Diocesan Assembly Toolkit - Download here
The Diocesan Assembly Toolkit is a practical, prayerful guide to help synodal co-leads and teams prepare their diocese's Ecclesial Assembly, structured around the four steps of the journey: Prepare, Listen, Discern and Act.
Since 2021, the Synod on Synodality has invited local Churches into a journey of listening, discernment and renewal. Now, as dioceses are invited to prepare their evaluation Assemblies ahead of the 2028 gathering in Rome, new questions arise: how the Assembly processes can feed existing diocesan priorities, how to form participants practically and spiritually, and making the most of the fruits of the Assembly.
This Toolkit draws on the various implementation documents from the Vatican, including Recollecting, the Final Document, Pathways for the Implementation and Towards the Assemblies to offer a clear route through each stage of that process. Alongside step-by-step guidance, it includes six practical resource sheets — a reflection on the Parable of the Sower, options for synodal formation, template questions and conversation prompts, help with training facilitators, resources for listening to particular groups, and a guide to the Synod's study group reports.
Written by two people who have each led a Diocesan Synod or Assembly themselves, the Toolkit is designed to lighten the workload of synodal teams while helping their Assembly process bear real fruit — drawing out new initiatives, honest reflection on obstacles, and concrete next steps.
At a moment when there are many pressures on dioceses, this is also an invitation: to see the Assembly itself as a next step of synodality, sowing seeds of prayerful listening and discernment for our hurting, needy world.
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Subtitles have been added to this recording. The webinar took place on Monday 7 September, 2026.
Behind the Scenes at the Assembly
The recording of our webinar is available on You Tube . Sr Nathalie Becquart XMCJ and Fr Giacomo Costa SJ unpack the Vatican's latest resource for the next step on our synod journey, "Recollecting: Accompanying the preparation of the local Church’s evaluation Assembly." Together with Janet Forbes from the Archdiocese of Armagh, Sheila Pires from the Southern African Bishops' Conference and Kelley Paget from Oceania, the key stages and practical implications of the diocesan assemblies are discussed, offering a framework for how local churches will reflect on, discern, and share the fruits of the implementation phase in preparation for the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly. This recording would be particularly useful for synod teams in dioceses or for those already involved in assemblies.