Bishop Tobin holds listening sessions for lay parish leaders

Published: 2005-10-10

WARREN, R.I. (CNS) -- "If you were in my chair, what do you see as the needs of the diocese?" Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence asked lay parish leaders gathered at St. Mary of the Bay Church in Warren. "This is a time when the Spirit is moving in the church. ... We have to understand what the Holy Spirit is asking us to do," he said. Bishop Tobin hosted the first of five listening sessions he planned as a way to get to know his new diocese. Since he was installed May 31, he said, he had been meeting with various diocesan boards but had not yet had a chance to hear what the laity thinks about ministry in the Providence Diocese. At the Warren gathering, about 55 representatives from dozens of parishes, selected by their pastors, were asked to identify three strengths and three needs of the diocese and one or two strategies for addressing those needs.

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