Response to the Finchale Partnership-Mission Discernment Proposal

1. If there were only 3 priests to cover our 6 parishes, how would we support their ministry?

We currently have 5 priests, 3 retired priests who help with ministry, and 2 permanent deacons. But in just a few years, we may have only 3

priests. So we will carry out a review to consider how the priests and people of our partnership can support each other.

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We will look at

• Mass times and locations

• Where priests would live

• Worship in communities without a resident

priest

• What other activities would need to be

reviewed (pastoral and administrative)

2. Buildings and Stewardship

We have 13 churches, 13 presbyteries and other buildings too. The estimated cost of essential repairs to our buildings is £1.7m. 3 of our 6 parishes are currently spending more than their income each year – and that’s before we pay for any of the repairs. The surplus income across the whole partnership was only £6,168 last year.

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We will carry out a review of stewardship

looking at

• Churches: locations & condition

• Other buildings

• Expenditure on current buildings taking

account of long-term future

• Buildings: practical skills

• Financial position of our parishes

3. Volunteers and Involvement

One parish estimated that only 15% of the people who come to church get involved, in ministries or in practical help in the parish – 85% don’t. We think that may be true across the partnership.

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We will identify what we need to do to get more

people involved in all our parishes, including

• Succession Planning

• Training and formation for people in

ministries and leadership roles

• Renewing Pastoral Councils at parish &

partnership level

• Identifying Leadership roles and tasks

priests do not have to do

4. Communication and Digital

Some of our parishes already have good websites and social media, but this is an area where we can help each other. It’s not just

about technical skills. It’s also the chance to think about how we use these tools to proclaim the good news, in particular to the younger

generations.

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We will

• Identify what we want to communicate

• Support each other with websites and

social media

• Improve communication across the

partnership

• Identify where we can work with the

Diocese

We also have 2 issues to raise with the Diocese

Lay Led Services on Sundays

Lay led services on Sundays

We don’t believe we are yet at the stage of needing to talk about regular lay led services on Sundays, but with fewer priests, there will be

fewer supply priests available, and our priests

will need the occasional holiday!

We will ask the Diocese to consider whether

planned lay led services in this situation may be

necessary.

Relationships between schools and parishes

In the parish reviews many people raised the issue of our Catholic schools. People don’t understand the new management structure in schools and believe there is increasing distance between the schools and the churches. Chaplaincy in schools may be excellent – but we believe it is worth looking at why this does not translate into children (and their families) coming to church