Important information about the Synod Process and

how to get involved:

 

We have formally launched the Synod process in our parish. 

 

There are different phases which will take place between now and the end of February.
 

• The ‘Local Group Phase’ will now run until mid-February 2022, so there is no rush, and we have time for thoughtful consideration individually as well as in the conversations to come.

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• The Pastoral Area phase will now be from mid-February to May 2022

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• The Diocesan Phase will be in May – an assembly to discern from the parish and pastoral area discussions the main themes for the written document which will be sent to the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

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• Writing the Report – May- June. Before we begin the planned conversations that will take place in our parish, it would be wonderful if each one of us could read - and give some real thought to – the themes of “lived synodality” in the PDF document above.  None of us will be expected to answer all the questions – they are there as prompts to ourselves… to help us to discern how we feel about our church (parish… diocese… universal…) right now – and how it (we) could do better. Pope Francis asks us to dream of the Church that could, or should, be…

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For now, we will concentrate on the first two phases. If you remember, Bishop David, in his pastoral letter, asked as many people as possible to get involved as listeners and participants.
 

The first phase - training phase
Train and prepare people to be ‘local listeners.’ (Pope Francis wants listening to be at the heart of the synod.)
 

The second phase - parish/local group phase
The ‘local listeners’ will support the participants (that’s all of us) as we share our views, our hopes and our concerns regarding the challenges facing us as we journey together as the People of God. Groups could be a formal parish meeting, a group of friends, a family group, a group in the parish, a group of first Holy Communion parents……. etc
In our parish we will also host a synodal Parish Council meeting, which will be open to everyone who wishes to participate. Details of date and time will be given later.
 

These group discussions will start in the week beginning 15th November

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Do you want to know more about the synod process?

• Join the webinar at 7.30pm on 1st November, which will explore our diocesan process in more detail: https://synod_webinar.eventbrite.co.uk

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• Ideally, read Pope Francis’s Preparatory Document:https://www.synod.va/en/documents/english-version-of-the-preparatory-document.html

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​Might you like to be a Local Listener?

• Read the Pope’s Preparatory Document

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• Attend the webinar
   

If you feel called to volunteer: 

• Register your interest by emailing: synod@northamptondiocese.com

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• Book your place at the Listeners’ Training at St Mary’s, Woburn Sands:
  Saturday 6th November 1pm-4pm: https://synod_listening.eventbrite.co.uk

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N.B. Please let Fr Lijo or Deacon Seán know that you have ‘signed up’. After the training, the parish Listeners will be gathered to plan the best way of encouraging as many people as possible to participate in the group discussions.