Pastoral Ministry

Supporting lay and pastoral ministry across the diocese
Prophet VicariateWebsite

Our Mission 

The Pastoral Ministry Office forms part of the Prophet Vicariate and supports lay and pastoral ministry across the diocese. Our Diocese is richly endowed with gifted and talented people, and we seek to grow opportunities for all to deepen their faith and get involved in the life of our parishes. Our main activities include:

growing faith

Supporting faith formation across the diocese, creating new materials, training faith group leaders, and offering resources for personal and parish spiritual growth.  Administering the Lay Formation Fund to help people access more formal faith education.

growing community

Advising parishes on volunteering, workshops for Catholic leadership, parish blog featuring best practice from around the diocese, resources and support for Pastoral Area Councils.

chaplaincy

Supporting pastoral chaplaincy in hospitals, prisons and universities.  Training for new hospital volunteers, annual reflection day for all who visit the sick, support for chaplains and chaplaincy teams, new projects linking parishes to prisons and universities, career support and help for those wanting to work in the chaplaincy field.

leadership

Developing new forms of lay ministry and leadership for the diocese.  Liaising with other dioceses to seek out best practice, developing models, processes and training for new forms of parish leadership, responsible for diocesan reflection process.

Lay Formation Fund

The fund is for those in active ministry in the diocese, and who would like to deepen their faith or learning.

It can be used for theological courses, more practical learning or vocational training.  The fund can be used to offset the costs of local courses such as booking speakers or buying DVDs.  Click here for more information.

Who We Are

Our Team & advisory group

Fr Francis Higgins – Chair
Avril Baigent – Pastoral Ministry Advisor

Peter Commons – Lay Formation Fund Application Committee
Alex Heath – Lay Formation Fund Application Committee

The Pastoral Ministry Office is supported by an advisory group who bring a wide range on skills, knowledge and experience to all aspects of our work. Current members are:

Canon Kevin O’Driscoll
Fr Tony Brennan
Fr Joe Udoh
Deacon Jim Hannigan
Steve O’Brien
Sam Canning