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Apparently there are no recorded minutes
of this first meeting of the newly formed Diocesan Pastoral Council..
OPENING ADDRESS 1. A very warm welcome to all of you. There are old faces here among clergy and laity and new faces too from former Councils of Priests and the Joint Council of Priests and Laity. But this is the first time that we have met together for the Pastoral Council of the Diocese of Portsmouth. 2. It seems as though we have been subject to pastoral review in the diocese for a very long time and I sometimes feel tempted to say that we ought to have a moratorium, a time in which nothing changed and in which no new thoughts are thought - a time to gather our energies, a time of rest and reflection. But as our afternoon agenda will reveal to you, we cannot do that because there are urgent questions to do, not least, with the future care of parishes which press us and about which decisions have to be made and actions implemented. Nevertheless, this meeting and the formation of this Council does mark a watershed and the end of a stage in the process of review. We do now need a period of stability to allow new structures to "bed down" and achieve the purpose for which they have been set-up. But, as I have already written, what we have now - new Council of Priests, Diocesan Pastoral Council, and a reviewed Curial structure - these are all enabling structures, never ends in themselves. They are there to make it more possible for us to become more deeply - and hopefully more effectively - the community of the disciple of Christ in this place - a community united in spirit and purpose to give faithful witness and proclamation to the Gospel of Christ. 3. I have looked forward to this day for a long time but specifically since the autumn of 1995. When I came in 1989, we had, of course, a Council of Priests. That is required by Canon Law. In addition, and flowing from it, there was a College of Consulters. If you add to that occasional meetings with Deans and, of course, the meetings of the Chapter, you could be pardoned for thinking that the Bishop was surrounded by a formidable array of counsellors and advisers. That is all true and I am very grateful for all the assistance I have been given. But there is a significant element lacking. Where are the laity in all this? 4. I don't want to bore you with historical details with which you are already familiar, but in various ways since 1989, I have tried to build on what was already in place in terms of structures for effective working partnerships between clergy and laity. I have tried to encourage that culture of partnership through Parish and Deanery Pastoral Councils - with varying degrees of success and I tried also in those early days to work with the so-called Diocesan Pastoral Council, which was a group of devoted and committed lay people. But essential links were not there - not least good communication and a sense of partnership with the clergy and co-responsibility with the diocese. 5. This brings me back to the autumn of 1995 because it was then that, for the first time, we had a meeting of the joint Council of Clergy and Laity. This meeting, more or less, coincided with the publication of "The Sign We Give" by the Bishops' Conference, which is a study, for those who are not familiar with it, of the principles which sustains what is called "collaborative ministry". That publication and its principles lie behind what we hoped to establish and build up through the Joint Council. I felt right from the start - and I shared this with the membership - that the Joint Council was never more than a transitory body. The ideal was always to be the Diocesan Pastoral Council composed of clergy and laity working together with the Bishop for the community and mission of the diocese. I said this in 1995:
6. The principles which underpin our working together are quite straightforward:
7. Since 1995, a number of events have occurred almost simultaneously which has inevitably led to a certain confusion of goals and, indeed, a sense among some that established priorities had been forgotten or shelved.
8. The Pastoral Council of the Diocese of Portsmouth replaces the old Joint Council of Laity and Clergy. It aims at fostering a natural communication in pastoral matters and policies in both directions between the Bishop, the curial departments, the deaneries and the parishes. It will concern itself with matters of pastoral policy for the whole diocese but will not take upon itself business that properly belongs to the local deanery or the parish. It is intended to enable a real sharing of the pastoral responsibilities of clergy and laity with the Bishop but does not diminish or affect the overall responsibility of the Bishop to be teacher, sanctifier and shepherd. It will work alongside the departments of the Curia and will be closely involved with decision about major pastoral policy. It is largely representative of Deaneries with clergy and laity in equal numbers, elected for five years. There are ex-officio members and I have the power to nominate. Most importantly, in my view, you will elect (in September 2000) your own chairman, vice-chair and secretary - and these for a period of not more than three years. We will not proceed to these elections to-day because membership has taken longer to finalise than I had hoped, but that will be an important item on the agenda for September. However, this afternoon we do want to make a start in grappling what is increasingly becoming a major issue in the diocese, namely that of the future pastoral care of parishes. 9. I was at a meeting in Windsor Castle last week and a presentation of ground rules for the work of Councils was made. We could usefully bear some of these principles in mind:
10. This has been intended to be a little history, an introduction and the beginning of a commitment to vision. I need now to know what you feel you need in order to honour and make. effective your work and the work of the Council. Please buzz on this and, for this once, we will receive your suggestions
and write them down. + Crispian |