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,
are stretched more and more thinly across these five parishes.
Within the next 5 years we could be down to only two or three 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 – especially our clergy.
Following the Bishop’s Advent Pastoral Letter,
we are inevitably moving from 5 separate parishes towards
a single integrated parish structure - it's going to happen, so we must ensure it works.
As lay people we must take on the responsibility for keeping our 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 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.
What does 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 the admin/property/finance load off our priests
– free their scarce time to be priests, not administrators.
This paper is to keep you informed,
to ask for your prayers for God’s guidance and support,
and for your active participation in the life of your Parish.