News from the Valleys Region
18 December, 2024
The Ministry of Presence
A big part of the pastoral ministry in the Valleys is the ministry of Presence, which is essentially finding out where people are and going as much as possible to join or meet them there – many a times outside the church, and beyond the regular Catholics or Christians.
One of such things Fr Simeon has been doing is joining the Biloela Men’s Shed. These, mostly elderly men from different backgrounds and creeds, gather on Tuesdays and sometimes Thursdays to use their skills in producing, making or learning the making of different things. We can, on a Tuesday have as many as 25 men gather. In the attached photo is Kev and Fr Simeon when he made his first garden bird produced from donated pvc. Most of these products are sold and the proceeds added to the donations used to keep the Men’s Shed going.
Another Ministry of Presence in the Valleys, as can be seen in the attached photo, is the playing of Table Tennis on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday nights (photo attached). This happens in the parish hall, though the players come from different denominations and creeds. Here, the church is seen as a welcoming part of the community.
Speaking of being part of the community, and the Ministry of Presence, the priest as much as he can, plays cards with the Elderly on Thursday mornings (see attached photo) and bowls on Friday nights. Again, it’s open to people from the community.
Worthy of note is that some of these were inherited and then sustained by the present pastoral leadership.
