|
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church - Ansdell | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
The first team comprised nine parishioners and the then Parish Priest, Fr Aidan Turner (now Vicar General of the Diocese). The nine were originally discerned through prayer at the end of a series of six open parish meetings during Autumn 2002 facilitated by Dympna McGee (from the Diocesan education office) . Those meetings were used to explore topics such as where are we as a parish, what are our strengths and weaknesses, what is the parish for? The sessions included a look at the ministry and mission of Jesus, Vatican II, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Priests and People working together, and a vision of our future.
Some common themes emerged under three headings:
A. What steps will you take towards doing something different?
1. Youth worker [paid?]
2. Teenage/young adult liturgy - Christian fellowship for youth
3. Young musicians group
4. Develop home groups
5. Want present affability within parish to continue – through our regular activities
6. Establish a group to develop liturgy for our own parish and our shared ecumenical worship
B. What do you want to continue doing?
1. Discussion groups to continue
2. Children’s liturgy and expand on it
3. Continue hospitality/welcoming
4. Special liturgies
5. Regular parish meetings open to all parishioners
6. Continue our Mission to the community – via existing groups
C. What do you want to stop doing?
1. Doing nothing
2. Stop trying to change the things we can’t change
3. Stop three Masses
4. Stop one Mass [reduce from 3 to 2]
5. Stop worrying
6. Stop complaining
All who came to the meetings were invited to draw up a vision for the future
of the parish. From this has developed a Parish Development Mission
Statement:
To foster a Christ-centred loving family community, that shares responsibility for encouraging growth and development, offers opportunities for all to use their gifts to serve God and each other, and also reaches out to the wider community in which we live.
The team has met about every three weeks to take the vision forward and to prioritise practicalities, constantly checking back to ensure faithfulness to the Mission Statement. The emphasis is on discovering and fostering the many diverse gifts in the parish – the team activates rather than does. The meetings always begin with 20 minutes of reflective prayer, usually using a piece of scripture from a current Mass or liturgy.
A key role for the team has been to develop communication within the parish. Team members have spoken at Sunday Masses, there are regular updates in the Sunday Bulletin, the Church notice board has been developed, and this web-site are all direct evidence of the team’s strategy.
The first open meeting was held in March 2003. On November 9th 2003 we held
a single facilitated day in the same style as the original assemblies one year
previously so that the vision for 2004 could begin to be developed. It’s
also important that the team’s membership develops and evolves, using
the process of discernment (rather than traditional nomination and election).
Accordingly, three team members stepped down, and three replacement members
were chosen, again by discernment.
A summary of the March 2003
parish meetings
Notes from the November
2003 Parish Assembly
The June 2004 briefing
The May 2005 Parish
Assembly
 |
|||
©Kitabu Web Design |