DRAFT TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR PARISH PASTORAL COUNCILS

Proposal: Three Sessions, at Cluster level, based on Learning Through Action.

· Three sessions of input with follow-up work to be completed by Pastoral Councils in their own setting.

· Reflective resources to be provided at the training for the follow up work in the parishes.

· Training to be facilitated by people within the Cluster.

· Training to be provided for facilitators

Session 1: Looking at Ourselves as a Parish Pastoral Council

· Overview of Parish Pastoral Council role and function as set out in Forward Together. Focus on Pastoral Council. What gives us a pastoral dimension?

· Roles and responsibilities within the Pastoral Council? What needs to be in place to function well as a group? (i.e. group agreement about how we work together, minute keeping, agenda formation, etc)

· Key Pastoral Areas: Community Building (Welcome and Belonging), Faith Formation (Growing in Faith), Liturgy and Prayer, Faith in Action (A caring response to human needs);

Which of these areas are we doing well? Which areas are neglected? Which one area will we focus on for now?

Parishes are given materials to look at themselves, to evaluate areas of strength and areas to which they need to give more attention. They are asked to bring this evaluation to the Session 2.

Session 2: Looking at the Parish and its needs

· Pastoral Councils present work since previous Session 1.

· The Church does not exist for itself. It is a community at the service of humanity - an outward looking Church. How do we listen to what is happening in the wider community? Guided listening exercise.

· Other tools for listening to local needs are presented e.g. listening surveys, questionnaires, focused conversations.

Pastoral Councils are asked to do some listening in the area of need they decided on in Session 1 and to bring back the results of the process to Session 3.

Session 3: Parish Needs: Planning our response

· Pastoral Councils are introduced to simple method of planning for future activity, involving deciding what we want to accomplish, setting goals, objectives, making specific decisions on who will be involved, what resources will be needed, and outlining a timeframe for action.

Pastoral Councils use these tools to make a structured plan in response to the need identified in Session 1 and developed in Session 2.