Saturday December 5th. The Wave - Central London: the Stop Climate Change coalition, of which CAFOD and Christian Aid are also part, is organising an Ecumenical service and rally for climate justice ahead of the meeting of world leaders in Copenhagen. It promises to be the biggest climate rally ever organised and a great day out for all the family. Ecumenical service at 11am (with Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Rowan Williams) at Westminster Central Hall, march starting at 1pm from Grosvenor Square. Details on local transport at: http://www.cafod.org.uk/take-action/climate/the-wave and http://www.cafod.org.uk/take-action/climate/the-wave, or contact the CAFOD Portsmouth office on 01252 329385 or porstmouth@cafod.org.uk

Sat 12th Sept It is hoped that some of our Parishioners will participate in this annual event and raise money for St Laurence. Young Adults can get together and either cycle or walk, it is a fun event. We will also need parishioners to staff the church between the hours of 10am – 6pm.

Sun 9th August 10.45 New members of the our Parish Pastoral Council will be commissioned during the 10.45 Mass and after Mass there will be a Social Gathering in the Hall. Everyone is welcome.

Thurs 30th July 12 noon. The Sisters  will be at St Laurence with gifts, Icons, CD’s and other church items. Please come along and meet themand see their products, all made in their Convent.

Thurs 30th July 12 noon. The Sisters will be at St Laurence with gifts, Icons, CD’s and other church items. Please come along and meet them and see their products, all made in their Convent.

Sat 11th July 10am – 3pm  at St Bede’s, Basingstoke. Aimed to raise awareness of physical, psychological or emotional abuse suffered by both men and women, and to offer practical advice on recognising domestic abuse, supporting victims and helping to break the cycle. To book contact parish office. Details on poster or contact Keith Chappell kchappell@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk 01329 835583. No charge.

We live and worship in the Pastoral Area covering the Parishes of Alton, Bordon, Grayshott, Liphook, and Petersfield.

Our four priests, all but one of whom are over 70, arestretched more and more thinly across these five parishes.

Within the next 5 years we could be down to only two orthree priests, so we must act now and plan for a fruitful future.

 What we must do

We must work together and share our resources better – especiallyour clergy.

Following the Bishop’s Advent Pastoral Letter, we areinevitably moving from 5 separate parishes towards a single integrated parishstructure - it's going to happen, so we must ensure it works.

As lay people we must take on the responsibility for keepingour own church a vibrant and growing community.

The Area Pastoral Council

The Area Pastoral Council, with the clergy, is developing this new single parish structure and planning the transition so as to maintain the life of the various existing parishes.This transition is starting now.

The Council has members from every parish - do you know who yours are?

 Our Aims

We want to ensure that as far as possible Sunday Mass continues at every church, and that every church is looked after by a designated priest (although they may look after more than one church).

Every parishioner should continue to feel that they have a"home church"

Each church will need lay people to work together to keep their individual church life going – we want to build on existing structures but we need to involve more people.

Whatdoes it mean to us?

We - the parishioners - have to join in the running and life of our church.  We have to step up to the challenge and take our Church forward.

One thing we must do is to take much of theadmin/property/finance load off our priests – free their scarce time to bepriests, not administrators.

This paper is to keep you informed, to ask for your prayersfor God’s guidance and support, and for your active participation in the lifeof your present Parish. The PPC Core Group urges each one of you personally to attend the ParishGathering on Thursday 4^th of June to strengthen our existing ParishFamily ties, hear the Group’s report and discuss the implications of a newlarger Parish.