KIDDERMINSTER & WORCESTER DEANERY
LETTER APPOINTED TO BE READ ON THE
WEEKEND OF 2/3 MARCH
2024
WORKING TOGETHER TO
BUILD UP GOD’S KINGDOM
At a meeting at St George’s in
Worcester in the Autumn, three priests of our Deanery were questioned on their
priesthood. Monsignors Patrick Kilgarriff and John Moran provided a perspective
from the Archdiocese and Fr James Ipanye was able to share his experience as a
priest from Nigeria.
The differences are clear: in
this country we have many churches, many parishes but priests are getting
older, more are retiring and few are being ordained. Contrast that with Nigeria
where there are less churches, bigger parishes but a great number of priests.
Theirs is a missionary Church. Ours is one which needs to revitalise its
missionary zeal. At the meeting it was agreed we could not do that with current
arrangements.
We are in the Kidderminster and
Worcester Deanery. It has 16 parishes covering a wide area: from Little Malvern
and Tenbury in the west, covering towns and the city of Worcester to Alcester
and Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire to the east. We are enriched by the
presence of the Sacred Heart Fathers at Droitwich and Benedictines at Little
Malvern and Alcester, but the rest of our parishes are served by our own
Archdiocese. The archdiocesan parishes have been arranged in four clusters,
centred on Worcester, Kidderminster, Malvern and Evesham.
The average age of our parish
priests is 71. The youngest is 66. All could be retired within ten years. We
have no priestly ordinations this year. The number of Archdiocesan priests
could halve in the next ten to fifteen years.
In our world we are accustomed to
change and often our parish has been the place where the status quo has been
assured. But I am sure you can acknowledge that with the number of priests in
our Archdiocese rapidly declining, now is the time for change. Whilst Pope
Francis is discerning through the Synod what the will of the Holy Spirit is for
the Universal Church, Archbishop Bernard has been discerning what the Holy
Spirit wants for our Archdiocese.
That change is renewal: to
reflect on what is being achieved successfully, and there is much to rejoice
for, but also to acknowledge where change is necessary to be able to have
vibrant parishes into the future, where the pastoral and sacramental needs of
the People of God can be served by their clergy, but the people have an
important role, a co-responsible role, in ensuring that parishes are places
where all can be at home, can be at one with God, can be supported through this
life to the next.
To progress there will be
collaboration between clergy and people. The Church is all of ours, we all
through our baptism have a Royal Priesthood that invests in us a responsibility
for the future of the Church.
The form of collaboration will be
different for each cluster. That is because each cluster is different and it is
important not to have “one size fits all” and you, the people, will be able to
shape how your cluster will be established and be influential in the future of
the Deanery. This may be through parish forums, parish councils, specific
groups to cover aspects of parish life such as catechesis, liturgy or outreach.
It will depend on your cluster and there is also the intention to have a
Deanery Council with representatives from each cluster, the membership of which
would be decided by the respective cluster. Its purpose is to work with the
Dean and parish priests to coordinate effective working across the deanery and
to grasp new challenges.
The Malvern Hills cluster
includes the parishes of St Joseph’s Malvern, St Wulstan’s Little Malvern, and the joint parish of St Joseph’s Upton
and Our Lady and St Alphonsus Blackmore Park. As work is progressed, it is
important to appreciate that which has been identified as the framework within
which our work will take place, namely having joint sacramental preparation
programmes and spacing Mass times to make it easier for Mass cover for the
priests of the cluste.
The Wyre Forest cluster, is made
up of St Ambrose, Kidderminster, St Wulstan, Stourport, Holy Family, Bewdley, St Mary's Harvington and
Sacred Heart & Our Lady, Tenbury. Clearly all aspects of local church life
and organization will have to be carefully considered to take account of the
changed circumstances in which we find ourselves, not least the reduced number
of clergy. There are challenges ahead but also opportunities. So let us all do
our best to support each other
The eastern cluster is made up of
the parishes of Evesham, Broadway, Alcester, Bidford and Pershore. A first
step will need to be the merging of the parishes of Evesham and Broadway, there
will need to be clarification as soon as possible on how St Joseph the Worker
at Bidford will be administered and Holy Redeemer will move into the cluster in
due course.
The Worcester cluster will
consist of St George’s, Our Lady Queen of Peace and St Joseph’s to be served
from St George’s. There will inevitably be changes to Mass times to ensure that
there are viable and dynamic parishes but there is also an opportunity with the
cluster of continuing the work that has happened to work together as the
Catholics of Worcester. Whilst St George’s will inevitably be the centre for
administration there will be the opportunity to work together on key areas of
parish life. A joint outreach programme, developing closer ties between our
catechists as one team to support both children and adults in formation and
on-going spiritual development will be key to our future. We will aim to bring
together volunteers so that we can maximise the effect of our parishes.
In the short-term the parishes
will work closer together, but the aim is to create one parish, with three
churches. In time we aim to have the St John Wall parish with the churches of
St George, Our Lady Queen of Peace and St Joseph within it.
During 2024 we need to make
progress across our deanery. I would like to think that before the year ends
that we have the Deanery Council in position after all of the clusters have
their own arrangements working well. We also need to ensure that the pace of
change reflects the urgency of matters. We need to be able to prepare our
Deanery for the challenges of the future. We can only do that with arrangements
in place for the future.
It is our deanery. Let us take
this opportunity to continue to build God’s Kingdom here in our area. We all
have our role to play.
Canon Brian McGinley, Dean of the
Kidderminster and Worcester Deanery, and Bishop David Evans, Auxiliary Bishop
for Birmingham and Worcestershire.
Appointed to be read at the churches and chapels of the
Deanery of Kidderminster and Worcester at every Mass and Service of Word and
Holy Communion on 2nd and 3rd of March 2024.
