Fr Simon's departure

Updated: 14 August

The Parish Pastoral Council met on July 25 in response to the news that Fr Simon will be leaving us in September. We were sorry to hear this, and concerned at the short notice to prepare for a change (especially given the upcoming summer holidays). We agreed that we should greet this challenge positively as a Parish, with as much lay involvement as possible in preparing for and supporting the transition, building on the work we have been doing in response to the synodal process in our parish. We also agreed to write to the bishop to let him know of our concerns and ideas for next steps, and to request that we be put in touch with our new parish priest as soon as possible.

The letter sent to Bishop Peter and his response are shared below.

Any further communications or plans for Fr Simon's departure will also be shared here and/or via the newsletter.

Comments and suggestions from anyone in the parish are welcome - please send them to ppc@saintlaurence.org.uk.

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Letter to Bishop Peter, 29 July, 2024

Dear Bishop Peter,

I am writing on behalf of the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) at St Laurence’s in response to the news that Fr Simon will be leaving us in September.

We would like to record our deep gratitude to Fr Simon for his ministry with us, particularly his shepherding of us through the difficult Covid period and the way in which he has supported and participated in a flourishing synodal process at St Laurence’s. This process has led to many encouraging developments in our parish, including our decision to establish a new PPC and a series of teams to facilitate more lay involvement in the organisation of parish life. These new arrangements are just beginning, and we had hoped to have Fr Simon with us while they ‘bedded-in’. We will be sad to see him go and the timing and short notice of the change is a challenge for us, but we understand that pastoral needs must be balanced across the diocese and offer our best wishes and prayers for Fr Simon in his new parish.

We have met as a group to discuss this change, and wanted to let you know that we plan to be proactive in welcoming our new priest and ensuring the operation and development of the parish through any transition, continuing our synodal journey. We have been looking at the document ‘The Cross of the Moment’, including its discussion of the need for better handover and induction when there is a change of priest and its observation that parish communities should be better involved in the dialogue around these processes. One thing we thought to do was to prepare a ‘self appraisal’ of the parish that might be helpful for the incoming priest in understanding our needs, and for our community as a shared expression of where we are as a parish. This could provide a starting point for a good induction process and for the next steps in parish development in the context of rapid local population growth. We have set ourselves the task of pulling this document together over the next month or so and will share it with you once complete. We are hopeful it might be an exercise that could be reusable in other parishes, part of an effort to improve flow of information between parish and diocese, informing future decision-making.

We’re also considering other events and activities to welcome our new priest and, with that in mind, we are looking forward to hearing details of the appointment. We understand that it can take time to finalise arrangements but would be grateful to be put in touch with our new priest as soon as is feasible. With Fr Simon away in late August, please do feel free to use myself and Michanne Haynes-Prempeh (Vice Chair of our PPC, copied) as contacts to pass information along to the parish, if appropriate. We would like to engage the new priest in arrangements for the transition as soon as possible, while being sensitive, of course, to the fact that he will need to focus primarily on his existing role prior to moving.

We send you our best wishes and prayers and look forward to facilitating a strong and effective lay involvement in the next steps for our parish. We hope that we will have your blessing in this effort and welcome any suggestions you have for us.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Warde
Chair of the Parish Pastoral Council at St Laurence’s, Cambridge.

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Bishop Peter's reply, 30 July

Dear Mr.Warde,

Thank you for your message and for the positive tone of your engagement with what is awaited. I will confirm the details of the new appointment as soon as possible. Please pray for your next priest as you pray for Fr.Simon upon his departure.

With the assurance of my prayers,

+Peter.

A response has been sent to Bishop Peter thanking him for his very quick response (especially as he was away at the time) and looking forward to more news of our new priest.