Managing our Parish

Our new Parish Pastoral Council and Core Teams

We are setting up a set of Core Teams to help better manage key aspects of Parish life, and a new Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) to coordinate the work of these teams and provide advice and support to the Parish Priest.

We are looking for Parishioners who would be prepared to help out with one or more of these teams. Please consider volunteering. If you are interested to find out more, email ppc@saintlaurence.org.uk or contact one of the volunteers listed at the foot of this page.

A new Constitution has been drafted for Parish Pastoral Council. We invite comments and feedback before the next Parishioners' Open Meeting in May, where this Constitution will be finalised and confirmed. Please send any comments to ppc@saintlaurence.org.uk.

Read the draft PPC Constitution

The timetable for implementing our new approach is is:

JANUARY - Invite all expressions of interest for involvement in teams by the end of the month. Identify Core Team coordinators.

FEBRUARY - Initial 'pilot' meetings of Core Teams. Identify team members and other volunteers, PPC representative, and initial priorities.

MARCH - 'Pilot' meeting of PPC - get an update from the Core Teams, agree PPC membership and process for the future.

APRIL - Make further progress on work identified by the Teams.

MAY - PPC Meeting and Open Meeting to review progress, confirm new arrangements, and approve the new PPC Constitution.

Core Teams

These are the teams we are forming:

• LITURGY, EDUCATION, AND FAITH SHARING TEAM. This team will help to ensure that Masses and other services are well-planned and supported (e.g., with Sacristy assistance, rotas, planning for feast days, etc.). It will coordinate between existing liturgy, educational, catechesis, and faith sharing activities in the Parish, and propose and support new ones.


• SOCIAL ACTIVITIES. This team will ensure that social activities are organised, both working with existing activities (such as the Saturday coffee hub & 11am Mass Coffee) and supporting and generating new ideas. We welcome anyone who enjoys bringing people together.


• COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH. This team will consider the face that St Laurence’s presents to the world and how to better communicate with both parishioners and people living within our Parish who are not yet parishioners. It will also consider links with other parishes, Christian churches, and faith communities. We welcome volunteers with communications, marketing, social media, website, publishing, or similar experience.


• BUILDINGS, GROUNDS, AND FACILITIES. This team will ensure that our buildings and gardens are brought into good order and maintained. We welcome volunteers with skills or experience in facilities management, building, DIY, gardening, or similar.


• PARISH OFFICE AND STAFF SUPPORT. This team will help the Parish Priest in managing administration of the Parish and Parish staff (e.g., in objective-setting, appraisals, coaching and mentoring for staff). We welcome volunteers for this team who have human resources, management, or similar experience.

The PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL (PPC) will bring the work of all of these teams together and be a place to discuss issues, propose new ideas, advise the Parish Priest, and ensure that things get done.

Could you help

We are looking for people who would be willing to join one or more of these teams, making a time-limited commitment for one or two years. For some of the teams, particular skills would be helpful, as mentioned above. But anyone with a little time to give and a willingness to help can join in. This invitation is to everyone – whether you have been here for thirty years or three weeks.

If you have questions about these new teams, or would like to express interest in joining (with no commitment at this point) please just email ppc@saintlaurence.org.uk.

You can also call the Parish Office, talk to Fr Simon or speak to any of this volunteer group:

• Ronald Haynes
• Stephen Warde
• Kay Dodsworth
• Roberta Canning
• Edward Acton
• Nora Darby