CURRENT NEWS
Bishop Peter invited all clergy and religious, along with representatives of Pastoral Area Councils, Schools Partnerships, Voluntary Organisations and Diocesan agencies, to a gathering at Thornton College near Buckingham on Saturday 10th March 2012.
The event proved very successful with around 140 people in attendance from all over the Diocese.
An edited version of Bishop Peter’s talk is available as a Word document here. In May we hope to distribute a DVD version with suggestions for making use of it in parishes, schools and Areas. .
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Facilitator Training - Towards a wider conversation
The ‘Walking Humbly’ process has been offering an opportunity for reflection and conversation from mid-2011 onwards, called ‘The Micah Conversation’ – something which will help groups in the parishes and pastoral areas to reflect prayerfully on their common life and the call to serve the wider community. In preparation for this, and with Bishop Peter’s desire for developing conversation within our communities, a special programme has been offered to train up to 30 people from across the diocese as ‘facilitators’ of small groups.
The transferable skills developed during this course will be of great use to those operating within all sorts of other situations - within both working and planning groups (such as ‘steering groups’, pastoral councils or schools) and other groups gathered for youth work, faith-sharing, RCIA, catechesis etc. .
One programme of courses has already been run successfully last year.
Watch this space for news of future opportunities. .
More information is available on this leaflet - though the dates mentioned are past.
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BACKGROUND
Click here for the context and origin of the Walking Humbly process.
In May 2009 the former eight Deaneries were replaced by thirteen "Pastoral Areas" intended for more effective sharing and collaboration.
The Area Deans and "Pastoral Area Links" convened Local Steering Groups which began work in autumn 2009 with reviews of local provision in their Areas. Their remit weas to produce Groundplans setting out priorities for the life and mission of the Church in their Areas. These were to address the changes brought about by having fewer priests, in the context of an aspiration to move ever closer to the model of a "Thriving Catholic Community" which was articulated by the Stream Three Team and taken up for themselves by local communities. Those Groundplans were mostly presented to the Bishop at the end of May 2010.
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The Pastoral Areas and their Deans
With effect from May 2009 Bishop Peter appointed new Deans to lead the thirteen Pastoral Areas which replaced the former eight Deaneries.
The names of the Deans, and the Patron Saints of the Areas, have been published on this site here for some while.
From the box above-left, you can download a PDF document which gives a diagrammatic Map of the new Pastoral Areas. (The reasons behind this change were explained at length to all priests, deacons, Religious, Deanery Pastoral Councils and Diocesan agencies during the consultation process that lasted from November 08 to March 09.)
On the back of the Map is a list of the Areas, with the names of constituent parishes and churches in each, and the names of the Area Deans.
The Church Finder facility on this site has been updated to reflect the new Areas.
With regard to the final names of the new Areas, the geographical names along the lines of the ones provisionally allotted have been found serviceable: but most Areas have now chosen Patron Saints (see the list here) and we have now updated the Map to include these.
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Please direct all queries to Deacon Philip Pugh