New young families are starting to attend mass on a Sunday
The parish is welcoming to each other, new and visiting members.
There is a good start for a community to be developed.
A sense that we are lucky to have a priest in residence, even though his is not the parish priest and is willing to celebrate mass for the parish.
Thankful that the church shares it’s site with the primary school.
The vast majority of the parish community is made up of older (60+) parishioners
Whilst church shares it’s site with the school, there is a long way to go in terms of re-forging a working relationship with them.
This could be due to the fact that teachers at the school appear to either be non-Catholic, not practising or not attending parish events, services and regular mass.
Families from the school appear to not be attending parish events, services and regular mass. As a result we have recently seen a dramatic decline in baptisms and first holy communions in recent years.
Whilst we have a good start to build a community, there is still a long way to go to build the parish ‘family’. More needs to be done to encourage parishioners to get to know each other.
Due to the time taken by the diocese to ratify the parish safeguarding lead, we have a noticeable gap in the community offering we can make. For example, Eucharistic Ministers unable to attend parishioner’s homes as DBS checks have not been completed.
A possible barrier to attendance to Sunday mass could be competition with alternative activities. For example, if a child plays for a local sports team or trains for a competitive sport, this more often than not happens on a Sunday morning.
Due to the current state of affairs in the parish, will the parish be closed?
Fr Darren noted that the answers provided in questions 1 and 2 covered this.
The parish needs to invest in a greater social media presence.
NOTE: A parish website has been made, it is awaiting someone to take responsibility for keeping it up to date. Likewise with parish social media accounts. These have all been created in line with the diocesan guidelines.
The parish need to make an effort to reach out to the local community, advertising what the parish currently offers.
There needs to be a more joined up approach to faith related activities, such as ‘Journey in Faith’, bible study, stations of the cross, rosary circles etc, by the deanery. Creating better opportunities to create stronger links with our sister parishes.
A more noticeable presence from the diocesan leadership would be appreciated, so that concerns, ideas and a chance to share our faith would be appreciated … without it costing the entire collection to have them attend.
Have conversations started at a higher level in England and Wales about the possibility to welcome Married priests and the journey towards welcoming female priests also.
If not, what are the plans being brought forward to increase the number of priests we have in the UK?
It feels to the parish that currently there are too many churches and not enough priests.
Should the diocese look to change the parish management model? Bringing priests together to live in community allowing them the chance to focus on delivering, with the deacons, the spiritual needs of the Deanery and wider diocese. Whilst parish management (day to day business) is taken care of by lay leaders/ Parish Leadership and administrators.
An official Parish council needs to be formed as soon as possible to support Fr Darren in the management of the parish going forward.
A draft constitution is available online which once agreed can be adopted by the parish, for review annually at an official AGM.