Parish Council.

 

Pope Francis often speaks about the Church as being synodal. A synodal Church, is one which “walks together”, bringing people, priests and bishops together in an ongoing mission to spread the Gospel. The Church is synodal because God's truth comes not only through its leaders but also through the people. God's Spirit lives in each of the faithful. A synodal Church calls us to listen to each other.

 

At St Vincent's we try to be a synodal Church. One of the instruments is the Parish Council. The Parish Council consists of four elected parishioners and the priests of the Parish. They meet on a monthly basis. Their work is to reflect together on the life of the Parish, to foster pastoral activity and to coordinate it.

 

Besides the Parish Council, the Parish has a Parish Assembly.

The Parish Assembly is open to all and meets four times per year after the Mass on Saturday evening. The Parish Assembly offers an opportunity to listen to different voices and reflect together.

 

The actual members of the Parish Council are: Andrea Glanville , Marie Crane, Frances Kerwin, Fran Williams with the 4 priests. 

 

When preparing our Liverpool Synod 2020, Archbishop Malcom wrote: "In a homily at Mass in Santa Marta Chapel on 28th April 2016 Pope Francis said:

The way the Church expresses its communion is through synodality, by meeting, listening, debating, praying and deciding. The Spirit is always the protagonist and the Lord asks us not to be afraid when the Spirit calls us… Let us ask the Lord for grace to understand how the Church can face the surprises of the Spirit, to be docile and to follow the path which Christ wants for us and for the whole Church."

 

This is what we hope for our Parish of St. Vincent de Paul.