Contact us on 07823 788 310 or avril@northamptondiocese.com

Pilgrims of Hope – Information for Assembly Delegates

Congratulations on being invited to represent your community at our diocesan Assembly!

Please find all the information you need to become a delegate and don’t forget to register!

This is an exciting moment in the life of our diocese where stories can be shared and heard, difficult conversations be had, and the future of our diocese discerned together, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

Some quick facts:

    1. The Assembly is a response to last year’s Synod listening process, and was promised in the Diocesan Synod report. It is happening on 15th July, 2023, at Thornton College.
    2. It is fully funded by a generous Catholic grant giver.
    3. Entrance is by invite only in order to ensure a diversity of ages, ethnicities and ministries.  We are proud to be holding a schools’ assembly the week before, and to have a youth Assembly on site. The opening and closing sessions will be live streamed so that everyone can join in.
    4. Our Assembly is a pilgrimage with 4 sessions of preparation as steps on the route.  These preparation sessions will happen fortnightly from late May and will be held in pastoral areas so no-one has too far to travel.  There will also be a Saturday morning zoom option.
    5. Since January, five working parties have been meeting to discuss some of the most contested and pressing themes from the listening, including: lay involvement in decision-making; our diocesan finances and resources; the life and vocation of the priest post-pandemic; women’s ministry; and reaching the marginalised.  These groups will publish reflection papers and host webinars in the run up to the Assembly.
    6. On the Assembly day we will discuss the key themes and concrete suggestions arising from these working parties, and others such as mission and youth.
    7. A diocesan pastoral council will be appointed in October to take forward the recommendations of the Assembly.

The commitment of being a delegate is to the four preparation sessions and the day itself.  Parish ministry can be hard, so we are hoping that bringing together like-minded faith-filled and passionate Catholics in local areas will in itself provide support and friendship on an ongoing basis.  Our hope and prayer is that this process will be significant for each delegate as well as for our wider diocese.

 

Preparation Sessions:

North Northamptonshire: St Edmund Campion Church, Henshaw Rd, Wellingborough, NN8 2BE.  A light lunch will be provided with vegetarian options. We would ask that people with other food requirements or allergies bring their own lunch.

  • Sat 17th June 10am to 4pm (all sessions in one day)

Northampton: Saint Gregory’s Church, 22 Park Ave, Northampton, NN3 2HS

  • Wednesday 24th May, 7pm-9pm –  First Preparation Session looking at modules 1 (Reading the Signs of the Times) & 2 (Moving from Dispute to Silence)
  • Wednesday 7th June, 7pm-9pm –  Second Preparation Session looking at modules 3 (Discerning the Holy Spirit) & 4 (Taking Action)

Milton Keynes: Our Lady of Lourdes, St Paul’s School, Moorgate, Leadenhall, Milton Keynes, MK6 5NA

  • Saturday 17th June 10am-4pm

Luton: Holy Ghost Church, 33 Westbourne Rd, Luton, LU48JD, 7-8.30pm

  • 25th May
  • 8th June
  • 22nd June
  • 6th July

Bedfordshire: 

  • Wed 24th May 7.30pm at Holy Cross Church Bedford
  • Wed 7th June 7.30pm at Sacred Heart Leighton Buzzard
  • Wed 21st June 30pm at Sacred Heart Flitwick
  • Wed 5th July 7.30pm at Ss Philip & James Bedford

Aylesbury: St Clare’s Church Hall, Elmhurst Road, Aylesbury, HP20 2EA

  • Saturday 20th May: 9 – 10:30am
  • Saturday 27th May: 9 – 10:30am
  • Saturday 3rd June: 9 – 10:30am
  • Saturday 17th June: 9 – 10:30am

South Bucks: Wednesday evenings, 7.30pm (venues to be confirmed):

  • 24th May – Immaculate Heart of Mary Great Missenden
  • 7th June – St Aidan’s, Little Chalfont
  • 21st June – St Augustine’s, High Wycombe
  • 5 July – St. Teresa’s, Beaconsfield

Slough: Holy Family Church, 226 Trelawney Ave, Langley, Slough, SL3 7UD, 7-8.30pm

  • 7th June
  • 14th June
  • 21st June
  • 28th June

There is also a Saturday morning zoom option running on Saturdays 10th, 17th, 24th June and 1st July, 11-12.30pm.

Register here!

 

“We do not have to wait to see where this journey of the world-wide Church will take us. This is the moment we can embrace an authentic synodality in the way we live our diocesan life.”  

Bishop David Oakley, Pastoral Letter, Advent, 2022

 

For more information on our diocesan Synod process, including our report on the listening, see here: https://northamptondiocese.org/for-a-synodal-church/

Or watch Avril attempt to explain it all in 5 mins!

If you have any questions, please email synod@northamptondiocese.org.