Inspiring synodality at the Catholic Parish Summit
The School for Synodality joined over 1000 people at the Catholic Parish Summit, a transformative event where parish leaders from around the world came together to share inspiration and insights for revitalising our communities. Held 12th to the 14th June 2024 in Harrogate, it was open to anyone who was curious – be they a priest, pastoral worker, bishop, ministry leader, deacon, or a Catholic who desires more for their parish.
The event was hosted by Divine Renovation, an organisation founded in 2016 with a vision to renew parish life through embracing mission, prayer and transformative leadership, and which now has a base in the UK.
The Catholic Parish Summit featured some fantastic opportunities for networking, prayer, and hear from guest speakers… including our own School for Synodality representatives! We were very glad that our Co-Director Avril Baigent and Synodality Consultant Fr Matthew Nunes were able to attend the summit, and both spoke on different panels at the same time on Thursday 13th June (full programme here).
Fr Matthew spoke at ‘Leaders that last: Self-Leadership in Mission’ with fellow panellists Elisa Alberto, Sr Miriam James Heidland, Rob McDowell and the School for Synodality’s patron Bishop David Oakley, Northampton Diocese. Fr Matthew shared:
“The Catholic Parish Summit was a great opportunity to be amongst so many people who gathered to reflect, pray and consider how our parishes can be places of welcome, renewal and encounter. We had great conversations with those who were curious about how the synodal path of listening can bring so much to all of this, providing practical ways of working so that reaching for our dreams can become so much more possible.”
Avril spoke on the topic ‘Lead like it Matters: Parish Leadership for Apostolic Times” alongside David Boyd, Pauline McEvoy-Williams, and CBCEW Chair Archbishop Mark O’Toole.
The School for Synodality also had a stand at the event, with resources that proved to be very popular, such as our Conversation in the Spirit cards (free to download here) and our ‘Re-imagining Parish Councils’ (view here).
Avril Baigent said:
“It was exciting to meet with people who had been part of our School for Synodality workshops, watched the webinars and already explored our resources. We met those who shared with us their experiences of trying out these new skills, and how it was making such a difference to their communities.
We were also able to respond to hearing some stories of conflict in parishes, pastoral councils and SLTs by giving out packs of our ‘Conversation in the Spirit’ cards. No matter how intractable the situation, Conversation in the Spirit enables everyone’s voice to be heard and the way forward to be discerned. We also gave out our briefing pack on ‘Re-Imagining Pastoral Councils’, which was hugely popular. Lots of people told us “this is what we need in our parish!”.
Overall it was a blessed, Spirit-filled time, and we were delighted to be part of something so life-giving.”