Area JPIC Groups OUR CONCERN – Prayer Peace Prisoners Persecution Poverty Pollution.

Area JPIC Groups

OUR CONCERN – Prayer Peace Prisoners Persecution Poverty Pollution

Area JPIC Groups

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

Why?

How?

Area JPIC Groups

Where?

“Areas” - could be:

Diocesan Pastoral Area

Deanery

Borough

District

… … … etc.

Area JPIC Groups

No point in working out “HOW TO FORM GROUPS?” until we have answered the other questions.

WHO is called to JPIC spirituality and action?

WHY work in a Group?

HOW does each Group work and WHAT does it do?

WHEN do we start?

Area JPIC Groups

Common vision and purpose help to focus energy and get results.

Vision = shared picture of a group’s future, with specific goals that make it real.

Purpose expresses reason for group’s existence, and should show why its work matters.

Area JPIC Groups

Mission Statement(Aligned with Church’s vision, mission and

values)

Answers questions such as:

•Who are we?•What needs to we exist to meet?•What do we do to meet those needs?•Who do we serve? •What are our philosophy, values and

culture?•What makes us distinctive or unique?

Area JPIC Groups“Aims and Objectives” are always linked, but often confused. Aims state why the work is being done, i.e., the changes that should result from your work.

Objectives are what you do, i.e., the activities that you undertake and the services that you offer to bring about these changes.

(Outcomes are linked to aims, and defining clear aims helps to identify outcomes - the changes, benefits, learning or other effects that happen as a result of the work.)

Area JPIC Groups

Group Objectives

Based on vision and purpose, these are specific goals that the group will accomplish in a fixed time period. They flow from the group’s purpose and each one moves the group towards its vision.

They are the basis of the group’s planned work.

Area JPIC GroupsAIMS. Help to answer questions such as:

Purpose: What is the job for? What purposes will the result serve?

Customer/Client: Who is the end result for? Who will use it?

End product: What do we want to end up at the task deadline?

Standards: How will we/our customers/clients judge whether our results are satisfactory? What evaluation criteria will we apply to the end product?

Area JPIC GroupsAIMS.

Clearly defined aims, understood by all members, are crucial to good teamwork and co-operation.

The process of achieving aims is just as important. All the people involved must sit around the table together setting the aims. This ensures common understanding and supports the process of “buy in and commitment”.

The “aims target” (questions in previous slide) helps clarify all the key stakeholders at the start, helping to define the end result that the “customer” needs. You can then deliver what is needed rather than having to sell an idea.

Area JPIC Groups

Successful Meetings

o Use a systematic approach

Ralph Coverdale, inspired by Jesuit training, observed what very effective teams did when they worked on tasks and developed a systematic approach.

It is one of many, but it does work well and is both simple and flexible.

Area JPIC Groups1. Discuss what you are trying to achieve. (Make sure your aims or objectives are very clear and everyone understands them.)

2. Everyone shares ideas and information that will help achieve your aims. (This can be informal, but everyone must have a chance to contribute and listen to one another.)

3. Discuss and decide what has to be done to achieve your aim. (“WHTBD”)

4. Only now make a plan that says who does what, and when.

Area JPIC Groups

Act. (Often outside the meeting.)

Finally, review

(Discover what has worked well and what needs further work. Assess how you have worked together - again, to learn what worked and how to work together even better next time.)

Area JPIC GroupsImportant Note: The sequence of systematic phases is by no means linear but should be viewed as a cycle or control circuit.

The process may begin with entry at one of the later phases.

eg., if the answer to the question “What action needs to be taken?” is already obvious at the outset, then it may be possible to develop the plans. Or perhaps implementation has already begun – in which case we enter at the review phase.

Area JPIC GroupsPastoral Cycle / Spiral / Circle – or ‘See, Judge, Act’

One useful way of working to ensure a balance between reflection and action.

Experience:What do I know of this issue? What have I experienced of this? Who are affected most by this and how? How has the issue arisen?

Analysis:Why is this happening? Who gains from this situation? Who loses out? Why does this situation continue?

cont’d

Area JPIC GroupsPastoral Cycle / Spiral / Circle – or ‘See, Judge, Act’

cont’dTheological (Faith) Reflection:What particular insight/view does our faith, church teaching, scriptures, etc give us on this issue?

Action:What needs to be done to resolve this situation? What can I/we/my parish do?How will your action change those involved? How can you tell if it is successful?

Celebration:

cont’d

Area JPIC GroupsPastoral Cycle / Spiral / Circle – or ‘See, Judge, Act’

cont’dEvaluate:What went well? What didn’t? What lessons have you learned for the next time?Have you made anyone else aware of the issue? What do you hope to achieve in the future? What might you do differently next time?

New experience:What do I know of this issue? What have I experienced of this? Who are affected most by this and how?

Area JPIC GroupsUse simple Group Skills

Most importantly:

o Listeningo Supportingo Confrontingo Brainstorming o Reviewing

Skills that help you work together effectively as a group are the same skills needed to work effectively with fellow parishioners, other Christians and the rest of the structural Churches. Learning them together is safe and using them together reinforces them!

Area JPIC Groups

The “wider system”

A group serves some wider system outside itself. Success, and even continued existence, depend upon meeting the needs of "customers" and maintaining good relationships with "suppliers".

The skills needed inside a group are the same skills needed to work well with the wider system.

Area JPIC GroupsThe “wider system”

What institutions and individuals play a key role in provoking or preventing change? (Politicians, trade-unionists, educationalists, community groups, NGOs, clergy …)

What is the role of each institution and of the people within it?

Find out who is sympathetic and who is resistant to your proposed changes.

Establish relationships of trust with those you want to work with.

Be clear and realistic about the exact nature of the change that is being proposed.

Work out who will affected by your activity or upset by it, and who ought to be consulted.

Area JPIC Groups

The “wider system”

Some simple tools can help.

Ø Understanding the wider system

o Make a map of the groups and key people you influence or who influence you.

Ø List the groups and key people (A diagram or picture often helps.) Some will be inside “the organisation”, some not.

Area JPIC Groups

The “wider system”

o Think about the nature of the relationship you have with these key groups/people.

Ø Pick eight or ten of them and think of a word like "co-operative" or "distant" to describe the relationship.

o Talk about how you feel about these relationships

Area JPIC Groups

The “wider system”

Ø You might decide that the relationship between a parish priest and the laity is "distant”; or that local media are “unhelpful”.

Think - and share - how you all feel about that!

This helps create the energy for change, eg., people might feel sad or frustrated.

Area JPIC GroupsThe “wider system”

o Choose which relationships you want to develop first

Ø Some people choose a relationship that could be better, where there is reasonable hope for improvement and where the work is manageable. Do not not be too ambitious to start with!

Ø Take action, choosing what to do from a range of possibilities.

Area JPIC GroupsThe “wider system”

Ask the other group / person what you could do differently to make the relationship more productive

Ø Where problems arise, investigate them to learn how to prevent them in future. Avoid blaming.

Ø Set up joint informal meetings to explore issues of mutual interest.

Ø Encourage everyone to be clear and open with other people about what they want (and do not want) from them and listen to their point of view.

Area JPIC Groups•Work for JPIC is a vital part of each person’s

Christian commitment.

•God gives us the capacity to relate to one another and work together: a good and effective group has more potential than an individual.

•People bring different skills and knowledge.

•People value the experience and benefits of working with others.

•Essential characteristics include: a serious commitment and a willingness to be thoughtful and thorough in whatever is undertaken, always remembering the Christian principles that underlie issues.

Area JPIC Groups

OUR CONCERN – Prayer Peace Prisoners Persecution Poverty Pollution

Area JPIC Groups

Each local group is the crossing point in a network of prayer, experience of local concerns and agents both catholic and ecumenical, and is both supported by the diocesan commission and provides it with support, which extends to other networks, spreading throughout the diocese and the nation. This can seem rather messy and untidy, and we may long for a neat set-up that gives us more security and certainty, but Christ never promised us security, he promised us life and as for certainty … if we had certainty we wouldn’t need faith, would we? [Mary Anstey, Clifton Diocese]

Area JPIC Groups•Many parish groups are small; many individuals

work without local group support.

•JPIC concerns are taken on by other organisations, unaware that justice issues and Catholic Social Teaching are involved (and could bring focus when they act and pray).

•Area Groups extend work beyond the geographical and faith boundaries of a single parish or church community, and stand with others of good will.

•Small groups can find the challenges of Catholic Social Teaching and injustices in our modern world overwhelming.

•Common work helps all to decide how to start to become involved and what priorities to consider.

Area JPIC Groups•People want to know about what their neighbours

are doing – both successes and cautionary tales.

•Neighbours bring support and encouragement, and fresh energy and insights.

•There may be special concerns in regions / deaneries / boroughs, which benefit from concerted study, prayer and action.

•News from groups can inspire others and be passed on via various networks.

•Groups may concentrate on a single project or undertake a varied programme, concentrating on issues based either at home or abroad – or both.

•There is no single right or wrong way to operate!

Area JPIC Groups•It may not be easy to start and sustain a group. Each

one will develop in its own way.

•Consistent good communication with other church structures is essential, including that with local clergy, Diocesan Areas, the diocesan commission and other bodies.

•If all overtures are blocked, then Populorum Progressio, says, “The laity must act, using their initiative, not waiting for instructions.”

•One or more respected people within the structural church who are regarded as group “champions” are valuable.

•It takes time to establish a presence in an area: much thought and tact are needed.

•Take some trouble to get a good relationship with local clergy, passing on information and avoiding needless problems – such as clashes with other events.

Area JPIC Groups•Prayer Services to mark special Days of

Prayer can gather people and may be followed by social mingling and invitations both to take action and to be told about future events – and these need not all be “serious” events.

•It is useful to quote statements by your bishop and his fellows to support and encourage prayer and action for the issues that you adopt.

•The best way to get started is probably to meet together with two or three others and talk things over.

•Find out what each of you would like to get out of a group and what you think it should do – and not do.

Area JPIC Groups•Devise some specific “launch” event, open to all: a time of

prayer, social, video, talk by an expert, etc.,

•Plan the event with care. (Including a time, place and outline format for a follow-up meeting, formal or informal, as suits those involved). Remember the less able and those with special dietary needs.

•Make individual invitations to as many potentially interested people as possible and find out if they may consider joining a group and/or supporting what it does. Get them to invite their friends.

•Soon afterwards, set up a regular meeting time and place for an initial period – perhaps every week for a liturgical season, or monthly for six months or so – and evaluate success at then end of this time, as well as on an ongoing basis.

•Involve members of religious orders who live locally.

Area JPIC Groups•Try to produce regular periodical reports on

activity, and send them out.

•Skills in communication and publicity are important, both with mass-goers, and with local and regional media and the church press – not to mention relevant agencies and clergy and church structures.

•Use a systematic approach to planning, but never forget the needs of PEOPLE.

Area JPIC Groups New Groups Develop

•There is an initial tentative period of politeness and co-operation, while people get to know one another.

•Next, a potentially difficult and frustrating period, in which members know each better and start to explore their differences and challenge what should be done.

•After this, members accept one another and settle down to common work, having recognised their differences and discovered what they can do together.

•Finally, the group gets on with its job and settles down to get work done, no longer wasting time on “going over old ground”.

Area JPIC Groups

JPIC newsletter destinations - 2011

JPIC newsletter destinations - ca 1991

JPIC newsletter destinations - ca 1991

JPIC newsletter destinations - ca 1991

Area JPIC Groups

OUR CONCERN – Prayer Peace Prisoners Persecution Poverty Pollution