Seeking the Face of Christ – contributions continue to come in

Date:06 August 2007

The last few weeks have been busy for the special email address set up to receive responses to the pastoral consultation document Seeking the Face of Christ.

The team dealing with the responses would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to contribute. Parishes have said how much they had enjoyed the process one parish commenting that they, “were delighted at the opportunity provided” and thought “this should be a more frequent part of parish life”.

Parishes chose various ways of presenting the consultation document with one arranging a supper before each of the sessions. People then divided into groups to discuss the issues and the groups’ conclusions were then shared with all.

In another parish people showed part of the power point presentation at the end of Mass and a whole group of parishes chose to devote entire Saturdays to the document.

The creativity and variety of ways in which parishes chose to respond has been impressive. This has indicated it is possible to have a common agenda but interpret it according to local circumstances.

A variety of responses were received from individuals who often spoke very personally and movingly about their experiences of Church. The desire to be more conscious of the Gospel and respond to its challenges in a deeper way was very evident and inspiring. As might be expected individual responses were more diverse than parish ones. Everyone responding seemed delighted by the opportunity to contribute to the process.

The consultation period has been slightly extended until 7 September in response to requests from some parishes and the next step will be the discussion day to be held in St Bede’s Catholic College in Bristol on Saturday 20 October. The discussion day will focus on themes emerging from the initial consultation. The purpose of this day is to continue listening and is a step along the journey rather than its conclusion.

During the period between November and January the draft pastoral guidelines will be prepared and during January and February 2008 these will be presented to the diocese. A further period of consultation will then take place. The team would again like to thank all who have contributed in anyway to the consultation and would ask that people continue to pray for the diocese during this time.

Ann Fowler