A pastoral area is a group of neighbouring parishes that support each other and share the collaborative gifts and talents of each parish. With the help of the Holy Spirit, they do this in order to fulfill the mission of the Church; to proclaim the word of God; and further the mission of Christ in the world. A Pastoral Area has two main concerns:

* to ensure the effective sharing of the many gifts and talents of the people of God in the Pastoral Area

* to identify pastoral matters that can be done better together as a Pastoral Area than separately as individual Parishes

The five Parishes in North Belfast- St. Patrick’s, Holy Cross, Holy Family, Sacred Heart and St. Vincent de Paul– have entered into a process to become such a Pastoral Area. The idea was first shared publicly in the May Vicariate Event held on 3rd May 2012. At this event, the people who had gathered opted to come back to further meetings about the Pastoral Area according to their interest in the following groups:

* People who would like to pray for the success of the initiative

* People who would like to be workers in their own Parish

* People who would like to discuss the setting up of Pastoral Area structures

Since then, these three groups have started to meet to discuss their role in the initiative. The groups comprise lay, religious and clergy. There is always and open invite for the people of these Parishes to join one or more of these groups as they meet. The details of when they will meet will be in Parish bulletins as well as in some of the summary reports below. Click on the title to open up the summary document. If you have any questions about the process, please email jim@livingchurchdc.org

North Belfast Pastoral Area Summary 3rd May 2012

Living Church Parish Group Report 11th June 2012

Summary of Pastoral Area Group 14th June 2012

Summary of Pastoral Area Meeting 3rd July 2012

Summary of North Belfast Pastoral Area Group 13th August 2012

Summary of North Belfast Pastoral Area Group 20th September 2012