Singing

It’s often been called the four-hymn sandwich, one at the beginning of Mass, one for the Offertory, one for Communion time and one at the end to send us all home. A neat package of wordage that may or may not have been planned with care, but it is what we have come to expect, words with a difference.

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Dr Clare Watkins
Dr Clare Watkins gave the main presentation, in which she proposed a view of the Parish as an outward-looking entity, with all its functions focused towards mission.  She reminded us that the Parish has developed as a local organisational reality in response to various contexts - and that our context today is changing rapidly.  The Parish should not be viewed through a clerical lens, with the Parish Priest directing everything.  Instead, the Parish should have an external focus with the laity playing their proper roles in the world, which are according to the Catechism, served by the clergy.  All of the laity, through Baptism, are called to be missionaries and are equipped to respond to the Spirit in the world.   The Eucharist and the other sacraments are not just ends in themselves, rather they are places of empowerment and sending.  The Eucharist must be lived in the world after the celebration, in our daily lives.  Sacramental life is missionary in nature.
 
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Cardinal Reinhard Marx has announced plans to allow laypeople in his Archdiocese of Munich to lead parishes where there are no priests.

In doing so he has strongly rejected the increasingly common option of coping with the dwindling number of ordained ministers by combining or “clustering” parishes.

The 63-year-old cardinal is a top aide and advisor to Pope Francis.

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Open hands

Chris McDonnell May 12th 2017

Sometimes people you have never met face to face have an influence in your life that is hard to measure.

It might be a family member, maybe a great Grandma, who died before you were born but whose name and life has run bright as oral DNA through the thread of your family tree, always talked about, respected and held in high regard, especially as an example to young ones. Their influence pervades our lives even though our times are very different. Pointers and patterns remain.

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Many thanks to Jean for finding alternative accommodation at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances, centrally located:

The Priory Rooms, Quaker Meeting House, 40, Bull Street, Bham B46 6AF tel 0121 236 2317

Leadership/Coordinators and AGM (NB CHANGE OF VENUE)

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