Diocesan Pastoral Future Provision

Diocesan Pastoral Future Provision

Tough choices and hard and difficult decisions will soon have to be made for the sake of the future of our archdiocese. Dwindling numbers at Masses, and a falling number of priests, present us all with challenges, which will inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of our parishes. A consultation is currently being carried out regarding future pastoral provision. Planning for a sustainable future for us will mean that some of the eleven parishes in our deanery will have to close or be amalgamated.  How do we best plan for a sustainable future? We want to hear your thoughts, and we welcome your comments. The six proposed options which will affect St Andrew’s are listed overleaf and are also on the parish website. What’s important is that everyone in the parish is given the opportunity to engage in this consultation. I sincerely hope that as many of you as possible will be free to attend one of the consultation open meetings next weekend.

Let us pray that in our thinking, talking, deciding and planning together for the future of our parishes, we may discern God’s will and be open to the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit.
St Andrew and St Mungo, pray for us.                                                                           
Fr Mackle

In light of these changes in society and in the diocese we need to reshape the diocese to meet future needs. With fewer priests in the near future we must decide where and how they can best be deployed so that the Gospel can continue to be known and the whole community of our local church be best served.

There are 11 parishes in this deanery

• St. Benedict's, Drumchapel
• St. Laurence's, Drumchapel
• St. Andrew's, Bearsden
• St. Eunan's, Clydebank
• St. Margaret's, Clydebank
• Our Holy Redeemer's, Clydebank
• St. Stephen's, Dalmuir
• St. Mary's, Duntocher
• Saint Joseph's, Faifley
• Saint Joseph's, Milngavie
• Saint Patrick's, Old Kilpatrick

There are currently 10 diocesan priests and 1 non-diocesan priest in active service in this deanery.
It is conservatively estimated that in 20 years time, in the whole Archdiocese, there will be 45 diocesan priests.
This means that in 20 years time we might expect that there will be roughly 5 diocesan priests in this deanery.

Other statistics have been updated at parish, deanery and diocesan level. These include:

• Catholic population
• Mass Attendance
• No of Baptisms 
• No of Confirmations
• No of First Communions
• Marriages
• Funerals
• Average parish income/costs
• Listed buildings

Closure and amalgamations will be unavoidable and we as a parish are being asked for our views. Our Parish Pastoral Council recently met to review 6 options for the future proposed by the Archdiocese and we would like to include wider parish views on the options.

We’d welcome you to join us for a cup of tea/coffee to hear more about the planned changes in the Upper Hall after mass on Saturday 15th March and after each mass on Sunday 16th March.

From these meetings our collective thoughts and views will be presented at the Strategic Meetings in deaneries and with the Archbishop in due course.

The six proposed options are listed below. We actively encourage you to take a short time out after attending mass to become involved in helping to shape the future of our parish.

There would appear to be 6 options for deploying the estimated number of priests across each deanery. When considering these questions the following should be borne in mind:

• The financial and statistical information of each parish 
• Are the current churches in the right places? Is there an argument for closing all the church buildings in an area and building a new one somewhere else? Is this financially realistic? 
• Public transport links, walking distance, and car-parking. 
• This exercise is based on the current deanery boundaries. Are there anomalies in your Deanery which would suggest involving a parish from a neighbouring deanery?
• Social and cultural factors which would affect movement of people in an area. 
• The realistic workload of a priest, especially the fact that he cannot say more than three Masses on any given Sunday.

Option A:
5 parishes with one priest and one church building. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option B:
5 parishes with one priest. Some parishes would have two church buildings. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option C:
3 parishes, each with one church building, but some with more than one priest. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option D:
3 parishes, each with more than one church building, and some with more than one priest. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option E:
1 big parish with one church building, but with 5 priests. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option F:
1 big parish with more than one church building, but with 5 priests. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Other Options?