1 Welcome
2 Agenda 2.30pm Welcome and Housekeeping 2.40pm Opening Prayer andBishop’s Comments 2.50pm Parish 2020 & How to Facilitate 3.15pm Break 3.20pm Q&A 3.50pm Prayer and Close
3 Purpose To be better informed and well equipped to promote the vision of Parish 2020 in your Parish Community To provide strategies to maximise the Parish 2020 survey response rate within your Parish Community To help parishes prepare for ongoing engagement, feedback and implementation
4 Parish 2020 Prayer Faithful God, giver of life, and source of all blessing, we seek your guidance and wisdom as with hearts full of hope we look expectantly forward to a new time of planning and renewal in our Archdiocese.
5 Under the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,empower us each with a vision for the future, transform our minds to see fresh possibilities, give us the insights we need to strengthen our Church; nourish and unite us through the Eucharist, and guide us to discern and implement what is best for our Church and all the faithful.
6 Unite us as Church and anoint us with a common vision, so that we may be of one mind and one spirit, working with joy for the growth of your Kingdom. We ask this, with humble but eager hearts, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
7 A word from our Bishop
8 Fr Gerry Gleeson Vicar General
9 First, some context… Enormous structural changes in wealth, technology, society, and family life over the past 50 years have had a profound impact on the practice of faith in Australia…
10 So how healthy are we as a Church?While we could argue about how to describe health, a measurable proxy is church attendance… Church attenders are older than the general population and men are under-represented. A higher proportion of church attenders is born overseas. Church attenders are generally highly educated Figure: Age structure of the adult population (aged 15 and over) for the Australian church and population in 2006
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12 At present in the Sydney Archdiocese…138 parishes Yet 1 in 3 is financially unable to sustain its priest, and in many cases has insufficient finance to maintain parish buildings Inner city and eastern suburb parishes are in decline (ageing, attendance and pastoral revenues), yet some parishes in the south west of the Sydney Archdiocese are growing 200 priests in active ministry Yet most are aged 60+ and approaching retirement with fewer vocations coming through the seminaries, we don’t have enough priests for all our parishes. We demand the same or more from an ageing, declining pool of clergy. Our needs and circumstances have changed. How should we respond?
13 Why does our Church exist?“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 The Church “exists in order to evangelise” Evangelii Nuntiandi Pope Paul VI (1975)
14 Our Purpose as a Catholic ChurchCreating missionary disciples is now a moral obligation. We need to cease being a church of ‘maintenance’ and become a church of ‘mission’… ” I sense the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelisation and to the missions ad gentes [to the nations]. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples” Pope JPII, Redemptoris Missio, No.3, 1990
15 Pope Francis reminds us of our Mission“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security….. …..my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security….. .….while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat” (Mk 6:37).” Evangelii Gaudium, 49
16 What does this mean for us as Catholics in Sydney?While the facts look dire, our mission has never been clearer…. We must move from a maintenance to a missionary oriented church through renewal of ourselves, our parishes and our Church in the Archdiocese, if we are to create missionary disciples, and bring people of Sydney to know and love Jesus. Parish 2020 aims to help create strong, vital, welcoming, life-giving, sustainable, missionary parishes, which are equipped and capable to undertake this challenging mission.
17 Parish 2020 – The Vision What will our parishes be like in 2020 and Beyond?Stronger, vital, invitational parishes are able: To invite more people to meet Christ and share in the life of the Church To abide by the highest professional standards for child safety and financial probity To support existing and new parish ministries To maintain and care for properties and buildings
18 Parish 2020 – The Way How will we get there?By rediscovering our missionary vocation – to become outward looking, ready and able to invite others to become disciples also Becoming the visible presence of the Church in our suburb Finding new ways of using our church and buildings as places of evangelisation
19 Parish 2020 Highly Recommended ResourcesForming Intentional Disciples For parish leaders, staff and all Catholics to transform parish life from within By Sherry Weddell, OSV Publishing, 2012 Divine Renovation Bringing your parish from maintenance to mission By Fr James Mallon, 23rd Publications Contact Mustard Seed Bookshop | (02) Keating St Lidcombe
20 Parish 2020 – The Way How will we get there?By collaborating with neighbouring parishes – which may eventually involving merging or formally partnering Think outside our existing approaches; consider how moving from isolation as a parish to working with other neighbouring parishes can create something bigger and more effective Eg. Sharing resources, Youth Ministry, RCIA, parish office support, building maintenance etc
21 Parish 2020 Timeline Activity Timeframe Complete Clergy ConsultationMarch 2016 – September 2016 Parish Leaders Consultation December 2016 Parish and Community Consultation January 2017 – March 2017 Survey Responses – Collate, Analyse & Interpret April 2017 – June 2017 Deanery Based Focus Groups July 2017 – September 2017 Archbishops Proposal Document December 2017 Parish and Communities Response January 2017 – May 2018
22 5 Point Plan for FacilitationDecide on a day and time for your sessions Decide on an appropriate venue Ensure there is good audio Ensure there is good video capability Advertise the sessions Invite parishioners Provide enough time for people to attend
23 How Should we FacilitateHave an attendance sheet. How many sessions do you think should be conducted in your Parish? Encourage everyone to complete a survey. Ensure you have hard copies of the Parish 2020 survey.
24 How Should we FacilitateBe prepared for push back or rejection. Don’t allow one or two people to hijack the session. Allow as many people as possible to have their say.
25 How Should we FacilitateBe prepared to tell people you don’t have answers to all their questions. Target the different groups in your Parish. Be prepared for follow up sessions.
26 Questions for Parish DiscussionHow can we become more missionary in our part of Sydney? Who are the people we need to reach? How and where do we best meet them? Is there scope to collaborate with neighbouring Parishes? What resources do you think you may need to achieve this?
27 Questions for Parish Discussion
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30 Group Discussion What is Parish 2020? How will you run your sessions?What outcomes do you expect to achieve? In which areas can we best collaborate with our neighbours?
31 https://www. surveymonkey. net/r/https://www.surveymonkey.net/r/?sm=k8_2BYyhBehWMxkzZQb1cNMc7iJviBrGSJUC4WoLeVxzM_3D
32 Contacts and Support Parish Co-ordinator [NAME] [Email and Phone]For Parish 2020 resources and news: Parish Tel: (02)
33 Concluding Prayer We pray for guidance from the Holy Spiritas we discern the future of our Parishes: Empower us each with a vision for the future; Transform our minds to see fresh possibilities, Give us the insights we need to strengthen our Church;
34 Concluding Prayer Nourish and unite us through the Eucharist,And guide us to discern and implement what is best for our Church and all the faithful.
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