The 9th ACTA National Conference is OPEN for Registrations
- Written by Alex Walker
The 9th Annual ACTA Conference - Zoom Meeting

(ONCE REGISTERED PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER IF YOU CANNOT SEE THE REGISTRATION CONFIRMATION EMAIL IN YOUR INBOX)
ACTA National Conference
The Parish? The Now and Future Church
10.30 - 16.30 Saturday 22nd October 2022
The Board of Trustees of ACTA have announced the arrangements for the
National Conference on Saturday 22 nd October. Members were consulted in
April about the possibility of a physical Conference but the majority of the
responses suggested that many would prefer one delivered via Zoom, at least for
this year.
The theme of this year’s Conference is an examination of the role and function
of the parish in a technological, post-Covid world. How will our sense of parish
be shaped by our experience of synodality? What changes need to occur for it to
be the prophetic voice in our communities? How do we manage ministry in a
parish in the future?
Our principal speaker this year will be Dr Phyllis Zagano, Senior Research
Associate-in-Residence, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. She was
appointed by Pope Francis to the Commission studying the role of women in the
diaconate. Her academic interests include forms of ministry and ecclesial
reform.
Some dioceses are starting to address the issues raised by their synodal process.
Issues of development and formation [ of clergy and laity] were raised in the vast
majority of diocesan reports. We will be hearing from teams from the
Archdiocese of Liverpool, the Diocese of Salford and the Archdiocese of Cardiff
on how they plan to take forward some of these key issues.
Dr Liam Hayes: Director, Centre for Ecclesial Ethics, Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge
Dr Phyllis Zagano: Senior Research Associate-in-residence, Hofstra New York
ALL Zoom Conference donations will be forwarded to Dr Zagano's chosen charity.
Free for everyone under 25 and those on benefits.
Register your interest at: https://www.acalltoaction.org.uk
Event Properties
Event Date | 22-10-2022 10:00 am |
Event End Date | 22-10-2022 4:30 pm |
Capacity | 200 |
Registered | 38 |
Available places | 162 |
NO CHARGE | Any donations will be forwarded to the speakers' charity |
Location | Online Zoom Meeting |
Download AGENDA | Programme - v2 .pdf |
Agendas
10:15 |
Prompt StartPlease Login to Zoom for a prompt start at 10:30 am Registration / Log in |
10:30 |
Start of National ConferenceWelcome & Opening Prayer: |
10:35 |
Introductionof Dr Liam Hayes: Director, Centre for Ecclesial Ethics, Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge |
10:40 |
ReflectionDr Liam Hayes: |
11:00 |
Introductionof Dr Phyllis Zagano Senior Research Associate-in-residence, Hofstra New York |
11:10 |
PresentationDr Phyllis Zagano |
11:40 |
Questions & AnswersQuestions will be posted via Chat facility and moderated by ACTA Trustees |
12:00 |
Workshop 1Set of 2 questions set by Dr Zagano with facilitation by ACTA Trustees/Coordinators |
12:45 |
to 13:1512.45 pm - 13.15 pm Lunch Break |
13:10 |
Introduction of Presentation Teams• Archdiocese of Liverpool • Diocese of Salford • Archdiocese of Cardiff Ten minutes each until 14:40 |
14:45 |
Question & AnswerQuestions will be posted via Chat facility and moderated by ACTA Trustees |
15:00 |
Tea Breakfor 15 minutes |
16:00 |
Vote of Thanksby Frank Callus |
16:15 |
Final PrayerFinal Prayer & Blessing – Fr Joseph O’ Hanlon |
Speakers
Dr Liam Hayes
Director, Centre for Ecclesial Ethics, Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge
Liam currently works as the theology programme adviser in CAFOD’s Theology Programme. He completed his doctoral research at Heythrop College, University of London, in which he explored the disjunction between Catholic teaching and practice in sexual ethics, and the significant role that experience plays in moral discernment. Liam is a priest in the Diocese of Brentwood in the UK and will be commencing a research fellowship at the Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge in October 2022.
Dr Phyllis Zagano
Senior Research Associate-in-residence, Hofstra New York
Phyllis Zagano is an American author and academic. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons. Her writings have been variously translated into Indonesian, Czech, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Gallery
Synod National Synthesis for England & Wales
- Written by Alex Walker
Download: Synod National Synthesis England & Wales
This synthesis describes the diocesan phase of the synod on synodality between November 2021 and March 2022, seeking to capture the essence of what emerged from the unprecedented participation by the People of God in England and Wales in a world-wide synod process. It is drawn from over 700 pages of reports from the dioceses and other church organisations, associations and movements that were sent to the national synthesis team
Bruce Kent Funeral
- Written by Alex Walker
Bruce Kent's funeral took place on 4 July at 11.00am.
Notice of Annual General Meeting 2022
- Written by Alex Walker
Notice of Annual General Meeting
DOWNLOAD: ACTA constitution January 2020 v4
DOWNLOAD: ACTA 2021 Final Accounts & IE Report
The Annual General Meeting of ACTA - A Call to Action is to be held on Wednesday 6th July 2022 at 7.00pm via Zoom
The Agenda is established by the Board of Trustees and will be sent to all members no later than Wednesday 29th June 2022
All members have the right to stand for Election as an officer and will become ex officio a member of the Board of Trustees. Notes from the Constitution are attached.
The current officers may stand for re-election
Any member wishing to stand for election should inform the Secretary no later than Monday 27th June 2022 by email to : acta@acalltoaction.org.uk
Agenda – Draft
- Report on activities 2021-2022 [ Chair]
- Election of Officers [ K Bamber to oversee this element until a Chair is elected. New Chair resumes chairing the meeting]
- Financial Report – Treasurer
- Annual Conference 22nd October 2022
- Any Other Business
13. Appointment of charity trustees
13.1 At every annual general meeting of the members of the CIO, except the first,
one-third of the charity trustees shall retire from office. If the number of charity
trustees is not three or a multiple of three, then the number nearest to one-
third shall retire from office, but if there is only one charity trustee, he or she shall retire.
13.2 The charity trustees to retire by rotation shall be those who have been longest in
office since their last appointment or reappointment. If any trustees were last
appointed or reappointed on the same day those to retire shall (unless they
otherwise agree among themselves) be determined by lot;
13.3 The vacancies so arising may be filled by the decision of the members at the
annual general meeting; any vacancies not filled at the annual general meeting
may be filled as provided in clause 13.4;
13.4 The members or the charity trustees may at any time decide to appoint a new
charity trustee, whether in place of a charity trustee who has retired or been
removed in accordance with clause 14(b)(Retirement and removal of charity
trustees), or as an additional charity trustee, provided that the limit specified in
clause 12.3 on the number of charity trustees would not as a result be exceeded;
13.5 A person so appointed by the members of the CIO shall retire in accordance with
the provisions of clauses 13.1 and 13.3. A person so appointed by the charity
trustees shall retire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting after
the date of his or her appointment, and shall not be counted for the purpose of
determining which of the charity trustees is to retire by rotation at that meeting.
44th Annual Conference-Swanwick 22-24 July 2022
- Written by Alex Walker
Programme Outline - NJPN Conference Booking form 31 May
Friday evening:
Philip McDonagh will speak of a hope that requires courage – upright action for the sake of the future. Hope is rational – an escapist fantasy does not qualify as hope in action.
"Philip is co-author of the recently published work "On the Significance of Religion for Global Diplomacy" (Routledge 2021), Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Dublin City University, and Director of the Centre for Religion, Human Values, and International Relations.
As a serving Irish diplomat, as Political Counsellor in London, Philip played a part in the Northern Ireland peace process in the build-up to the Good Friday Agreement. He later served as Head of Mission in India, the Holy See, Finland, Russia, and the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe).
Philip has published poetry and works for the theatre, including The Song the Oriole Sang (Dedalus Press, Dublin, 2010) and Gondla, or the Salvation of the Wolves (Arlen House 2016), a translation of Nikolai Gumilev's Irish-themed play written during WWI”