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Geelong Deanery |
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Council - From Parish To PastroalSome 18 months ago I was invited to join our Pastoral Council in Lara. I was advised at the time that we were moving from a traditional structure to a new model. I asked myself, what did this mean? I had been brought up in a family that endeavoured to embrace the model of church perceived to be fulfilling the edicts of Vatican II. Our parish organised a Parish Council that was seen to give assistance to our clergy and to administer to the needs, both physical and spiritual, of the parishioners. During my travels through other Australian Communities I observed this model of service and, unquestionably I expected it to continue to serve the needs of the Parish Communities. So to envisage a New Model, I needed to reflect on the role the Parish Council was fulfilling. Through the various meetings I attended and subsequent discussions with Parishioners and Parish Team Members, I began to search for the role I was being asked to play in this new model. In the mysterious way in which we are guided through life by our God I was invited to participate in a seminar arranged by the Geelong Deanery which had as its Guest Facilitator Brother Loughlan Sofield. Br Sofield has spent the last 10 or so years assisting Parishes in the United States and Canada through the transition which our Parish is currently experiencing. His insight into the questions I have been looking for gave me a new perspective on what we should be looking for from our Pastoral Council. I would like to share this perspective with you. Parish Councils spend a good deal of energy administering to the needs of the Parish Community. However as Br Sofield explained, they were in the main oblivious to the wealth of resources which remain untapped in the parish. Parish Councils have focussed on tasks - their people have been task oriented, they are the DOERS. Without in any way discounting this wonderful and often unrewarded work Br Sofield goes on to explain that to reach our full potential as a Parish Community we need to reach out and understand the gifts that all individuals bring to our community and to assist them in utilising these gifts. This is the role of the Pastoral Council. To achieve this aim the Pastoral Council needs to come together to reflect on the Gospel Message and the challenges it makes to us as Christians and then to plan a direction for the future by identifying the needs of the community and searching within the community for the means to respond to these needs. In doing this the Pastoral Council will enable the members of the Community to fulfil the ministry that God has called them to as life giving members of a Christian Community. These are the thoughts of a faith filled Christian who has shown me that our church is alive, meaningful and ready to grow into the next millennium. (Hugh MacDougall) |
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