News from Bundaberg
15 June, 2021
Parish Planning Summit #3
Since June last year our parish has held three Summits, or gatherings, facilitated by Mr Craig Farmer (Sydney), as a means of planning for our parish’s future. Long before that, the Parish Planning Group were meeting to discuss many issues surrounding our parish’s life and structure in its present form and the model of parish we would like to see in the near future. From the Summits we clarified our Parish’s demographics, culture, its values, and vision. From there we were able to identify goals for the next three years.
The third and final Summit held on Saturday, 15th May, saw us define our Parish Vision:
Nourished by Word and Sacrament, we go out, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to welcome and share God’s Love respectfully, with all people.
This now forms the basis of all our actions. The long process of information, formation, and discussion reminded us that, bottom line, we are missionary disciples, proud of our faith, our parish, our Church, who wish all to be in relationship with Jesus.
Alpha
One of our goals is “to welcome all parents, children, and young adults and to enable them to develop a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.” It was strongly recommended that we introduce the Alpha program to the parish as a way of achieving this. On Monday, 14th June, the Parish Team, members of the Stewardship Council and other interested people who could gather at short notice, met via Zoom with Mrs Donna Brennan, coordinator Alpha Australia to hear some tips about how to introduce to a parish. We’ll keep you posted and let you know how it’s going.
Rite of Reception into Full Communion of the Catholic Church
What a seemingly long-winded title for a meaningful celebration of welcome and reception. On May 16th, during the 5.30pm Mass, we welcomed into the Church two candidates, previously baptised in another church. Ms Wendy Davis and Mrs Zenaida Hayes made a strong profession of faith, were confirmed and received Holy Communion for the first time after a short period of preparation through the RCIA.
During the Easter season, the sacramental life of the parish is heightened. From the adult baptisms of the Easter Vigil, infant baptisms, the celebration with the Bishop of the children’s sacraments of confirmation and Holy Communion, and the Rite of Reception, we are reminded of our own baptismal call. It’s a great season in which to renew our baptismal commitment to discipleship.
Pentecost Crawl
On Pentecost Sunday, 23rd May, we joined with our Uniting and Anglican Church brothers and sisters in the second-ever Pentecost Church Crawl. Last year’s was cancelled due to Covid. In a sea of red, we gathered at the Uniting Church, two blocks down the road, for the first reading of Pentecost, a short reflection, and songs, before walking to our own Holy Rosary Catholic Church for the second reading, prayers, songs, and a reflection.
By turning on the outdoor speakers we accompanied the crowd of 200 walking up the hill to our church, leading them in “Holy Spirit Come” and Michael Mangan’s “Holy Spirit Rock”. From Holy Rosary church we walked another block to the Anglican Church to conclude the Sunday’s prayer, finishing with a cuppa. It is a wonderful sign of unity in which to participate.
New Evangelisation
Given the desires of Pope Francis and our own awareness of the needs for new evangelisation we recommenced regular Adult Faith formation video talks/conversations at the Parish Office on Monday, 14th June. We have discovered, like so many others around the world, the Word on Fire Institute, an online learning platform begun by Bishop Barron. The first series of five ‘lessons’ by Elizabeth Scalia, specifically on Effective Evangelisation, includes the following: Storytelling, Scripture, Sacraments, Saints, and Small Moments.
Congratulations Fr Peter!
In case you haven’t heard, we are very proud of our own Fr Peter Tonti on his appointment as Vicar General for the diocese and support him as he devotes his time between Bundaberg and Rockhampton.
Anne Sheehan
