Letter to Parish about Seeking the Face of Christ

Dear Fellow Parishioner

Since our formation just before Christmas, we have had three meetings.

We have discussed the terms of reference of the Parish Pastoral Council and how we can formulate the needs of the Parish of St Gregory’s as your nominated voice.

As immediate actions we are updating the contact list of the various parish groups; are addressing a young people request to be engaged more in the mass; and are taking forward the Diocesan Consultation “Seeking the Face of Christ” Draft Guidelines.

We are acutely aware that as your voice, we want to know what is high on your priority list for the parish to do, renew or improve. To that end we have devised a set of questions taken from the Parish Pastoral Council actions of the Draft Guidelines of “Seeking the Face of Christ” for you to complete. A member of the Parish Pastoral Council will address you at one of the masses with what we would like you to do.

The Diocese also needs to know your views of the Draft Guidelines as a whole. For the parish to take part we have:-

a)Supplied copies of the Draft Guidelines, which can be collected from the back of church (as they are few in number and expensive to produce, we do need them to be returned;)
b)Details of the website where copies can be downloaded is www.cliftondiocese.com, then follow the Seeking the Face of Christ symbols;
c)Individual sections, if you feel you just want to study a particular area are available at the back of church;
d)Four Parish Meetings, where each section can be discussed in groups; and,
e)Each Parish Group can discuss this document and answer as a group.

Two things will then happen:-

1.A remit of Parish needs will be formulated for the Parish Pastoral Council; and,
2.The Diocese will have a better understanding of what is to be included in the Diocesan Pastoral Guidelines from your individual or group responses.

The Parish Pastoral Council have created their own website, the details are http://www.stcassians.co.uk/stg_ppc. We would encourage you to regularly look at this and the newsletter which we will issue to keep you informed and ensure we are on track with your needs.

Yours in Christ

Members of the Parish Pastoral Council