Synod

A Diocesan Synod is an important event in the life of a Diocese in which Bishop, priests and lay-people come together in a spirit of prayer to discern together what God is asking of His Church in our Diocese and will help us to live out our calling to be Missionary Disciples.

The Vision of our Diocesan Synod is:

To enable true collaboration
between the clergy and laity at
diocesan and parish level by
truly listening to each other.

To discern what the Holy Spirit is
saying to the Church in Salford
at this next stage of our journey.

Reflecting on the Big Listen

On Saturday 18th May, hundreds of Synod members from across the diocese gathered to hear the feedback from our recent Big Listen, which drew to a close in January.

During the day, we explored four principal themes that had emerged from around 30,000 responses submitted during the Big Listen. The themes are:

• Nurturing Faith for Tomorrow’s World
• Building Connections
• Enabling Access
• Fostering Christ-Like Care

These themes were further explored through four presentations delivered by Rev Prof Peter McGrail and Dr Emma Swai of Liverpool Hope University, who have also shared the following resources:

Big Listen Feedback Handout

Big Listen Feedback

Next Steps – The Exploration Stage

Between now and the beginning of July, we are asked to take some time to become more familiar with all we have learned from The Big Listen.

The next stage will then be a time of exploration, inviting parishes and participants to dig deeper into how the four Main Themes can give rise to proposals for action.

Between July and November, Synod members will be asked to organise and facilitate Theme Gatherings in their parishes and communities to explore these themes in more detail with as many people as possible.

The aim of the Theme Gathering is to:

• Provide parishioners with the opportunity to explore the four separate themes that have emerged from the Big Listen;
• To further embed the practice of synodal listening in parishes, schools, and groups;
• To progress and move our synodal journey forwards towards the Proposal Stage, by identifying a maximum of two key proposals for each of our themes.

It it important to remember that we can only take forward what is within the remit of a ‘Diocesan’ Synod.

How to Get Involved

We are eager to encourage as many people as possible to participate in our diocesan synod and there are a number of ways you can get involved over the coming months:

Join one of the upcoming “Discerning Proposals” sessions in your parish

Encourage your friends and family to get involved. We really do want to hear from as many people as we can.

Keep following and praying for our synod journey.

Take a look at our Resources section below to find out more.