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Nenagh Pastoral; Neighbourhood &Youth Councils – The Story.
“Then one day you sit down and read the Gospel story anew.
You find it strange that Jesus does not leave his local world for insight. His images are those of every day –
a farmer sowing
in the field, a woman kneading dough in the kitchen, a son
leaving home, a man being mugged on a country road. In
reading the Gospels you suspect that you missed something:
that it is in the middle of the ordinary that our salvation is
being worked; there is nowhere else to work out the
purpose of God.” From Reflections of a young priest in
Jesus and the Gospels by Denis McBride, C.S.S.R.
The Diocesan Changes of 2002 and 2003 brought a new
team into Nenagh. The Parish Renewal Group had been
acting as Parish Council for a number of years informed
us that their mandate was due to expire at the end of 2002.
This left us with both a difficulty and an opportunity. The
difficulty being we had only just arrived and didn’t have
time to see where we might go. The opportunity was it gave
us scope to explore how best we might put in place a
Pastoral Council that would meet the needs of the new
millennium.
Coinciding with this was the consultative process embarked
on by the diocese in preparation of the Pastoral Plan.
We asked the retiring Council to remain on for a few months
into 2003 and they agreed to do so. After much discussion
it was decided to invite about 30 people from different ages,
backgrounds and expertise to join with us, together with any
member of the outgoing Council who wished to remain on,
in exploring the way forward. We also invited, through the
Newsletter, anyone else willing to become involved in this
planning.
We called it Nenagh Parish Pastoral Planning Group.
We had our first meeting on the 18th March 2003 and
over 30 people attended. At this stage we were very vague
in what we wanted. One of our stated aims was to have a
Pastoral Council in place by Christmas. As the diocese was
embarking on a Listening Process for the Diocesan Pastoral
Plan, it seemed appropriate that we should do the same. So
we invited them to give their views on how they saw their
parish, their Church, its strengths and its weaknesses.
There was a lot of anger at church structures and some
parish structures, at this, and subsequent meetings. At
our team meetings we set about trying to address some
of these criticisms and this seemed to convince them that
we were genuinely interested in listening.
We brought in people with expertise in Christian community
building and also speakers from other parishes of similar size,
from elsewhere in the country, to speak to the group and
share their struggle. This proved very helpful to the group.
When all the anger had been listened to and to some degree
responded to, this left us with the question where do we go
from here? This is where we left it for the Summer 2003.
On our return to it in September Fr Anthony McMahon
and Sr. Clare Slattery had joined our team. There was a
more positive atmosphere in the group. We set about
broadening our Listening Process to the wider parish
community. It was here that the Neighbourhood Assembly
idea was born and our whole time up to Christmas was
spent planning and preparing for this mammoth task.
As our meetings with the Pastoral Planning Group continued
it became clear that it was time create some type of Forum
that would enable us to communicate seriously with the
parish at large, with a view to reading our context and
seeing ways of growth as a Christian Parish.
The fruit of our conversations was the creation of four
Neighbourhoods in Nenagh Parish. Each Neighbourhood
included Estates, Rural and Urban mix, and part of the
Town Centre. This was mapped out clearly with explanation
and proved most acceptable to Parishioners at the Assemblies.
We now had to meet the Neighbourhoods and it was
decided to have eight Neighbourhood Assemblies, two for
each area, in March 2004. A lot of preparation went into the
Assemblies. Every home received an invitation card and
it was widely publicised in the Parish Newsletter and the
local Press.
The Process:
Small Group Leaders mostly from Parish Pastoral Planning
Group plus other parishioners were selected and were:
· familiarised with our Process
· Given time to get in touch with a possible outcome,
· Offered simple facilitation skills/ guidelines for Small
· Group process.
· Met after each Assembly to share Feedback and
· prepare/ improve/ change for the next Assembly.
Our first night set the context i.e. Describe Irish Society?;
Describe the Irish Church?; Two things you like about
living in Nenagh Parish? In our parish we are concerned/
worried about? Our dream for Nenagh Parish?, our top
priorities?
The most striking experience for all of us at these assemblies
was the open, honest, 100% participation of all who came.
There was only a short input which was inspirational,
an assurance that they would be heard and a promise
that we wanted new life in the Parish. They believed us!
It was clear from the first round of assemblies that three areas of interest/concern were emerging – Liturgical Life,
Community and Youth. So our second Assemblies
now had the agenda named by Parishioners themselves.
Questions were formed round these three areas of Liturgy,
Community and Youth. It proved very fruitful and gave us
excellent ideas and possibilities. The honest exchanges
were also quite practical in some cases. So we now knew
that another three gatherings were needed – this time,
to meet those interested in Liturgy, Community and Youth.
In each of the three areas, interest groups have been
formed and are functioning well already.
True to the vision of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan – a
booklet now very familiar to our parish Pastoral Planning
Group and the newly formed groups – we are conscious
of the need to:
· emphasise the building of Christian Community.
· See the teaching moments within all Liturgical Celebrations.
· Give a voice to our youth in their own right and to
create a space for this to happen.
Delaying the setting up of a Parish Pastoral Council has
proved very wise with hindsight. Our four Neighbourhoods
Pastoral Councils fell naturally into place, though preparation
and education was needed. Each meeting of the
Neighbourhood Council contained a education segment.
The Neighbourhood Councils struggled to find their feet but
eventually settled to their task – to make a difference in their neighbourhood.
Each Council set themselves different targets.
Some were more successful than others but all were
determined to succeed. In September 2006 it was felt
we were now ready to put in place a Parish Pastoral Council.
After much discussion and reflection the following process
was put in place:
1. Each of the four Neighbourhood Councils would elect two representatives.
2. The eight thus elected would co-opt another eight and
this plus the Parish Team would form the Parish Pastoral
Council. Now in May 2007 we have arrived at the final hurl –
the Parish Pastoral Council.
Youth - Patrick Kavanagh has a few words in “To a Child” that
inspires us regarding our Youth in the Parish:
“Child there is a light somewhere under a star
Sometime may it be for you
A window that looks
inward to God.”
A Youth Pastoral Council was one of the aims arising from
our Parish Assemblies. We began by involving Third level
students and the senior classes in our Secondary Schools
in various Third World Projects, organising events for
young people in church like Prayer around the Cross
on Good Friday, Taize Prayer, acting as readers and
Eucharistic Ministers in our church and in more recent times
involved in bringing Fair Trade to Nenagh. It was delightful
to see more than 20 young people, members of our Youth
Pastoral Council present at the inaugural meeting of our
Parish Pastoral Council, our Neighbourhood Councils and
Youth Council in May of this year.
Was it all plain sailing?
Not at all. A lot of time, patience, prayer and hard work
went into it. Even then we did not get our Estate residents
to our assemblies. We did not get the marginalized or the
non- nationals. But we are not dismayed. We targeted,
initially, two Estates, with whom we begin the process
once more. House visitation followed by a meeting in
their own area. Only then, we felt, we would see a fully
representative Neighbourhood Pastoral Council formed.
We fell at the first hurdle. Members of the Neighbourhood
Council visited every house in one estate and inviting them
to a meeting in a venue close by – only one individual
turned up out of an estate of more than 30 houses.
So it was back to the planning board again.
It has been a good journey, a kind of pilgrimage to date.
Small steps taken
Hope in the hearts of Parishioners
And in our hearts too
The story unfolds
The listening continues.
Habakkuk gives us focus and strength:
“And the Lord answered me:
Write the vision down,
inscribe it on tablets
to be easily read,
For still the vision
awaits its time.
It is eager for its own fulfilment;
it does not deceive.
If it comes slowly, wait,
For come it will,
without fail.” |
