This plan was agreed by the Parish Pastoral Council and the Parish Assembly in autumn 2019.
| Building our Community |
| Providing information about St. Cuthbert’s to the local community. We will consider how to do this through the Partnership and through Churches Together in Elvet & Shincliffe. |
| Developing Chaplaincy provision for university staff |
| Developing links with Chaplaincy alumni, e.g. asking them to write for the website on how they have kept involved with the church after leaving university |
| Provide more information about leadership roles on website and the noticeboards, with contact details of lay leaders and to encourage people to volunteer |
| Publicise availability of swipe cards to parishioners to increase access to the parish room |
| Relaunch the events group to lead on social activity |
| Formation |
| Offer mentoring and support for people who are willing to become involved but who do not have previous experience. This will include the Chaplaincy community and will be offered to the Partnership, and cover a range of subjects from liturgy & music to buildings and finance. |
| Sessions on Catholic teaching for Chaplaincy & parish (inc. advertising RCIA open meetings more widely) |
| Arrange sessions for stewards and volunteers, to cover safeguarding, practical signposting and listening skills |
| Liturgy & Music |
| Parish to provide support to students taking on ministries such as reading and music – training day for student ministers. |
| Prayer & Spirituality |
| Explore setting up small groups for prayer or bible study, in the parish or with the Partnership |
| Offer the opportunity for retreats, inc. the retreat in daily life |
| Outreach |
| Explore longer opening hours for the church, and better levels of support when we are open for Miners’ Gala, Lumiere, Heritage Open Days, etc. |
| ‘Knit and Natter’ sessions to support projects such as the Apostleship of the Sea |
| Tithing parish income, to donate money to charity |
| Explore setting up an SVP group |
| Refugee crisis – could we support a refugee family (not necessarily by housing them)? |
| Communication |
| Reprint leaflets about the church for visitors |
| Review our processes to ensure compliance with General Data Protection Regulations |
| Young People |
| Explore the need for a lay Chaplaincy assistant / intern |
| Chaplaincy: sessions at the end of the University year on ‘What next?’ to help students think about their involvement in their next parish |
| Publish more information from the schools in our bulletin and on noticeboards |
| Set up a page on the parish website for young people’s news, photos and notices, and explore an occasional (monthly?) bulletin for young people. |
| Review how we welcome and support young families, involving the families in identifying any changes we need to make. |
| Finance |
| Set clear budgets to assist in monitoring expenditure |