Who are we?

An important part of the National Office for Vocation's development work is the establishment of Diocesan Vocation Teams. These mirror locally our national work of:

[1] Fostering a "culture of vocation" in the local Church;

[2] Fostering "particular vocations" [including priesthood & consecrated life] within the local Church.

It would be impossible to foster a "culture change" nationally without having local teams mandated by the Bishop to animate vocation ministry within the Dioceses.

The idea is for the Teams to help integrate vocation awareness into all areas of local Church life - through events, gatherings, availablitity of resources and other means.

We provide a framework paper incorporating both a Constitution for the Team [membership / term of office etc.] plus a Job Description. We then offer a training day that enables the team to reflect on the vision of In Verbo Tuo and the challenge of fostering a vocational ethos in the Church.

We will proactively resource and support the work of these Teams with regular contact and materials.

In this way there is both national consistency and local diversity in a strategy of vocation ministry. The Diocesan Vocation Director would thus be able to work collaboratively with others and be supported in promoting the Diocesan Priesthood alongside other vocations.

To date 13 dioceses have launched Vocation Teams: Arundel & Brighton; Brentwood; Cardiff; Clifton; Hallam; Hexham & Newcastle; Nottingham; Menevia; Middlesbrough; Plymouth; Portsmouth; Westminster and Wrexham.

Diocesan Vocation Teams represent the wider Church community: priests and deacons; consecrated men and women ; married and single people; young people; representatives with varied Church experience e.g. Diocesan Youth Workers and Chaplains, members of the new movements and the new ecclesial communities.