St James the Less and St Helen
Church, Colchester

Parish Pastoral Plan

Draft 1b

Prepared by the Parish Pastoral Council

Aims
and Scope of the Plan

Following the
Diocesan Vision Document we have prepared this Parish Pastoral Plan (PPP) to
provide a framework and structure for the continuing development of our Parish

This is intended
to be a living document which will be reviewed periodically. It is not intended
to contain detailed and short term plans – these will be put into place
with a number of action plans (APs) – roughly one for each Parish group
/activity)

Parish
Profile

We list here the
various Parish activities and have categorised them according to their level of
development.

We have tried to
identify them with the themes of the Vision Document, though some fall
naturally into more than one category.

We have tried to
recognise our links and joint activities with our Deanery, our Diocese and the
other church communities in our area.

What we have in place – ongoing

Communications
(Valuing Communications)

&
Parish
Directory

&
Newsletter

&
Ministry
of welcome

Collaborative Ministry

&
Parish
Pastoral Council

&
Parish
Finance Council

&
Parish
Liturgy Committee

&
Eucharistic
Ministers

&
Children’s
Liturgy

&
Altar
servers

&
Music
group

&
Sacristan
team

&
Parish
Social Committee

&
Church
Cleaners Team

&
Church
Flower Team

&
Cardinal
Bourne Hall Management

Lifelong
Formation/ valuing the family

&
RCIA

&
Baptismal
preparation

&
First
Communion Preparation

&
Confirmation
preparation

&
School
Liaison

&
Pilgrimages/Diocesan
activities

&
Prayer
group

&
Eucharistic
Talks

Communion with
all/ Valuing Diversity

&
Deaf
Mass

&
Polish
Mass

&
Rosary
Group

&
Divine
mercy group

&
Catenians

&
Knights
of St Columba

&
Mercy
associates

&
Canonesses
of the Holy Sepulchre

Service

&
SVP

&
Soup
Run

&
CAFOD

Committed to
justice in the world

&
CAFOD

&
Justice
and Peace Group

&
Friends
of Peru

Fostering Unity

&
Churches
together in Central Colchester

&
Seeking
God’s Blessing for Colchester (SGBC)

&
Changing
Church, changing County (C4)

&
Links
with our twin diocese/parish in South
Africa

&
Stations
of the Cross held jointly at Lent with St James the Great Anglican Parish

&
Good
Friday Ecumenical Procession of Witness

Evangelising

&
Good
Friday Ecumenical Procession of Witness

What we would like to develop

Communications

&
Notice
Board and displays in Porch re PC membership/ meetings

&
Newsletter

&
Website

&
Mile
End Links with Greenstead

Communion with
all

&
Increased
Sunday sharing of the Body of Christ with the housebound

Collaborative
ministry

&
Premises
committee

Valuing Young
People

&
Youth
Mass/ links with Brentwood Youth service

&
Children’s
mass

&
Music
Group

&
Youth
Groups 11-14/15-18

&
Ongoing
involvement following First Holy Communion

Lifelong
Formation

&
School
Liaison- for Catholic Children in non Catholic Schools

&
Talks
similar to those on the Eucharist on other topics

&
Back
to Basics talks

Fostering Unity

&
Links
with other parishes in the deanery

What we have started

Communications

&
Website

&
Parish
Council- contact details of the PC members/ recruitment of new members

Collaborative
ministry

&
Parish
Pastoral plan

&
Parish
council reorganisation

&
Parish
Council Constitution

&
Commissioning
and recommisioning of Eucharistic ministers

&
New
arrangements for Eucharistic Ministers at Mass

&
New
arrangements for Ministers of the Word at Mass

&
CRB
checks for all parishioners whose Parish group or Parish activity involves  children and vulnerable adults

Fostering Unity

&
Links
with other Parishes in the deanery( Sharing a coach for the pilgrimage to
Walsingham)

&
Links
with Father Widy’s home country Indonesia

What we know we need and would like to progress

Communications

&
Communications
group

&
Better
sound system at Priory Street

&
Mile
End Centre to form links with Greenstead Parish

Collaborative
Ministry

&
Premises
Committee and building works team

&
Youth
Group/youth Team

&
Developing
Responsible stewardship

Communion with
all

&
Increased
Sunday sharing of the Body of Christ with the housebound

Lifelong
Formation

&
Back
to basics group/ continuation of RCIA

&
Talks
based on the “Gift of Scripture” book

Evangelisation

&
Develop
a programme to reach out to the Parish population

Documents consulted:

Diocesan Vision Document “Put out into the
Deep” 2004

Bishop’s Conference “Valuing
Difference” 1999

Diocese of Brentwood “Safe Church,
Safe Children” 2006