Pastoral Council Report
24 October 2009
Around 250 people from across our diocese came together with Bishop Declan for the launch of the implementation guide to our diocesan pastoral guidelines ‘Called to be a People of Hope’.
The Diocesan Pastoral Council and deanery and parish pastoral council members gathered in Bristol’s St Bede’s Catholic College for the. Our main speaker was Dr Kevin Treston, an Australian who began his professional career as a primary school teacher over forty years ago and then moved to the secondary school. During the last thirty years he has worked as a lecturer and administrator at a college and university and as a consultant in many countries.
He began by quoting the advice given to early Christian Leaders: “I listen, I learn and then I teach’ saying that the ‘teach’ was interchangeable with the words ‘serve’, lead’ and ‘minister to.” Our pastoral councils have to be rooted in Christ, who became one like us and dwelt among us (John 1:14) that we may have life in abundance (John 10:10), remembering that: “the place of reality is the invitation to grace” - Jesus lived among real people whose lives were every bit as messy as ours are today. Leadership, he told us, is primarily about enabling the Gifts of the Spirit to grow and to flourish in our communities.
For our pastoral councils to be successful we must know the people we are serving and ask ourselves: “is our mission real for the people whom we serve?” ‘Called to be a People of Hope’ asks us to reflect on how what we do is: “deepening prayer, enabling communion and strengthening mission”, in other words, as Kevin said: “how does what we do contribute to that life in abundance which Jesus came to bring and how does what we do contribute to Jesus’ dream of the Reign of God, so constantly referred to in the New Testament?” One of the temptations is to fill our pastoral councils with efficient people who can get things done, but we neglect the ‘dreamers’ at our peril. We need dreamers to be the prophetic voice and to keep the vision alive. Mission is more important than maintenance - maintenance just keeps people going and becomes sterile. He reminded us of the importance of being a baptised person - with its corresponding gifts and responsibilities - and reminded us, too, that the eucharistic community is, in fact, only a small part of our community and we are called to reach out to all. Kevin did not set out to give us all the answers but he gave us lots food for thought and lots of questions to consider as we move forward as a diocese, particularly in relation to our diocesan pastoral guidelines.
The second part of the day was led by Father Christopher Whitehead, Director of our Department for Adult Education and Evangelisation, as he took us through the newly published ‘Pastoral Councils Implementation Guide’, explaining how we could use it as a springboard to help us better engage with our guidelines, ‘Called to be a People of Hope’. It has been produced to offer some simple suggestions as to how parishes and deaneries might develop means of implementing the pastoral guidelines in a way best suited to the people they serve. In addition, it contains advice about pastoral councils and a list of books and resources available.
This was an excellent day and many thanks were expressed, not just to the organising team but also to St Bede’s for allowing us to use it as a venue and, of course, to the HCPT - The Pilgrimage Trust team for keeping us supplied with tea, coffee and biscuits throughout.
Deacon Ken Fowler from Ilminster reported to his deanery: “We heard two very good presentations by Dr Kevin Treston on the subject of pastoral councils and good leadership. He is very passionate about the involvement and responsibility of all the baptised in the mission of the church and possesses a ‘light’ touch in the way he puts across his message.”
Doug Lowe from Taunton told cliftondiocese.com: “What a great talk by Kevin Treston on I listen, I learn and then I teach advice given to early Christian leaders. The focus of the day was how to enhance the mission of the church in our diocese through fostering and experiencing ‘life in abundance’.”
Marilynne Morgan, from the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Stroud, summed up the feelings of many in her words: “Congratulations and thanks to our Adult Education and Evangelisation team for an excellent day. From its opening liturgy through to Bishop Declan’s closing of the day we were inspired and encouraged by Kevin Treston, the speaker, to listen, learn and teach in our parishes to live life in abundance. A power-packed day, filled with the Holy Spirit, inspiring and encouraging us through Scripture and humour to be a People of Hope.”
You can download our ‘Pastoral Councils Implementation Guide’ in the multimedia panel on the right.
Doreen Wyatt
Around 250 people from across our diocese came together with Bishop Declan for the launch of the implementation guide to our diocesan pastoral guidelines ‘Called to be a People of Hope’.
The Diocesan Pastoral Council and deanery and parish pastoral council members gathered in Bristol’s St Bede’s Catholic College for the. Our main speaker was Dr Kevin Treston, an Australian who began his professional career as a primary school teacher over forty years ago and then moved to the secondary school. During the last thirty years he has worked as a lecturer and administrator at a college and university and as a consultant in many countries.
He began by quoting the advice given to early Christian Leaders: “I listen, I learn and then I teach’ saying that the ‘teach’ was interchangeable with the words ‘serve’, lead’ and ‘minister to.” Our pastoral councils have to be rooted in Christ, who became one like us and dwelt among us (John 1:14) that we may have life in abundance (John 10:10), remembering that: “the place of reality is the invitation to grace” - Jesus lived among real people whose lives were every bit as messy as ours are today. Leadership, he told us, is primarily about enabling the Gifts of the Spirit to grow and to flourish in our communities.
For our pastoral councils to be successful we must know the people we are serving and ask ourselves: “is our mission real for the people whom we serve?” ‘Called to be a People of Hope’ asks us to reflect on how what we do is: “deepening prayer, enabling communion and strengthening mission”, in other words, as Kevin said: “how does what we do contribute to that life in abundance which Jesus came to bring and how does what we do contribute to Jesus’ dream of the Reign of God, so constantly referred to in the New Testament?” One of the temptations is to fill our pastoral councils with efficient people who can get things done, but we neglect the ‘dreamers’ at our peril. We need dreamers to be the prophetic voice and to keep the vision alive. Mission is more important than maintenance - maintenance just keeps people going and becomes sterile. He reminded us of the importance of being a baptised person - with its corresponding gifts and responsibilities - and reminded us, too, that the eucharistic community is, in fact, only a small part of our community and we are called to reach out to all. Kevin did not set out to give us all the answers but he gave us lots food for thought and lots of questions to consider as we move forward as a diocese, particularly in relation to our diocesan pastoral guidelines.
The second part of the day was led by Father Christopher Whitehead, Director of our Department for Adult Education and Evangelisation, as he took us through the newly published ‘Pastoral Councils Implementation Guide’, explaining how we could use it as a springboard to help us better engage with our guidelines, ‘Called to be a People of Hope’. It has been produced to offer some simple suggestions as to how parishes and deaneries might develop means of implementing the pastoral guidelines in a way best suited to the people they serve. In addition, it contains advice about pastoral councils and a list of books and resources available.
This was an excellent day and many thanks were expressed, not just to the organising team but also to St Bede’s for allowing us to use it as a venue and, of course, to the HCPT - The Pilgrimage Trust team for keeping us supplied with tea, coffee and biscuits throughout.
Deacon Ken Fowler from Ilminster reported to his deanery: “We heard two very good presentations by Dr Kevin Treston on the subject of pastoral councils and good leadership. He is very passionate about the involvement and responsibility of all the baptised in the mission of the church and possesses a ‘light’ touch in the way he puts across his message.”
Doug Lowe from Taunton told cliftondiocese.com: “What a great talk by Kevin Treston on I listen, I learn and then I teach advice given to early Christian leaders. The focus of the day was how to enhance the mission of the church in our diocese through fostering and experiencing ‘life in abundance’.”
Marilynne Morgan, from the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Stroud, summed up the feelings of many in her words: “Congratulations and thanks to our Adult Education and Evangelisation team for an excellent day. From its opening liturgy through to Bishop Declan’s closing of the day we were inspired and encouraged by Kevin Treston, the speaker, to listen, learn and teach in our parishes to live life in abundance. A power-packed day, filled with the Holy Spirit, inspiring and encouraging us through Scripture and humour to be a People of Hope.”
You can download our ‘Pastoral Councils Implementation Guide’ in the multimedia panel on the right.
Doreen Wyatt
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