Bishop Malcolm’s letter

If you were at Holy Mass tonight in either of the Nottingham Deaneries — or indeed, anywhere in Nottingham Diocese — you will have heard Bishop Malcolm’s letter about the You are Living Stones consultation he has established. Here is the text of that letter in full. I’ve added links to the Gospel reading and documents that Bishop Malcolm refers to.

Bishop Malcolm wrote:

My dear friends in Christ,

In the Gospel we have just heard, St Mark tells us how Jesus is transfigured; he appears in radiant glory, and his three disciples are filled with fear as they see him in that glory. This is clearly

Freebies!

I’ve made some freebies for visitors to this blog. Some bookmarks, and a poster featuring a quotation which I think is very pertinent to the Living Stones consultation.

Feel free to print them out and give them away! Look for “Freebies” in the menu bar above.

Comments welcome — graphic design was not part of seminary training in the 1980s, so hints on how to do better next time round are always appreciated.

Deanery map: the West

In case you’re wondering where the churches are that make up the deaneries, well, I can help you with the Western deanery. Here’s an image I made when I became the dean in November, partly as a possible graphic element for a letterhead, but mostly as an exercise to help me learn the geography of the deanery. Even though I was brought up in Hyson Green parish, I’d been away from the area so long that I’d forgotten most of it.

It’s about ten miles between Hucknall and Long Eaton.

For those who are interested in the technicalities,

Lenten Talks in Nottingham East Deanery

These talks at 7pm on Wednesday nights are open to anyone interested in the context which guides the Living Stones consulation. Each talk should be finished by 8.30pm.

• 21st March at The Good Shepherd, Woodthorpe: Our Resources — where we are at
• 28th March at The Becket School, West Bridgford: A way forward together as living stones

Coming soon: a letter from Bishop Malcolm

Priests have been informed that on the Second Sunday of Lent (4th March), they will have a pastoral letter from Bishop Malcolm to read out at Holy Mass. It’ll set out the aims of the Living Stones process, and encourage people to participate as fully as they can.

You are Living Stones

On Monday 7 November, Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP  launched You are Living Stones, a consultation on the parochial structure of the Diocese of Nottingham. This will affect every parish in the Diocese, and all parishioners are asked to read the document, reflect upon it and discuss it among themselves and with their parish priests. The Bishop said:

‘I hope that as we begin this prayerful consultation, we will be willing to embrace what is right for the Church in our local communities. Always having the Lord as our source of inspiration and goal, we need to make sure that the Church in our Diocese has a strong basis for building into the future. To do this, we must work together to express that desire of St Peter when he wrote that we “may be living stones making a spiritual house as a holy priesthood to offer the spiritual sacrifices made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”. May this consultation be a source of great joy, blessing and hope for us all.’

Download the full consultation document as a PDF file

This blog was set up firstly to enhance participation in the Living Stones process by the Catholic communities in the the two Nottingham deaneries in the diocese. We hope (“we” being the two deans, Fr Martin Sylvester & Fr Peter Vellacott) that it may also go on to serve as a useful resource — perhaps a forum for discussion — for Catholics in and around Nottingham.