Pastoral Development

Growing in faith, together

The Pastoral Development Department works alongside the local Church to resource and support its mission.

Formation
Sacraments
Vatican II
Year of prayer
Jubilee
Catholic Social Action
Care for Creation
Animate
The Irenaeus Project
Events

What we do

Our department resources and supports the mission of local parishes and deaneries.

We work to enable local pastoral planning, development, formation, training, transition, adaptation and change.

Work that we support

Mission Development | Enabling development of local mission plans by parishes and deaneries within the parameters of the Pastoral Plan and Church's mission.

Catechesis | Development of catechetical strategies, procurement of resources, training of catechists.

Ordained Ministry Development | Supporting the vicariate for clergy, vocations and the ongoing formation of priests.

Laity Development | Adult formation and training ranging from subject-relevant skills and knowledge to spirituality, networking and personal development.

Catholic Social Action | Co-ordinating the work of the Archdiocese relating to social justice and environmental issues compatible with Catholic Social Teaching, in keeping with Pope Francis’ encyclical 'Laudato Si’.

Stewardship | Helping the local Church to plan for a sustainable future by harnessing the gifts of time, talent and treasure.

Upcoming events & courses

Course
March 1, 2025
St Helen, Crosby

Marriage Preparation Team Volunteer Training: Session 5

10am - 2pm

The archdiocese is now recruiting and training volunteer facilitators to join the marriage preparation team. This new team will offer two marriage preparation courses for couples in 2025. If you are interested, please contact Moses Mui, Training Coordinator, at m.mui@rcaol.org.uk or sign up on the online enrolment form linked.

St Helen, Crosby

Alexandra Road

,

Crosby

,

L23 7TG

Course
February 17, 2025
St Helen, Crosby

Marriage Preparation Team Volunteer Training: Session 4

7pm - 8:30pm

The archdiocese is now recruiting and training volunteer facilitators to join the marriage preparation team. This new team will offer two marriage preparation courses for couples in 2025. If you are interested, please contact Moses Mui, Training Coordinator, at m.mui@rcaol.org.uk or sign up on the online enrolment form linked.

St Helen, Crosby

Alexandra Road

,

Crosby

,

L23 7TG

Course
February 10, 2025
St Helen, Crosby

Marriage Preparation Team Volunteer Training: Session 3

7pm - 8:30pm

The archdiocese is now recruiting and training volunteer facilitators to join the marriage preparation team. This new team will offer two marriage preparation courses for couples in 2025. If you are interested, please contact Moses Mui, Training Coordinator, at m.mui@rcaol.org.uk or sign up on the online enrolment form linked.

St Helen, Crosby

Alexandra Road

,

Crosby

,

L23 7TG

Course
February 3, 2025
St Helen, Crosby

Marriage Preparation Team Volunteer Training: Session 2

7pm - 8:30pm

The archdiocese is now recruiting and training volunteer facilitators to join the marriage preparation team. This new team will offer two marriage preparation courses for couples in 2025. If you are interested, please contact Moses Mui, Training Coordinator, at m.mui@rcaol.org.uk or sign up on the online enrolment form linked.

St Helen, Crosby

Alexandra Road

,

Crosby

,

L23 7TG

Course
January 27, 2025
St Helen, Crosby

Marriage Preparation Team Volunteer Training: Session 1

7pm - 8:30pm

The archdiocese is now recruiting and training volunteer facilitators to join the marriage preparation team. This new team will offer two marriage preparation courses for couples in 2025. If you are interested, please contact Moses Mui, Training Coordinator, at m.mui@rcaol.org.uk or sign up on the online enrolment form linked.

St Helen, Crosby

Alexandra Road

,

Crosby

,

L23 7TG

Event
January 19, 2025
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool

Peace Sunday Mass and Lecture: A Mother's Forgiveness with Gee Walker

11:00AM

Join Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP and Pax Christi Merseyside for Solemn Mass at 11am to mark Peace Sunday. Afterwards, You are also invited to the Liverpool Archdiocese Justice and Peace commission’s annual memorial lecture in the Gibberd Room at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Join Gee Walker who will talk about the murder of her son Anthony, forgiveness, reconciliation and justice. This is a partnership event by Pax Christi and the Liverpool Justice and Peace Commission. Tea and coffee will be available in the Gibberd Room after Mass and before the Lecture, which begins at 1.15pm. For more details and registration click below.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool

Mount Pleasant

,

,

L3 5TQ

Formation

We offer a variety of formation and training opportunities to support your ministry or your personal growth in faith.

Catholic Pastoral Leadership

Are you involved in any ministry in the Church?  Are you interested in doing more for the Church? Do you want to expand your skills in pastoral leadership?  A new online course in Catholic Pastoral Leadership might be what you are looking for.

Sacraments

The Sacraments are actions of the Holy Spirit working through the Church and are tangible ways in which God continues to minister to His people.

Catholic social action

Connect with the charities and organisations active in our archdiocese, from Nugent to Caritas, CAFOD, to Feeding Liverpool.

Animate Youth Ministry

Our resident team of young people who minister to other young people through retreats, events and formation.

The Irenaeus Project

This project exists to help people to grow in their spiritual life and to come to see God at work in thier lives - they are based in a retreat centre in Crosby.

Synod Resources

These resources are here to equip anyone interested in the synod and to help all involved to approach the synodal process with an open disposition.

Deaf community

If you would like to join in a Mass with BSL Signing, please contact Fr Martin Kershaw in St Helens. The Deaf and Sign Community Service at Caritas in Nugent offers specialised support in Merseyside including BSL sign language classes, an arts and drama group, interpretation service, health awareness services and support in all areas of spiritual and pastoral life for people who are Deaf.

Dementia support

Dementia friendly activities from the Irenaeus Project include ‘Songs we remember’, a sing-along and Dementia awareness sessions. Please contact Sr Moira Meeghan at Irenaeus to find out more.

LGBTQ+

For Masses and community support, please contact Fr Steve Maloney. Masses and meetings are normally held at St Richard’s, Mayfield Street, Atherton, M46 0AQ.

Connect with us

WhatsApp

Would you like to get the Pastoral Development bulletin directly or keep up with our events? Be amongst the first to hear by joining the our WhatsApp group. This group exists to disseminate information, just pure news curatedby our team.

To join, please send the message ‘JOIN PD NEWS’ with your name and parish to 07449 633 977. Please note that your number may be visible to others in the group. Data is kept in accordance with GDPR regulations.

Our bulletin

Our bulletin offers a wealth of information, tips and resources that may be of help or interest to those who work in pastoral ministry or those wish to develop their faith. We promote events that are open to everyone, either in-person or via Zoom/Teams/YouTube, etc.

Contact our
department

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Sr
Lynne
Baron
Sr Lynne Baron
Role
Archbishop’s delegate for CSA
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Social Action
Status
Parish
at
Parish
at
at
Baron
Lynne
Rev
Gerard
Callacher
Rev Gerard Callacher
Trustee
Staff
Priest
Role
Episcopal Vicar for Parish Development
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Status
Serving
Parish
Priest
at
at
Callacher
Gerard
Trustee
Pablo
Guidi
Pablo Guidi
Staff
Role
Catholic Social Action Coordinator
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Social Action
Status
Parish
at
Parish
at
at
Chris
Higgins
Chris Higgins
Staff
Role
Parish and Deanery Development Adviser
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Status
Parish
at
Parish
at
at
Rev Mgr
Philip
Inch
Rev Mgr Philip Inch
Trustee
Staff
Priest
Role
Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Organisation and Synod Implementation
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Status
Serving
Parish
Priest
at
Holy Rosary, Aintree
Parish
Priest
at
at
Jonathan
McGuirk
Jonathan McGuirk
Staff
Role
Pastoral Development Administrator
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Status
Parish
at
Parish
at
at
Moses
Mui
Moses Mui
Role
Training Coordinator
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Status
Parish
at
Parish
at
at
Elizabeth
Parsons
Elizabeth Parsons
Staff
Role
Director of Pastoral Development
Department
Pastoral Development
Sub-department
Status
Parish
at
Parish
at
at