Mass Times, Sacramental Celebrations and Pastoral Care

Sub-group 1

Mass Times, Sacramental Celebrations and Pastoral Care

Tony BarkerHoly Rosary

Fr Des SeddonSt Mary's & Most Holy Redeemer and St Kentigern

Fr Boniface MoranSt Anne's & St Elizabeth's

Dcn MacSt Anne's

Mary DonohueSt Gregory's

Sub-group 2

Communications, Buildings, Administration (social events)

Peter MawtusSt. Anne’s

Fr. Godric TimneySt. Anne’s & St. Elizabeth’s

Ronni LangleySt. Gregory’s

Sheila HaleSt. Mary’s

Karen BonellSt. Mary’s

Sub-group 3

Evangelisation, Outreach and Formation

Bill HardakerSt. George’s

Msgnr John ButchardHoly Rosary

Dcn Stephen CrowtherSt. George’s

Paul SymesSt. John’s

Janette BrooksSt. Gregory’s

Mass Times, Sacramental Celebrations and Pastoral Care

Introduction

At present, Pastoral Area (PA) 14 is composed of 9 parishes served by 7 priests. There are 21 regular weekend Masses, with 20 Masses being said by 7 priests (2 Benedictines and 5 secular) and 1 Mass said by a retired priest. In addition:-

• Frs.GT & BM - Benedictines - are responsible for St. Elizabeth's and St. Anne's
• Fr JR is responsible for St John's
• Fr.DS is responsible for Most Holy Redeemer and St.Kentigern's (abbreviated to St Kentigern's for the purpose of this document) & St Mary's.
• Fr JS is responsible for OLL & St Gregory's
• Fr JK is responsible for St George's
• Fr JB is responsible for Holy Rosary

In the future PA14 could be served by only 5 priests (2 Bendictines, 3 secular), with a consequent reduction in the number of Sunday, Holyday and weekday Masses, and other Sacramental celebrations. To face this reality, changes may have to be made based on factors such as these (in no particular order):

1. Size of the PA
2. Distance between parishes
3. Differences between urban and rural parishes
4. Sense & spirit of "Community"
5. Capacity of each church in PA
6. Present timing of Masses
7. Mass attendance numbers
8. Transport issues

and in the light of factors proposed by Fr.Philip Inch:

1. Ideally one Sunday Mass for each community, with additional masses only being provided where necessary, either because Mass attendance is greater than the capacity of the Church or to provide some choice for those who work to enable all to attend.
2. Flexibility for absence of clergy[1]
3. There should be at least 90 minutes between the start times of any two masses which might need to be celebrated by one priest.

In addition, any changes should be introduced over a reasonable time-frame.

Draft Proposals

Because of the geographical size of our PA and the location of parish churches (Appendix 1), we re-commend that for general and administrative purposes the centre of the PA should be St Anne's, but for some Sacramental Celebrations, some services (eg. RCIA, Marriage preparation) and Pastoral Care purposes, PA 14 should be divided into North and South.

The northern half will consist of the parishes of St Anne's, St Elizabeth's (already bound together in a Douai Abbey Parishes Trust) and St John the Evangelist; the southern half will consist of the parishes of St Mary's, St Kentigern's, Holy Rosary, St George's, St Gregory's and Our Lady's Lydiate.

Again for administrative purposes, but also for the benefit of the incumbent clergy, we recommend that the following parishes could be merged into one unit :-

(a) St Mary's & St Kentigern's and

(b) Our Lady's Lydiate & St Gregory's.

Weekend Mass Times

Based on the assumption that PA 14 could be served by only 5 priests, there is likely to be a corresponding reduction in the number of weekend Masses from 21 to 16, with provision being made for a range of Mass times from Saturday evening through to Sunday evening.

Some Masses therefore, may well have to be stopped. In addition, some Mass times may have to be altered so that there is always 90 minutes between Masses celebrated by one priest.

The present and proposed changes in our PA are shown in the two diagrams on page 4, in which each church and its Mass times are colour coded.

We suggest that the schedule for the proposed changes would take place over a period of time, the length of which would be determined, in part, by the date of retirement of some of our present clergy who are approaching retiring age. A proposed schedule of change is outlined on pages 5, 6 and 7.

In the North

In the South

Proposals for change in PA 14 North,

• Change the times of these Masses :-

• St Anne’s 9.00am Sunday to 8.30am Sunday.
• St Elizabeth’s 9.30am Sunday to 9.00am Sunday.
• St John's9.30am Sunday to 10.30 am Sunday

PA North would then look like this:

Approaching the retirement of Fr. Robinson:

• Stop 6.30 pm Saturday and Sunday Masses

On the retirement of Fr. Robinson, Frs. GT & BM now help at St John's.

PA North would then look like this:

St. Anne'sSt. Elizabeth'sSt. John's

Proposals for change in PA 14 South,

• Merge into one unit :-
• St Mary’s & St Kentigern’s
• Our Lady’s Lydiate & St Gregory’s

On the "final" retirement of the one "retired" priest saying one of the four Masses in Lydiate,

• Stop St.Gregory's 8.00am Sunday Mass.

Fr JS now says Mass at:

On the retirement of Fr. Butchard,

• stop Holy Rosary 6.00pm Sunday Mass
• merge into one unit Holy Rosary and St Mary's & St Kentigern's.

Fr DS now says Mass at:

On the retirement of Fr. Kelly, a new parish priest will be appointed.

and says Mass at:

PA South would then look like this:

Our Lady'sSt. George'sSt. Mary's

St. Gregory's Holy RosarySt. Kentigern's

Proposed alterations, carried out over time :

Following this proposed schedule of change, PA14 will have the following structure:-

In the North

In the South

Weekday and Holyday Mass Times

Given the proposed structure of PA14, and the constraints imposed on the clergy, changes are likely to occur with regard to Holyday and weekday Mass times, Masses held in schools, and on Ash Wednesday if there is no Mass in a parish church.

Because most priests will have responsibility for two churches, each priest will organise weekday Masses accordingly, and where a priest has extra-parochial activities, weekday Masses may have to be organised on an "as announced" basis each week.

With regard to Holyday Mass times, despite the fact that there is no statistical evidence to consider, we feel that one vigil Mass and one Mass on the day would probably be sufficient for each priest, although this could be revised after taking into consideration, over time, the numbers of parishioners attending. Instead of Holyday Masses in school on June 29th and November 1st., parents would be responsible for attending their local church Masses with their children outside school hours, and schools could take the opportunity to keep the Holyday special by preparing a special assembly or such like. On Ash Wednesday, a deacon or lay minister could distribute ashes, either in school or in the parish church.

It is important, therefore, that teachers and school governors are involved in the initial consultation process.

Sacramental Celebrations and Pastoral Care

Initial approach for participation in all sacramental celebrations would be made, as usual, to the individual parish, and the new Baptism preparation and "With you always" programmes would be parish based.

However, with PA14 being artificially divided into North and South, Marriage preparation, catechist training and training for extra-ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist could be accomplished in both areas and would ensure many opportunities for prospective participants. It would also be hoped that a common approach would be adopted by all parishes, with suitably trained and qualified leaders so that help can be provided if and when necessary within each half, and also across the North/ South divide.

With regard to the provision of funerals, a Mass should be said if requested by relatives, but if a funeral service only is requested, this could be carried out by either a deacon or a lay minister. There is a need, therefore, for co-ordination in both halves of the PA, such that a PA plan/ procedure detailing the availability of priests, deacons and lay ministers, the manner in which they should be approached and the services that they can provide, is familiar to, and understood by, local undertakers.

With the increasing age of the population, visiting the housebound with or without the Eucharist is likely to increase, and is obviously parish-based. There may also be a corresponding increase in the numbers of nursing/ care homes, and therefore an increase in visiting. Co-ordinating such activities, as well as hospital visiting would probably still be parish based, but provision could be made for inter-parish support, based on the PA North/South divide.

Finally, the role and responsibilities of deacons in PA14 could be appraised with a view to enabling them to exercise their Ministry in a wider context, such as carrying out their duties in adjacent parishes as well as their own.

Appendix 2

Mass attendance figures for October 2012 (average of four weeks)

* estimates

Masses which may be stopped

Mass times which may be altered

Communications, Buildings, Administration (social events)

Communications

This was seen as paramount in any PA Development, we should communicate our ideas, events that are planned and use the communication system as a two way process, so that we can also ask for ideas, help and feedback. Effective communication is central to the success of anything that the PAWG does, and to the PA becoming a cohesive faith community.

• PA Newsletter already exists, however it is a limited tool at present, and tends to show what has happened in parishes (only when people send information in), rather than advertising coming events. It will remain part of our strategy, but it is not the answer to our communication needs.
• The idea of setting up email communications with parishioners is exciting. This could be done on a parish and a PA level. We acknowledge it will not reach everyone, but certainly the vast majority could be contacted quickly and efficiently. Several of our schools have email systems set up to contact parents, so advice could be taken from there, or other suitably skilled persons in PA. There will certainly be the skills among the parishioners, we just have to ask.
• Other forms of mass communication are also available, such as an “internet notice board”. This should be investigated once the basics are in place, however this is just one of many possibilities to be explored.
• Web sites are wonderful tools, some parishes have them and some don’t. Getting one per parish and compiling them to a PA one could certainly be a task for the future. The only reservation is that people still need to go on and look for information. The answer for effective communication is not going to be one tool only, but a combination of different methods, and a web site is certainly seen as a requirement.
• Parish bulletins again exist in some, but not all parishes. It is felt that having them in all parishes would help, although costs and resource will be an issue.
• Parish notice boards are a much under used vehicle, however some uniformity and central effort may be necessary for them to become an effective part of a PA communication strategy.
• Facebook/twitter – certainly worth exploring, and this could be an opportunity for younger parishioners, who are perhaps more familiar with the “social media” to take ownership of part of the strategy and provide a valued service.
• Once an effective communication system is set up, it becomes a two way street, and can (should) be used to gather, as well as disseminate information. How we actually go about doing this will need some careful consideration and the involvement of a lot of different people with different skills, however it is a central task to everything we are trying to do. It will also help to improve communication between groups within the parish, and also PA
• As well as the hi-tech communications, face to face will be crucial, especially in the early days as we are trying to get people to “buy into” the proposals, and let us know what they actually want for their parish/PA. It is envisaged that presentations will be given to parishes, at Mass, and perhaps also at arranged meetings, so that reactions can be gauged,

Buildings

• There are 9 churches, 5 of which are grade II listed buildings in PA 14. Additionally there is 1 ruined chapel (grade II listed), 8 presbyteries, 3 parish clubs, 2 parish centres and 4 cemeteries. See appendix 3 page 13
• As presbyteries become unused the option of using them as pastoral rooms should be explored.
• Financial implications have NOT been considered in the deliberations of this, or the other two sub-groups.

Administration

• We should ensure that the work resulting from this development plan does not all fall onto the shoulders of parish secretaries, who are already doing a great deal of work. New resources need to be identified and put into place.
• A centralised admin resource could be necessary, possibly paid, to co-ordinate the many tasks and volunteers needed to ensure the smooth running of the proposed development plan.
• A separate exercise would be needed to identify areas of parish secretary’s work which could benefit from centralisation. This is outside the scope of this sub-group.

Social events

• The array of potential social events is almost limitless, if they are effectively communicated, they could be successful and help to develop a PA identity among the parishes. These could be organised by groups, or by individuals, but the important thing is that they be open to all, communicated to all, and inclusive.
• It is likely that a social team, similar to the communications team that will undoubtedly need to be set up, may be necessary.
• While it is too early to be specific on this issue, there is a consensus that “Youth events” would be a good place to start, although even here, the need for an effective communication system is a given.

Actions

The following actions could be put in place in advance

• Communicate vision to parishes via
• Newsletter
• From pulpit
• Parish meetings
• Create parish & PA email data base
• Establish communications group & parish contacts

Appendix 3

Evangelisation, Outreach and Formation

The aim of the group was to try to establish how the resources of the future Pastoral Area may best be able to provide for the community with regard to Evangelisation, Outreach and Formation.

There is a North/South geographical appearance to the Pastoral Area, which the group have tried to consider when discussing how future programmes or events take place.

It was agreed that the current sacramental preparation is fragmented, with different parishes operating slightly different programmes and in some instances, using totally different materials.

The Pastoral Area is currently well served by 7 priests, presiding over masses, with some assistance from retired clergy.

It is envisaged that a group from within the Pastoral Area could be formed to deal specifically with family ministry and evangelization. The theme of this strategy is to ensure that the ideas are workable and achievable, utilising known resources within the existing parishes. This may involve working with existing ministries within parishes, such as sacramental preparation courses, but the aim of the family ministry group should be more directly focused on families, establishing their needs, recognizing their commitment and developing assistance for them in their spiritual growth.

Evangelisation

• The role of the parish priest and indeed all parishioners would continue, being alert to the mission of the Church to spread the Good News.
• A central direction from the Pastoral Area would seem more suitable in particular areas to co-ordinate the customs.
• Sacramental programmes would be central to the evangelization mission, utilising the new Archdiocesean programmes for the sacraments of initiation, and hence creating uniformity in the Pastoral Area.
• Marriage preparation, co-ordinated by North/South teams (which currently happens somewhat) would be more suited to dealing with the needs of the Pastoral Area.
• RCIA could be co-ordinated on a Pastoral Area basis, pooling resources from the different parishes, with a centralised direction.
• Baptismal preparation would continue in the individual parishes. However, a centralized direction to utilise resources of catechists from different parishes, where needed most would be desirable.
• North/South groups could be considered to deal with 3rd stage parishioners, to allow them to develop their particular faith needs and to continue with their formation.
• Parish groups such as Cafod, SVP, UCM and uniformed groups involving youth, would retain their own individual character and contributions. However, some groups could “join forces” and combine resources if they felt the need or wished to do so.
• Youth groups do operate successfully in some parishes and a great deal of emphasis should be placed on expanding the success of individual parishes, utilising their experience, throughout the Pastoral Area.

Outreach/Formation