North Sheffield Deanery

Background

Today we as a Parish face the challenge of preparing for a future where there will no longer be a Priest allocated to each Parish.

St Ann's and St Mary's are working towards greater co-operation between the Parishes of the Deanery that covers the northern half of Sheffield.

Parisioners and Clergy from the 10 Parishes have been meeting regularly in an attempt to prepare for the formation of an interconnecting network, possibly to be called a Deanery Pastoral Council, with the aim of having opportunities to share ideas, experience, expertise and resources. In the very near future the prospect of also sharing Priests will become a reality due to ageing clergy and lack of new vocations.


Deanery Development

The Deanery Development Day held on 3rd February 2007 at St Thomas More's, provided an opportunity to begin the process of Parish co-operation at the grass roots level. An open invitation was extended to every Parishioner from each Parish to participate in this event and it was encouraging that the event was so well attended with around 150 delegates from the 10 parishes of the Deanery. St Ann's and St Mary's was represented by well over 30 Parishioners, including five members of the Core Group as well as Father Harney.


The day began with Morning Prayer in the church followed by an inspirational opening speech by Fr Donal O'Leary from Pontefract, who encouraged everyone to start the day by examining their own hearts and attitudes to be sure they were ready for the challenges ahead. The remainder of the morning and the early part of the afternoon were spent in workshops spent exploring, and formulate ideas for six themes:-

  • Mission / Justice and Peace
  • Finance and Premises
  • Pastoral Care
  • Liturgy
  • Faith Formation
  • Young People

Each group was asked to identify three actions which members of the group could take back to the Parishes and move forward. At the end of the workshops everyone came together in the church and the findings from each group were presented. A summary of these can be found using the links below.

You will see from the summary that some of the groups have set dates and times for follow up meetings and all are invited to attend.

More information about the content of the Mission workshop can be found using the links below.

Feedback from the day will also be given at the Parish Forum Meeting on 8th March at St Marys at 7.30 pm.


Links

Deanery Day Summary
Notes from The Mission Group
Notes from the Finance Group (added Apr 07)