Go Out and Bear Fruit     
A Pastoral Plan for the Diocese of Portsmouth

  Brief summary of the Pastoral Plan

Larger Pastoral Areas

Go Out and Bear Fruit: Larger Pastoral Areas (from the Pastoral Plan)
Larger Pastoral Plan Discussion Document (January 2006)

Commentary: Mgr John Nelson VG

LARGER PASTORAL AREAS: PRESENTATION FOR THE PASTORAL ASSEMBLY

 On Monday afternoon (18 July) I attended a Briefing in York at which the future of the Army Medical Services was discussed.  I was there because of my role as Chaplain with a Territorial Army Field Hospital Unit.  Much of the presentation was taken up with the reasoning behind a reordering of Army Medical Services – necessary because the Army is facing challenges and new situations that it has not faced in the past.  As you know, British soldiers are serving in a wide variety of places and resources are being spread ever more thinly.  The fact is that the Medical Services could not manage now without TA and Reservists.  To meet these challenges it is necessary to examine the way things are organised because, as the Colonel speaking to us mentioned more than once, ‘structures are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.’  His point was that in the Army, as elsewhere, structures have to be adjusted to enable the job to be done.

Our Diocese has its structures.  There are about 100 parishes grouped together in 18 deaneries.  Many of those parishes have more than one centre where Mass is celebrated on a regular basis.  We have diocesan schools and independent schools, who link with each other through clustering.  We have a Diocesan Pastoral Council, Deanery and Parish Pastoral  Councils.  We have a Council of Priests and the Bishop meets with the Deans.  There is a Diocesan Finance Council which a couple of years ago was amalgamated with the Diocesan Trustees.

 It is sometimes said that the allegiance of parishioners is to parish – and Pope – that the Deanery and Diocese don’t always feature highly in the thinking of people gathering on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist.  In fact it is more complicated than that.  Very often people feel their allegiance to a sub-division of the parish, whether it be a Centre where Mass is celebrated away from the Parish Church, or to a particular Mass time and congregation.  This fact, of allegiance to a sub-division of the Parish lies at the heart of the pain which is sometimes felt when a change of Mass times is proposed.

In recent years a number of models have been tried in our Diocese in terms of structuring when change has become inevitable.  Some parishes were amalgamated, some have remained as separate parishes sharing the services of one priest.  Some have been joined together at fairly short notice; others have had the chance to grow together and then reached the decision to amalgamate. 

The creation of Larger Pastoral Areas is a recognition of what has already been happening in parts of the Diocese – but usually in an unstructured and unplanned way.  These Larger Pastoral Areas will be larger than parishes and in some cases may equate to the shape of a present Deanery.  However, in most cases the Larger Pastoral Areas will be smaller than present Deaneries and what could evolve are between twenty-five and thirty of these Larger Pastoral Areas.  My own feeling is to the higher end of that range.

 This new structure would build on what has already been happening in some Deaneries where certain activities – such as Confirmation – have been planned on a level bigger than individual parishes.  But one complaint from some Deaneries is that they are either too widespread, or include parishes which have little relationship with each other, or – in a couple of cases their feeling is that there were simply formed from what was left after others had been carved out.  People have called in the past for a fresh look at the shape of Deaneries – these Larger Pastoral Areas would replace them and go further.

Larger Pastoral Areas will provide a broader structure than parishes, and at this level pastoral action will be planned.  Because each Area would involve a team of clergy and laity – although this may be quite small – a sharing of responsibilities will free some members of that team from the very issues that priests, in particular, feel bogged down by.  At present, every parish tries to sustain a raft of responsibilities:  Child Protection, Health and Safety, Finance, are just a few.  The administrative burden is significant and by organising on a larger basis, but not too large, we can reduce some of this and free at least some people for other other work, such as developing the outreach and pastoral life of the community.

 Perhaps the greatest fear of those reading about Larger Pastoral Areas is that the sense of identity  so highly valued by small communities might be lost.  There is no reason for that to happen.  Experience has already shown that by bringing together communities in one parish there is no need for particular communities attached to particular places of worship to lose that sense of belonging.  In fact, it is often in smaller parishes or places of worship where the sense of belonging is particularly strong.  But there is a danger here which must be acknowledged.

This part of the Pastoral Plan would have a particular impact on clergy, priests especially.  It opens up the opportunity to work with, rather than alongside, other clergy.  At the moment, because almost all priests work in separate parishes, and even though many try to coordinate aspects of their work with neighbouring parishes, the structure we have militates against.  So we can be keen and willing to help each other out but we lack the structure to enable us to work together as part of a team.  This is not actually a million miles away from what priests experienced in the past when three or even four priests worked together in one parish.  The difference here is that people work as equal members of the team and, unless they decide it would be beneficial, the chances are that very few are going to live together under one roof.  If you have two or three based in various parts of a Larger Pastoral Areas, why would you concentrate them all in one location where they might be less accessible?

 There are parts of the Diocese where this concept of Larger Pastoral Areas is almost a reality already.  There are other parts where considerable thought and care is needed in order to shape such areas properly.  A first step, as the Pastoral Plan describes, is to review what is already there and already happening.  Then Areas can be proposed to the people and clergy in that particular area.  Once defined, the process of drawing the constituent parishes into a close relationship can be nurtured, formation offered.  As has happened between parishes already faced with change, this then leads to the emergence of something new.  Not overnight, but gradually.

The creation of these Larger Pastoral Areas is aimed at simplifying the structure we have inherited, because what we have has grown up in response to a different environment inside and outside the Church.  What we would have, eventually, is a Diocese organised into Pastoral Areas, each containing a number of worshipping communities linked and served by a team of clergy with laity.  This will also allow resources to be made available and used on a broader scale than at present which many have felt has resulted in at best unevenness across the Diocese. 

It is no coincidence that other Dioceses are exploring models which will enable them to regroup for new challenges.  A number have, or are considering, clustering.  In Westminster a form of twinning of parishes has been suggested.  For Portsmouth, the Pastoral Plan, envisages a Diocese organised into Pastoral Areas within which worshipping communities are served and nourished.

The situation we face today, and will face in the years to come, is not the same as that faced thirty or twenty years ago.  A change in structure cannot provide all the answers because structures are only ever a means to an end.  For that reason this part of the Pastoral Plan must be held in context and taken in relation to the other parts of the Plan.  To reorganise ourselves, freeing people and resources for what we believe we are truly about, has to make sense.