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The mission of the Ongoing Formation (OGF) Team is to support all diocesan clergy – priests and deacons – in accessing opportunities for formation in line with the teaching of the Catholic Church and the demands and requirements of ordained ministry. At the heart of this work is a recognition of the great value of all our clergy, and their unique personal calling within priestly and diaconal ministry. Formation is a lifelong encounter with Jesus Christ, and the team seeks to help clergy grow in the four aspects of formation: human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral, supporting them to promote missional development in diocesan parishes, and working alongside the lay faithful within the framework of The Word Who Is Life, our diocesan Pastoral Plan. The OGF Team works very closely with the Formation Team to equip the whole diocese for mission.
"The gift of the priestly vocation... obliges the Church to propose a serious journey of formation. ‘It means guarding and fostering vocations, that they may bear mature fruit.'"
Formation can be defined as a sustained interpersonal encounter with Jesus Christ which is transformative and life-giving. The work of formation is to provide the people, occasions, and environments in which the interpersonal encounter with Jesus can more easily and fruitfully occur. Formation is an ongoing, integrated process of constant growth. Training, education and formation are related concepts; training focuses on becoming competent in specific skills and tasks, while Education develops a breath of knowledge and understanding. Formation may include both, but has the overall aim of moulding minds and hearts to create disciples and followers of Jesus. Clergy formation has four integrated and interrelated dimensions.
Human
The necessary foundation for all formation, the priest or deacon moulds his personality so that it becomes a bridge rather than an obstacle for others in encountering Jesus. This includes physical, psychological, moral, social, and recreational aspects. “The priest… should seek to reflect in himself, as far as possible, the human perfection which shines forth in the incarnate Son of God.” (St John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis 43)
Spiritual
Growing in our personal relationship with the Lord through engagement with: scripture, the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours, prayer, retreats, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, spiritual direction, obedience, chastity and celibacy, poverty, devotion to Our Lady and the saints, seeking Christ in others, silence and solitude, radical self-giving, and identification with Christ Crucified.
Intellectual
Coming to know Jesus personally, as well as knowing facts about Him. This includes private reading and study, but also coming together for conferences, discussions and conversations in large and small groups, formal in informal. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…” (Phil 2:5-6)
Pastoral
Preparing and supporting clergy to have a suitable awareness of the nature and mission of ministerial priesthood and diaconate, and to have a developed understanding, aided by experience and reflection, of a variety of forms of ministry.
Bishop Richard issued a new Pastoral Plan for the Diocese, The Word Who is Life: The Call to Mission in January 2024. The plan marks an important new stage in the development of diocesan parish structures, creating new pathways for apostolic mission and meeting the challenges of the future with renewed confidence and openness to the Holy Spirit. The Pastoral Plan exists to equip us to enact our mission as a Church through our baptismal calling and to share the Good News of God’s love with all people. This means helping people to discover and develop a close relationship with Jesus, so that our parishes become communities where people can experience personal and parish renewal and draw close to Jesus through prayer and the sacraments, becoming missionary disciples. The OGF Team, working with the diocesan Formation Team and members of diocesan Central Office Staff, is able to support the delivery of the Pastoral Plan by assisting members of clergy to:
– Build an inclusive pastoral vision for the parish.
– Develop new parish initiatives for prayer, formation, and mission.
– Forge ever-stronger bonds between clergy, and free up their time for ministry and mission.
– Engage and equip laity in leadership and mission, to grow them as missionary disciples.
– Develop and deliver a structured plan for managing change in the parish.
– Create an effective communications strategy for the parish.
Supervision and mentoring have been identified as a major priority for Ongoing Clergy Formation. Clergy mentoring involves the provision of long-term support, guidance, and advice by a highly experienced member of clergy who has been trained as a mentor. Alternatively, clergy can participate in clergy supervision. Our team of supervisors are practising Christians (clerical, religious and lay people) with a professional background and skills in this specialised area of work. Through mentoring and supervision members of clergy build a confidential partnership based upon high trust and confidentiality in which they can explore goals and challenges, with someone outside their past or present ministry.
