CONTENTS

August 2003

Kieran Conry was consecrated bishop for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in 2001. Here he describes the challenges that face him in the diocese with a decreasing number of priests. He notes that the people are willing to respond to these challenges and say, ‘Give us the tools and we’ll do the job.’

Is there another way of talking about collaborative ministry? Pat Jones, who is deputy director of CAFOD, describes the way that partnership for CAFOD is their way of doing development. She sees advantages in using a partnership model because ‘it encompasses and easily connects the work of building up the community of faith and enabling its mission’.

Paul McPartlan, who teaches theology at Heythrop College, London, claims that our ideas of ministry should be based on some clear ideas about the very nature of a Trinitarian God. Here he outlines a communion ecclesiology which will help us to ‘reflect what God is like in the ways we live and work together’.

Did St Paul need helpers or was he a loner in ministering to his communities? Daniel J. Harrington, professor of New Testament at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, provides evidence to show that ‘from the earliest times ministry in the Church was collaborative’.

Jill Gallio works in parishes in the Australian Diocese of Adelaide which have adopted the Diocesan Vision of Basic Ecclesial Communities and developed pastoral structures to enable them to operate in the absence of resident priests. Here she describes and assesses the two parishes in which she is employed. She considers that shared ministry can lead to ‘mission and action that can be liberating’.

The shortage of priests increasingly means that more parishes will be lay-led. Mellitus Lawlor, a Mercy sister, who has for several years administered a small London parish, describes her work there and concludes: ‘We now have the opportunity to launch out into the deep: it should surely not be missed.’

This and the following article are written collaboratively by a priest and a lay person who are both responsible for ministry in the Diocese of Portsmouth. First, Paul Townsend reflects on practice within the ordained ministry. After years of working with clergy and laity he is ‘absolutely convinced that our effectiveness in mission is enhanced by our readiness to work together’.

Angela Wills describes her work as co-ordinator of the work of the Department of Collaborative Ministry in the Diocese of Portsmouth. Working with priests in partnership has given her a new confidence in her competence in her own ministry. ‘And, quite simply, it is more fun working together as a team.’

‘The development of full- and part-time lay ministry in today’s Catholic Church is no longer a soft optional extra.’ Michael Phelan, a pastoral theology student and chairman of the Tablet Publishing Company, explains why a proper strategy for the selecting and resourcing of lay ministers is imperative.

If an aircraft crash-lands, we soon hear about it through the media, especially if people are injured or killed. Flying is considered safer than vehicular transport, but although only a few people may be affected by a single road accident, the overall statistics are far worse than we imagine. Eric Thorn provides a glimpse of the Christian Road Safety Association, a charity that has been promoting care and prayer on the roads since 1937.

Nicholas King, a Jesuit at Campion Hall, Oxford, and former lecturer in Scripture in South Africa, offers some reflections on the lectionary readings for the Sundays of September and October.

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Books

The Naked Parish Priest
Stephen Louden and Leslie J. Francis
Continuum, £14.99
Tablet Bookshop Price: £ Tel: 01420 592 974


Earthen Vessel: the story of a reluctant priest
Charles Walker
St Pauls, £9.95
Tablet Bookshop Price: £ Tel: 01420 592 974


Change, Communication and Relationships in the Catholic Church
David Barker
Matthew James Publishing Ltd, £3.50
Tablet Bookshop Price: £ Tel: 01420 592 974


A Painful Process
edited by Andrew Bebb and Anna Roper
Matthew James Publishing Ltd, £7.95
Tablet Bookshop Price: £ Tel: 01420 592 974


Training Course for Leaders
George Boran
The Columba Press, £12.99
Tablet Bookshop Price: £ Tel: 01420 592 974

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