Behind the Scenes of the Assembly - Assembly Toolkit Launch
We are excited to announce that School for Synodality will be hosting an online webinar, ‘Behind the Scenes at the Assembly’ with Sr Nathalie Becquart XMCJ and Fr Giacomo Costa SJ from the General Secretariat of the Synod, as we formally launch our Diocesan Assembly Toolkit, and 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."
We’ll also be joined by by special guests from around the world, including Janet Forbes of the Archdiocese of Armagh in Northern Ireland, Sheila Pires, Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and Kelly Paget, the Continental Synodal Contact for Oceania from the Diocese of Broken Bay, Australia.
Together we will explore key stages, and practical implications of the diocesan assemblies, 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 webinar would be particularly useful for synod teams in dioceses or for those already involved in assemblies, however all are welcome as we continue to work towards a more missionary, participatory, and synodal future. This session will be recorded.
School For Synodality new resource - Diocesan Assembly Toolkit
The School for Synodality has produced an accompanying Diocesan Assembly Toolkit for "Recollecting: Accompanying the preparation of the local Church’s evaluation Assembly".
This 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.
Suggested Other Resources from School for Synodality:
