Bishop Malcolm McMahon argues that it is possible to listen

to the diverse voices of lay people and still remain true to the teachings of the Church
In September 2002, I invited the entire Diocese of Nottingham to share in an ongoing conversation that would shape the future, desiring to reap the rich harvest of our very diverse community. In launching a "year of preparation". I invited the diocese to take time to reflect on what it is to be the Church in Nottingham diocese and to be part of drawing up a creative plan for the future of our diocese. Conversation was the process I used for our Assembly because I wanted to listen to the voices and concerns of the priests, deacons, religious and people of our diocese as we face the future together. I asked Brother Ronnie McEwan of the Kinharvie Institute in Glasgow to facilitate the conversations during the year of preparation and the Assembly.
My Dominican formation has taught me that obedience is rooted in listening, and for me to be obedient to my calling as a bishop I have to listen to all the voices which are clamouring for attention, not just the loudest. Above all, I must hear the voice of the Holy Spirit which is undoubtedly speaking to the Church. Of course this can be challenging and even, at times, threatening, as we do not always hear what we want to hear. But 1 do know that we need have no fear if we stay true to the teaching of the Catholic Church and the life of the Holy Spirit within it.
This was how I, and the people of my diocese, began to respond to the enormous challenges facing the Catholic Church in our country. The Diocese of Nottingham is far-flung. It stretches from the Wash to the borders of the Greater Manchester area in one direction and from the Midlands to the Humber in another. To he a local church in such diverse parts of the country provides its own richness, but makes it difficult to create a common identity. Needless to say, we share in the problems that are affecting many institutions and especially the churches in our postmodern society. However, we refuse to believe that decline is inevitable: much that is good is happening in our parishes and schools and more can be done.
During the year of preparation, lectionary-based materials were offered to help us reflect on four key questions: What do we need to carry with us?
What do we need to let go?
What can we do better together that We now do apart?
What might God be asking us to do?
In addition to these materials, there were four area days based in the episcopal areas of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. From these days and the feedback from the discussion materials the key issues for us as a diocese emerged.
Our young people were invited to take part in conversations in parishes and as schools. Year 10 students from our high schools gathered at the diocesan education centre in Derby on three occasions in the year. Year 12 students met at the Briars, the diocesan youth centre, to identify key issues. A schools event, attended by 6,000 young people, was organised at Scunthorpe United Football Club in July 2003. Acts of worship and suggestions for assemblies were provided for both primary and secondary schools. Three major liturgies took place at St. Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham, on First Sunday of Advent, First Sunday of Lent and at Pentecost, bringing together representatives from every parish, school and religious community of the diocese. A prayer booklet was offered reflecting on the Sunday Lectionary with daily thoughts from Advent through to Pentecost. A subsequent leaflet from Pentecost through to the Assembly offered links between the Weekday Lectionary and the issues already highlighted in the ongoing process. I requested that the diocesan Assembly prayer be prayed at every Mass in the diocese. After this year of preparation almost 500 people gathered at Loughborough University to work together to plan for the future. Three overarching themes emerged from the feedback: spirituality, mission and structures. Within each of these themes were sub-headings for consideration.
Spirituality: Eucharist and worship; Scripture and Tradition; contemporary experience and hunger for God; rediscovering the Sacraments.
Mission: inclusivity — Good News to the poor; identity and witness; complacency — mission or maintenance? Church in the world.
Structures: what gives life? Education and formation; ministry — meaning of service; meaning of power; communication. More than 50 groups met from among the 500 delegates at Loughborough University and they made more than 400 recommendations, and it will take some time for the follow-through team to develop a plan based on them. Some of these reflect the deep concerns of minority groups which cannot be realised within Catholic teaching. But it is important for us to hear these voices and to try to understand the underlying issues which give rise to them.
During the Assembly, Father Timothy Radcliffe OP addressed the delegates on the themes of hope and courage. Father Timothy reminded us that "if we truly learn to hope then we shall have something amazing to share with our contemporaries, something they long for and will recognise", and that "courage is not an optional extra. It is the heart of Christianity. Our faith does not protect us from chaos. It gives us the courage to jump in, believing that we will emerge stronger and more alive".
Father Timothy's words will encourage us as we move on to the next stage of our work. The followthrough team I appointed at the Assembly Mass are forming a plan for the whole diocese, as well as facilitating the meetings of die episcopal areas and schools. Follow-up meetings have already taken place and their first recommendation is about how to make our celebration of Holy Mass more inclusive and more beautiful. In my pastoral letter for Advent I have invited our communities to stretch out a hand of welcome and invite the many Catholics who do not attend Mass regularly to come back to church this Christmas.
The second concern of the followup meetings is that we do actually do something about reaching out to those who are marginalised in our Church and in our society. This is an enormous challenge, but it is met, in the first place, by individuals reaching out to others and sharing something of the delight we experience as Catholics. Parishes will develop a pastoral plan for the future. This plan will see not just to the spiritual needs of our own parishes but reach out to others in the wider communities in which we live. There have already been many local initiatives in the parishes and deaneries following the Assembly. The expectations of the parish representatives who attended the Diocesan Assembly are justifiably high.
At the Assembly itself and during the Diocesan Mass at the Nottingham Arena, at which nearly 8,000 people came together to worship, a great change of heart took place. Our trust in God our Father grew and we experienced the wind of his Spirit blowing away those hesitations that hold us back. As followers of Jesus Christ, we now know that in our diocese we are ready for mission. My prayer is that from these small beginnings much will grow to evangelise not just the Diocese of Nottingham but the society in which we live.
The Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon OP is Bishop of Nottingham