PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL

As you are probably aware, this body was established in response to the Fit For Mission Review. Previously there had been a body which had met in an ad hoc fashion as and when necessary. These days it is seen as good practice that each parish should have a Pastoral Council. In theory the PPC has a set number of members who are fairly representative of the groups in the parish and the parishioners. At this stage the members are not elected. Peter Metcalf has been appointed Chairman.

At the meeting of the PPC in September Fr. Loughran outlined his vision for the parish. He said that in his preaching, Jesus had come to establish a Kingdom: The Kingdom of God. This is not to be confused with Heaven, our eternal home, but rather the Kingdom of God is made present anywhere in this world where the rule or the reign of Christ exists. Father suggested that it is the role of every generation to find ways of establishing or carrying forward the K of G. He presented 5 areas in which he saw the Kingdom being enhanced in our parish: 1) Liturgy & Spirituality; 2) Education & Formation; 3) Mission & Outreach; 4) Social, and 5) Fabric & Finance.

In all things God must come first, in that way blessings flow into what ever we do, that is why Liturgy & Spirituality is at the top of the list. Fr Loughran was embarking on a series of meetings with those involved in helping to lead the liturgical celebrations in order to make good liturgy even better. The old adage of ‘never being too old to learn’ is often balanced out by the one that says, ‘you can’t teach and old dog new tricks.’ But being a Christian is a life-long learning curve; that is one of the reasons why there is a homily every day at Mass and why the parish and diocese are forever offering new ways of exploring our faith. Father has embarked upon a couple of ventures for Advent; one is built upon the weekly scripture group, it is an Advent Scripture Workshop and the other is 3 sessions about the Mass on the first 3 Tuesdays of Advent. Any parish worth its salt will be outward looking with an eye to Mission and Outreach. The parish is a supporter of CAFOD, and other aid actions. Probably in the future other areas of outreach will be identified.

Community is built by members coming together for all manner of things especially social activities. The parish has an active Social Group brimming with ideas. Lastly, we have to remember that we are the stewards of the parish property and that is why it is important that the finances and fabric of the parish be properly managed. There has long been a Finance Group, Father has added the element of ‘fabric’ to it so it now has oversight of both these elements.