Report on the meeting of the Diocesan Pastoral Council
held at Park Place on 3rd and 4th October 2003

Curia Plan
Mgr John Nelson, Moderator of the Curia, distributed to Members the September 2003 issue of the annual 'Diocese of Portsmouth Curia Plan'. In respect of the five constituent Departments of the Curia (Collaborative Ministry, Evangelisation and Catechesis, Liturgical Formation, Finance and Property and Schools), the document summarises for each Department in 2002/03 their main Activities, Achievements, and Primary Objectives. PCDP Members were encouraged to take the Curia Plan back to the Deaneries and Parishes to generate a greater awareness of the Curia's work. Any comments on the content would be welcomed by the Moderator. 'Child Protection' issues are not encompassed by the Curia Plan; such responsibilities fall to a Diocesan Child Protection Officer who reports direct to the Bishop. Parishes should now be examining how to implement the published Diocesan Guidelines.
John confirmed that the Department of Social Responsibility had been lost, and two Schools Departments (Ethos and Governance) had been amalgamated. On the former, work had been re-brigaded into other Departments. Following the resignation of Youth Adviser Julie Meads, Youth matters are currently being looked at to clarify what is needed and how it can best be delivered.

Towards a Strategic Plan for the Diocese
Angela Wills and Fran Ross (Dept of Collaborative Ministry) gave a presentation on this item, based on a summary of the views expressed at the Deanery Pastoral Council Workshops held during the Summer when representatives from all Deaneries assembled to discuss and share DPP experiences. Against a background of a church in transition with fewer priests, the most pressing need which emerged was the development of a Diocesan Strategic Plan which would put long term planning for managing pastoral provision over the next decade onto a more substantial basis. The Council agreed such a plan should be developed, and asked the PCDP Steering Committee to draft TOR with the remit to be taken forward by a specially convened Working Party. The WP will deliver its initial thoughts to the March 2004 Meeting of the PCDP. The intention is that the development of the Strategic Plan will dovetail in with the proposed 2005 Diocesan Assembly, reported at the June 2003 PCDP meeting.

Liturgy of the Word
Fr Bill Wilson (Southampton) and Paul Inwood (Dept of Liturgical Formation) gave a slide presentation on the guidelines and factors surrounding the celebration of Sunday Mass - the overall context being the continuing decline in the number of priests and a consequent increase in Eucharistic Services. The presentation highlighted the many complex issues which were involved and posed challenging questions. 'Core values' of the Church were identified (such as: Sunday being the Lord's Day; Identity within a particular Community) - these being those main values that we have become used to and take for granted, some of which may force radical changes because of having fewer priests. Members were asked to take the slides back to the Deaneries for them to be aware of the nature of the presentation. Any feedback would be welcomed. It was clear at this point there were no precise answers - a greater theological understanding of all the issues would be required first.

Deanery Pastoral Review Process
The Council received updates from each of the Deanery representatives on progress of the Pastoral Review in their Deaneries. In summing up, Mgr Ron Hishon (Bournemouth) said much progress had been achieved but the overall process would be on-going. Ron commented that Deaneries were very diverse in character and each had addressed their respective challenges in different ways. He urged Deaneries to share their ideas and experiences with each other and confirmed Angela and Fran were ready to assist.

PCDP Review Working Party
Jeanne Coates (Basingstoke) said that work was continuing in examining ways of improving Council Meetings to make them more productive and effective, and the group had refined their Terms of Reference. They had identified specific areas to work on and will present firm recommendations to the next meeting of the Council in March 2004.

Elections
This being Graham Dorey's last meeting as Chair of the Council (his 3 year tenure having come to an end), a ballot was held among Members to elect his successor. Nina Lake (Bournemouth) was elected Chair. Helen Shepherd (Southampton) volunteered to resume as Executive Secretary. Peter Doyle (Vicar General) paid tribute to Graham for all his committed work over the past 3 years which had put the PCDP on a firm footing.

Joe Golden PCDP Minutes Secretary 24 October 2003