Parish Renewal Team

The Parish Renewal Team supports parishes which are seeking to renew their communities as places of encounter with the living Christ and centres of evangelisation and outreach in love and mercy.

The team does this principally by providing practical support for parishes seeking to engage strategies for spiritual and structural renewal outlined in the Archdiocesan Mission Plan Go Make Disciples.

The Parish Renewal Team provides practical support through the personal accompaniment of Parish Priests, clergy, and the lay faithful in parishes according to the specific needs of their communities, as well as through providing opportunities for formation through broader events, such as the Parish Renewal Conference and Didaskō.

Please contact the Parish Renewal Team to arrange a time to meet with a team member or to see what opportunities they can provide you and your parish community, to foster and strengthen evangelisation and discipleship in your parish

Renewed for Mission

We want the best for our parishes: to be more alive, more prayerful, more Christ-centred, more joyful, more spiritually nourishing, more beautiful, more welcoming, more like a family into whose company we can invite our friends. This transformation is possible but only when we make evangelisation and renewal our first priority, as a united community, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Renewed for Mission is a great step to re-set our priorities and get started on inviting everyone – those in the pews and those elsewhere – to know Christ more deeply and to be part of his family, the Church.

Renewed for Mission Days present the fundamentals of Christology, missiology, ecclesiology, the kerygma, and prayer, to aid us in living the evangelising mission of the Church at the local level.

Contact the team today to learn more about how a Renewed for Mission Day can support your parish and find out when the next one will be hosted.

Called & Gifted Discernment Process

God has a unique plan for you to share in His mission—a plan that only you can fulfil—and He has given you the spiritual gifts, or charisms, that you need to fulfil it! If you have been Baptised, it is not a question of whether you have any charisms, but which charisms you have been given.

The Parish Renewal Team invites the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Sydney to gather in-person to discern their charisms, with the Catherine of Siena Institute’s Called & Gifted Discernment Process.

The process is designed to help Christians discern the presence of charisms in their lives. Charisms are special abilities given to all Christians by the Holy Spirit to give them power both to represent Christ and to be a channel of God’s goodness for people.

Commencing Saturday, 14 September.

Didaskō Adult Faith Formation

From the Greek word meaning ‘to teach’, Didaskō aims to provide individuals and parishes groups with the opportunity to learn more about the beauty and riches of our Catholic faith.

For many, formation in the Catholic faith ceased at secondary school (or even earlier), and since then may only have been supplemented by the passive listening to a Sunday homily, personal reading, or perhaps some podcasts.

The Didaskō series provides an opportunity to deepen and mature your understanding of God and His Church through a series of live online short courses. Each short course consists of three online sessions providing quality formation, the opportunity to ask questions, and to contribute to engaging discussions with the lecturer and other participants.

In partnership with  the University of Notre Dame Australia, the courses are delivered by academics who are leaders in their field and have a passion for teaching the faith.

Click here for more information, dates, and costs.

Fundamentals of Flourishing Parishes

By virtue of our baptism, we are all called to share Christ’s love and mercy with a sad and confused world, individually and as parish communities. This workshop series will dive deeper into the natural and supernatural skills that will give you confidence to take up this call so that we may build invitational, vibrant, and Christ-centred parishes. It will also be an opportunity to share ideas and receive encouragement to joyfully press on in your parish service.
Come along to any or all workshops!

Dates and Topics
Wednesday, 21 August: The Art of Christ-Centred Conversation
Wednesday, 28 August: Sharing Your Faith Without Fear
Wednesday, 4 September: Authentic Invitation and Welcome
Wednesday, 11 September: Five Tips for Running Effective Parish Events
Wednesday, 25 September: Capstone

Time: 7:15 – 8:30 PM, doors open at 7:00 pm
Venue: St Martha’s, 38 Renwick Street, Leichhardt NSW 2040
Parking: Free on-site parking available

Equipping Parishes for Mission with Alpha

Come and explore how Alpha can equip and support renewal and mission in parishes, providing new opportunities for people to encounter Christ.

Alpha is a series of interactive sessions that explores the basics of Christian faith in a friendly, open and informal environment.

This day coaching is perfect for those who are new to Alpha, or as a refresher. Individuals as well as Alpha teams are encouraged to come along.

The day will include:

  1. Understanding the New Evangelisation
  2. The what and why of Alpha
  3. Small group facilitation and team training
  4. Retreat coaching
  5. How to form an Alpha team
  6. The power and art of invitation
  7. Promotion

Resources

The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell

Divine Renovation: From Maintenance to Mission by Fr James Mallon

Made for Mission: Renewing your Parish Culture by Tim Glemkowski

Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, Making Church Matter by Fr Michael White and Tom Corcoran

Everyone Leads: How to revitalise the Catholic Church by Chris Lowney

To purchase go to  https://mustardseed.org.au