As part of the continuing process of Clogher Diocese in Dialogue, an initiative begum by Bishop Larry Duffy in early 2020, there will be three online talks on the Call to Parish Ministry during the season of Lent. Everyone in welcome to attend these virtual seminars which can be accessed via the diocesan website www.clogherdiocese.ie and the Diocese of Clogher Facebook page www.facebook.com/dioceseofclogher.
The online talks will be on
- Wednesday 24 February: Speaker – Julie Kavanagh (Kildare & Leighlin Diocese) on the link between Baptism and ministry in parish
- Wednesday 10 March: Speaker – Dr Gareth Byrne (Mater Dei Centre of Catholic Education, Dublin City University) on reimagining the link between school and parish today
- Wednesday 24 March (Feast of St Macartan): Speakers – Various lay people involved in a range of ministries across the Diocese of Clogher today – how they come to be there; what they do and the importance of their ministry to the life of the parish.
Each of the talks will begin at 7.30pm and the online event (including a period of prayer and an opportunity for general discussion) will last approximately 40 minutes each evening. No booking will be necessary.
This week Bishop Duffy has invited all people throughout the parishes and pastoral areas of the diocese to join in the online seminars. ‘The range of speakers and the topics they cover clearly highlight the power of the baptismal call, the sleeping giant that is within each Christian calling us to serve in their local parish. It was very clear from the meetings in phase one of the Clogher Diocese in Dialogue process that people love their church. The absence of people in our churches for so much of the past year is very hard on them. Please God, as we return to normality in the near future, we can strengthen our communities of faith for the times ahead. Lay people in leadership roles in every parish, in each of our 80+ praying communities –all of them linked together through the diocese – will be a key element of that. I invite you all, wherever you may be, to join us on that journey. The online talks are a small taste of what is happening and what can happen, he said.
