, St Ives and St Neot’s); (c) separate fora in more rural deaneries for clusters of parishes, although still feeding into a single deanery report of some kind on issues for discussion.

(5) Whether or not cluster meetings are opted for above, all clusters of parishes are strongly encouraged to hold occasional inter-parish discussions so that lay people can contribute to the development of the clustering process.

‘There is a need for a forum in each parish at which people can express their views and put forward ideas, and feel that their suggestions are being given due consideration. There is also an occasional need for a more formal mechanism for consultation within the parish’

(OLEM parish, Cambridge)

(6) It is diocesan policy that every parish have an established public forum of some kind to enable lay consultation and participation in parish pastoral life and planning. Parishes are left to organise what kind of arrangement is most appropriate, although this should be decided at an open meeting of the parish rather than by the clergy alone.

The main options for such a forum are:

(a) an established Parish Pastoral Council, with a constitution and members elected and appointed as agreed.

(b) an open Parish-in-Council to which everyone is invited. This may require a Steering group to ensure that agreed recommendations are put into practice.

Any parish forum should meet at least twice a year, and be chaired by a lay person who will normally be the parish representative on the Diocesan Council of Laity.

(7) It may be appropriate for smaller communities within a parish, especially those now or once centred on a place of worship (whether or not Sunday Mass is celebrated there), to have their own forum for supporting their local Catholic community life. Such a local community and its forum should be fully integrated into the wider life of the parish. It is always the main Parish Pastoral Council or Parish-in-Council which is to be seen as the primary forum. Local communities could well be represented formally on any Parish Pastoral Council, or take a full part in any Parish-in-Council.

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TOGETHER IN PRAYER

Several reports highlighted the danger of becoming so caught up in structural and practical matters in the diocese and parishes that we fail to focus on the heart of the matter: our call to grow into an ever-deeper personal (but never private) relationship with our Lord as members of his Church, the family of God. Our prayer and worship are central to this spiritual growth and renewal. We are called to be people of prayer and people of worship. The story of Martha and Mary in St Luke’s Gospel reminds us that we should not become so engrossed in ‘activity’ that we lose sight of our spiritual centre: we need Marthas in every church community, serving with zeal and enthusiasm, but it was Mary, sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to his word, who had chosen ‘the better part’ (Luke 10.42).

We could all learn much from words often seen in Catholic communities in Cambodia, rooted in the dominant Buddhist spirituality of the people there. For us, the Risen Christ alone can give us the peace the world cannot give, and it is above all in prayer that we receive his gift of peace.

The suffering of Cambodia has been deep.

From this suffering comes Great Compassion.

Great Compassion makes a Peaceful Heart.

A Peaceful Heart makes a Peaceful Person.

A Peaceful Person makes a Peaceful Family.

A Peaceful Family makes a Peaceful Community.

A Peaceful Community makes a Peaceful Nation.

A Peaceful Nation makes a Peaceful World.

May all beings live in Happiness and Peace.

Each of us needs to be a prayerful person, as a member of a prayerful family and a prayerful parish. Any deepening of our prayer life needs to happen in our families and homes, and in our parishes, but the diocese may be able to give support in different ways. No parish can move forward unless its life and work is rooted in prayer.

(1) The disciples asked Jesus, ‘Teach us to pray.’ Every Catholic community in our diocese should be a ‘school for prayer’, helping us to pray on our own, with our friends, in our families and with fellow disciples of Jesus.

(2) As and when appropriate, the diocese will provide prayer cards and special liturgies (e.g. those produced for Pentecost 2004).

(3) Times of prayer should be part of nearly all sacramental programmes, children’s and adult formation, talks, etc in a church setting.

(4) The development of a range of prayer groups is encouraged, both within a Catholic setting and with other Christians. Opportunities should be provided to learn different ways of praying, and to try them out in a supportive environment. These groups should always lead members back to parish life and liturgy.

(5) A parish lending library with carefully-selected books on prayer would be a help to many.

(6) A prayer intentions board or book at the back of the church, regularly checked and referred to by the priests and people as a source of intentions, provides a further focus for prayer.

(7) Celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours (especially Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer) is encouraged in parishes, smaller communities, groups and families.

(8) Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is strongly encouraged in every parish. Silent adoration should be the main form of prayer, and adoration should always be arranged in such a way that it is seen to flow from the Celebration of Mass and leads us back to it. Every parish is asked to try to arrange at least one hour of public Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each week. Longer periods of Adoration may be possible with a rota of adorers. One great advantage of such adoration is that the church can be kept open during that time even in those places which are usually locked.

(9) As already mentioned, Scripture-reflection groups are strongly encouraged, especially when the readings for the following Sunday are read and explored in a setting of prayerful reflection. ‘Welcoming the word of God’ lies at the heart of our call to welcome the Eternal Word in person into our lives. As St Jerome said, ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.’

(10) Several parishes already organise days of reflection, times of quiet and retreats for parishioners. Diocesan events for young people involving prayer and reflection are already being organised. There is much room for the development of such events at diocesan, deanery, cluster, parish and community level.

(11) We should make full use of the centres of prayer which already exist in our diocese: the National Shrine at Walsingham, Clare Priory, Buckden Towers, Hengrave Hall and other places of pilgrimage. We should explore together as a diocese ways to make more fruitful use of the spiritual resources we already have.

(12) Pilgrimage is an important part of our life of prayer. Annual diocesan pilgrimages already take place to Lourdes, Taize and Walsingham. Smaller pilgrimages are now developing to the Holy Land.

(13) Spiritual direction should be encouraged for lay people. The diocese should build up a living resource of spiritual directors available for people across the diocese. Our religious communities may be in a special position to offer such a ministry. Lay people can also be trained for this service of accompanying others in their spiritual journey through life.

“Raising the profile of prayer and spirituality for lay people seems to be key”

(individual response)

“The Mass is our greatest prayer”

(Kings Lynn parish)

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LIVING THE SACRAMENTS

By our baptism and confirmation, we are together a priestly community, above all when we come together to celebrate the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass. The liturgy lies at the very centre of the life of our Catholic communities, and the renewal of our liturgy is central to the continual renewal which our diocese and parishes will always need. The liturgy is not a spectacle which we watch as though at a theatre; it is the worship of the whole community, gathered together as God’s family, and we are called to take part ‘knowingly, actively and fruitfully’ (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, art. 11). The renewal of our liturgy should focus on those three words:

(1) “Knowingly”: further education on the meaning of the liturgy should be central to any diocesan and parish programme of adult Christian formation.

(2) “Actively”: we should work towards being as inclusive as possible regarding the liturgy. No-one should feel excluded, and all should feel welcome. Active participation is the norm for all. Every parish is encouraged to establish a Liturgy Committee to contribute to the overall development of liturgy.

(3) “Fruitfully”: we can do more to celebrate the liturgy in a way that encourages and inspires people, and allows God’s transforming love to be at work within the whole community and each individual. The liturgy is only fully fruitful if we grow in personal holiness, in love for each other, and in deeper involvement in the Church’s mission to the world. Mass and mission, worship and witness belong inextricably together.

“The liturgy actualises salvation, making it real for every believer and every community of believers which celebrates it. In the liturgy, Christ, the one who is living, dying and rising from the dead, is present and active in the faithful. He fills them with divine life and makes them his people. The liturgy is the act of Christ gathering his Church, building it up, sanctifying it, revealing it and making it a sign and instrument for all humanity.”

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p. 41)

‘People can be put off church by bad liturgy. Conversely, people are more likely to maintain regular Sunday attendance if their experience of the liturgy is a good one.’

(Diocesan Liturgy Commission)

TOUCHING THE HEART

Liturgy is an encounter with the living God in the midst of his family, the Church. It should be a deeply personal encounter, renewing and enriching our relationship with the Lord.

Catholic liturgy should touch the heart of each person present. The whole human being takes part in liturgy - body, mind, heart and soul - and there is a long and rich tradition in the Catholic Church of reaching the invisible inner person through the visible and tangible: through art and music, sight and sound, through touch, smell and taste (e.g. laying-on of hands, incense, etc).

Although we must never reduce the experience of God to our emotions, we should not ignore people’s desire to ‘feel’ something of the peace, warmth and joy of God’s presence in the liturgy. The disciples came away from their meeting with the Risen Christ on the road to Emmaus saying, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us?’ If only everyone could come away from our liturgical celebrations saying the same!

Through both Word and Sacrament the Lord comes to touch and transform our hearts. True religion is a love relationship with God, a thing of the ‘heart’ (in the sense of our deepest inner self), and we should try to celebrate the liturgy in a way that touches the heart. Our liturgy must address the spiritual hunger and thirst of God’s people. We come together to lift our hearts to the Father, to be nourished by the Risen Lord who is the Word of God and the Bread of Life, and to drink of the Living Water that is the Holy Spirit.

Our parish communities and our liturgy should be the fountain, the living spring, the well from which people can quench their spiritual thirst with the joy of salvation.

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RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION

Becoming and being a Christian is a journey of faith that takes place within the pilgrim community of the faithful. Indeed, this process of welcome is sometimes called ‘Journey in Faith’ rather than RCIA.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the “exemplar and rule for all Christian initiation” (Bishops of England, Scotland and Wales, 1988). It is the normative way for adults to be welcomed through Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion into the Catholic Church. Such a process aims to integrate new members into the faith and life of the parish community and the diocese.

Far from being an imposition aimed at making becoming a Catholic more difficult, the RCIA or ‘Journey in Faith’ is a positive way of enriching and deepening the identity of a parish community, and is one of the special gifts to the Catholic Church of the Second Vatican Council.

Although the RCIA team of the priest and catechists plays a vital role in this process, the whole Catholic community has a responsibility to welcome and support those on their journey to initiation or reception. This needs to be made visible especially in liturgical celebrations. When these celebrations do not happen, or are reduced to a bare minimum, both the people being welcomed and the parish community are deprived.

It is diocesan policy that the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (sometimes called ‘Journey in Faith’) is the normative process for welcoming unbaptised adults as well as baptised adults seeking reception into full communion with the Catholic Church. The Rite allows for flexibility in special circumstances, but every parish or cluster of parishes should have an RCIA programme in place. This is already well-established in most parishes in our diocese. Smaller parishes without such a programme could organise RCIA with neighbouring parishes, and share resources.

Unless there is a very strong pastoral reason why this should not be the case, initiation or reception should take place at the Easter Vigil.

There are four main stages in the process of initiation. How these are organised will vary from parish to parish depending on the length of the programme (e.g. one year or two):

(1) Enquiry: people expressing an interest in becoming a Catholic explore together what this might mean. In a one-year programme, such a period might last from the Summer or Autumn until Christmas, leading to the Rite of Acceptance or Welcome in the parish at the beginning of January.

(2) From the Rite of Acceptance, enquirers become either a Catechumen (if preparing for Baptism) or a Candidate (if a baptised Christian preparing to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church). This leads up to the Rite of Election with the Bishop at the Cathedral on the afternoon of the First Sunday of Lent. Unless there are insuperable practical difficulties, all Catechumens and Candidates from across the diocese should attend this celebration with their priests, sponsors, families, friends and members of their parish communities.

(3) The period of Lent is for catechumens (known as ‘the elect’ after the Rite of Election) and candidates a special period of Purification and Enlightenment, during which they are given more intense spiritual preparation with the prayerful support of the parish community. For the catechumens, as full a use as possible should be made of the rites provided (Scrutinies, presentation of the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, etc). This leads to the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist) at the Easter Vigil. The newly-initiated with their sponsors and families could be invited to a simple social event immediately after the vigil (whether just a glass of wine or a parish party).

(4) From the Easter Vigil until Pentecost, there follows the period of Post-Baptismal Catechesis (or Mystagogia) during which the newly-baptised (neophytes) and the newly-received deepen their understanding of the mystery of Christ and his Church, and are helped to be integrated into the daily life, worship, devotions and mission of the church. The group usually continues to meet during this time.

BAPTISM

By our baptism, we are immersed into the life of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and so made new people, delivered from the power of sin and set on the path to holiness. We are immersed into the mystery of Christ and his Church, as beloved daughters and sons of the Father in his family, as sisters and brothers of one another in Christ, and as the living temple of the Holy Spirit. That is both an awesome gift of grace from God, and an awesome responsibility for parents to take on for their children. It is clear that we can be much better prepared for baptism, much more involved in all baptisms in our parish communities, and much more committed to welcome the newly-baptised into the lives of our parish families.

“It is essential that baptism be preceded by an appropriate preparation, in at least one meeting or more with the family and godparents…in order to make them aware of the meaning of presenting their child to be baptised and their responsibility in this. Baptism might even be an opportunity to revive the grace of baptism in the family, among the godparents and in the parish”

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p. 44)

“It is also important to include the parish in this occasion in some way (publishing the names of those being baptised in the church and offering prayers for them, for their parents and godparents during the eucharistic celebration on Sunday, celebrating the rite of baptism during a Sunday Mass) because baptism not only concerns the family and godparents but also the entire Christian community which receives one of its new members”

(General Pastoral Plan for the Holy Land, p. 44)

Baptism preparation

It is diocesan policy that every parish provide a full and adequate preparation programme for infant baptism, and that attendance be required for parents having their first child baptised, as well as for others when appropriate. Godparents should also attend when possible.

Baptism is a wonderful opportunity to renew links between parents and the community of the Church, and it is a missed opportunity if there is no more than a filling-in of forms and the service itself. Each parish has different resources available.

(1) Couples or individuals expecting a baby are encouraged to come forward for a blessing for pregnancy. This would be a good time to enrol for baptism preparation.

(2) The diocese recommends a baptism preparation course of two or three evenings, or if necessary a longer weekend session, perhaps made available every few months, and led by lay catechists with involvement by a priest or deacon. Parents (and godparents when available) of children being baptised in the coming months meet together. Parishioners could be available to provide tea and coffee, and look after any children. The parents should still complete the forms with the priest or deacon so that personal contact can be made; it is good for the priest or deacon baptising the child to visit the family in their home before the baptism to go through the details of the service. In some small parishes, the course could be led by clergy. Alternatively clusters of neighbouring parishes could organise preparation together.

(3) The course should include discussion of why they want their child baptised; an understanding of the heart of the meaning of baptism, as being immersed into the mystery of the life of the Triune God and into the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, and so delivered from original sin, as well as initiation into the community of the Church as God’s family; and an understanding of Christian initiation as a journey of gradually deeper belonging, leading to First Communion, Confirmation and a life-time of active sharing in the life and mission of the Church. The Rite itself can be used as a way of leading the parents to an understanding of its meaning.

(4) Suitable audio-visual materials can be effectively used in such a programme.

Diocesan Pastoral Plan

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

OUR DIOCESAN FAMILY

WHAT IS THE CHURCH FOR?

WHY A DIOCESAN PASTORAL PLAN?

PART 1: General Pastoral Plan

PART 2: Structural Changes (page 59)

Prayer for ‘Disciples in Mission’

Structures for Lay Participation