LAST Thursday, April 28, the Parish Council had their meeting.
I reported that Bishop Mark Edwards OMI was no longer in residence in the parish. He has moved to Donvale and we wish him well in his new premises. There will, however, be financial consequences since the Archdiocese was meeting half the presbytery expenses and, in addition, paying rent. The reality was that the presbytery is too small for two priests.
I also spoke about a meeting I attended in Sydney on parish ministry. Clearly, the future is going to be very different from the past. Most parishes reported up to a 40 per cent decline in Mass attendance in the past 10 years and an aging community with fewer young families and seriously few youth. Many parishes have no priest and have been twinned or amalgamated.
In Sydney, the parishes have been given a status ranging from not viable to viable. This will determine their future.
So as not to be too bleak, we see that new structures have to emerge. These can include a resident deacon (married or not) and stronger lay ministry for the administration of parishes that rely on FIFO (fly in fly out) sacramental ministry. Importantly, parishes do not or should not disappear simply because there is no resident priest. On the contrary, new possibilities are opened up.
I believe that, as the Pope emphasises, we need to be more welcoming and inclusive and I have built this into our Greythorn Introduction to be read before Mass. The reality is that many people feel alienated from the Church. How to address this?
The gathering after Mass for coffee is one way to express welcome and bring newcomers into the parish circle. We need to be more creative with the 5.30 Sunday liturgy for youth and remain strongly committed, as a parish, to building this Mass for a celebration that is appropriate for youth.
I am asking the present PPC to remain for a further 12 months since it takes time to work together and see projects through to completion.
Our community depends almost completely on volunteers. These people work at everything from cleaning the Church to liturgy, music and gardening. We have much to be grateful for in the parish and, with courage and creativity, we can continue with vitality and even grow.