NORTH BELFAST PASTORAL COMMUNITY

The North Belfast Pastoral Area is comprised of 5 Parishes: St Patrick’s, Holy Family, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross and St. Vincent de Paul. The first meeting of the Pastoral Area Team took place in St Patrick’s Parish on 25th November 2013. The Team meets every 6 weeks, rotating around the 5 Parishes.

Contacting the Pastoral CommunityTeam –

Your recommendations and ideas will be very welcome. Please contact the Parish Offices or speak to any member of the Team:

St Patrick’s

T: 9032 4597

E: stpatricks@downandconnor.org

W: www.saintpatricksbelfast.org.uk

Holy Family

T: 9074 3119

E: holyfamily@downandconnor.org

W: www.holy-familyparish.com

Sacred Heart

T: 9075 1543

E: sacredheart@downandconnor.org

W: www.sacredheartbelfast.com

Holy Cross

T: 9074 8231

E: holycross@downandconnor.org

W: www holycrossparishbelfast.com

St Vincent de Paul

T: 9071 3401

E: stvincentdepaul@downandconnor.org

W: www.saintvincentdepaulligoniel.com

Members of the Pastoral Community Team –

St. Patrick’s

Father Eugene O’Neill, Father Dominic McGrattan, Maire MacDermott

Holy Family

Father Paul Strain, Father Paul Morely, Ann D’Arcy, Maire Hughes (Secretary), Brian Shannon

Sacred Heart

Father Darach Mac Giolla Cathain, Marian Robertson, Cecilia McCloskey, Rosemary McCloskey

Holy Cross

Father Eugene McCarthy, Wilma Lynch (Chairman), John Morrison, Sharon Cairns

St Vincent de Paul

Father Patrick Devlin, Aldrin Banas

Mission Statement –

Believing that through our Baptism, we are called to continue Christ’s mission in our time and place and guided by the Holy Spirit, we will endeavour to nurture a vibrant, living Church within the Pastoral Area, characterised by Gospel values.

‘And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time’. [Matthew 28:20]

We aim to –

  • foster a spirit of co-responsibility and support
  • share and develop good practice, so as to fulfil the mission of Christ in our time and place
  • identify pastoral issues that can be addressed effectively through working in partnership
  • reflect on and prioritise these issues
  • recommend and implement practical action steps
  • plan for, monitor and evaluate the outworking of the five strands of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan
  • communicate regularly and consult with Parishioners and existing Parish and Diocesan groups

Areas of Work –

The following list will give a sense of some of the issues that the Team is addressing collaboratively:

Ministry of Welcome; Baptismal Preparation Programme; Audit of Parish Resources;

Children’s Liturgy; Training for Ministers of the Word and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion; Planning a series of Half-days of Reflection.

Minutes –

Please [click here] to read the Minutes of the most recent meeting.

Prayer

God our Father, You have a plan for each one of us,

You hold out to us a future full of hope.

It is with hope filled hearts that we pray for the ‘Living Church’ here in North Belfast.

Guide us by your Holy Spirit to see the shape of your plan

and help us to be willing to use the gifts you have given us, as we work together.

May all our efforts be blessed

so that our Church will be truly alive.

We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord. Amen.