• THE PARISH I SEE

    Worksheet Activity

  • WELCOME

    Thank you for taking the time to complete Worksheet Activity 2: The Parish I see online. The information you provide here will greatly assist your Parish Priest/Administrator & the Parish Pastoral Council or Leadership Team to understand the community's experience of parish life currently. 

    CONFIDENTIALITY & PRIVACY

    Your privacy is important to us. The information collected in this form is subject to the Diocese of Wollongong privacy policy. Information collected will be forwarded, in an anonymous form, to your parish priest or administrator. 

    If you choose to enter your personal details, these will be forwarded, along with your responses, to your parish priest or administrator.

    TIME TO COMPLETE

    The time to complete will vary from person to person. You can expect it to take approximately 30-40 mins to complete. There are 45 questions to answer.

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  • About your parish and you

  • Contact details

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  • OVERVIEW

    It can be difficult to imagine what a renewed parish might look like. We can often get glimpses of how individual ministries or particular experiences of parishioners could improve but not whole pictures. We can also identify aspects of other communities that we value or even have memories of our own experiences that resonate. These are all undoubtedly helpful. They speak to the passion that stirs within us and give us energy when we move towards them. For this reason, Bishop Brian has given us a word picture of a renewed parish, "In the parish I see". This is an image of what could be if we were to become a Come & See, Go & Make people who prioritise encounter, discipleship, and evangelisation.

    Responding to Bishop Brian's word picture of a renewed parish, please call to mind your current experience of parish life. This is a chance to celebrate all that is well and to assess where there is room for growth and renewal. You are encouraged to prayerfully reflect and honestly respond to the questions below. In so doing and by God’s grace, you will help your pastor*, the pastoral council and/or leadership team, and the whole community to take positive action to bring about the transformation needed.

    The following reflection activities are designed to help break open this word picture and begin to frame it within the context of your parish community. Each section represents an aspect of the word picture, phrase by phrase.

    *given that some parishes have appointed parish priests, assistant priests, administrators, and/or resident priests, this document will use the generic term “pastor” to refer to the priest who is assigned the leadership of the parish community.

  • Read slowly and prayerfully

    In the parish I see ...

    I see life breaking forth1... I see an active parish, marked by the joy of the Gospel2
    ... I see inter-generational families together, worshipping and praying3...I see vibrant eucharistic celebrations where God is worshipped with reverence and awe,
    and people are inspired4. There, I see pastors speaking the truth in love to all who will listen5...

    I see a parish where there is a culture of invitation and welcome6... I see disciples sent forth to proclaim a crucified and risen Christ7... I see a parish where the sick, hungry, hurting, and lost are given preference8... I see a parish so deeply connected to those hurting in the community that their pain is our pain9... I see a parish that is an epicentre of hope for all who draw near to it, a lighthouse amidst the storms of life10...

    I see the community supporting one another in small faith-sharing groups11...
    I see a place where there is no in-crowd or out-crowd, but rather, there are the people of God, serving one another12, and using the gifts that God has given them for the upbuilding of the community13...I see a parish where saints are made14...

    I see a parish where all people can hear the voice of God calling them, and they actively respond to their baptismal call, their vocation15— to the ordained life, consecrated religious, married, or single life ... Yes, in the parish I see, the clergy are not over-burdened, because they have good men and women around them, supporting them in their leadership, and exercising appropriate leadership themselves16... 

    The person of Jesus and his invitation to “come and see” and then to “go and make” is at the heart of the parish I see, and in that parish, good things grow and our buildings can scarcely contain us. That’s the parish I see!

    References: 1 cf. John 10:10b, 2 Evangelii Gaudium 1, 3 cf. Exodus 10:9, 4 Sacrosanctum Concilium 7, 8, 10, 5 Cf Ephesians 4:15, 6 Evangelii Gaudium 114, 7 cf. 1 Corinthians 2:1–5, 8 cf. Matthew 25:40, 9 cf. Galatians 6:2, Evangelii Gaudium 198, 10 cf. Matthew 5:14–16, 11 cf. Hebrews 10:24–25, 12 cf. 1 Peter 4:10, 13 cf. 1 Corinthians 14:12, 14 Francis. (2023). On Confidence in the Merciful Love of God 17, 15 "A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people."—Pope Francis, January 16, 2014,  16 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (1997). On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the sacred ministry of priest

  • Considering the whole "In the Parish I see.." word picture

  • "I see life breaking forth...I see an active parish, marked by the joy of the Gospel..."

    I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • "I see inter-generational families together, worshipping and praying"

    We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with ourflocks and herds, because we have the Lord’s festival to celebrate. (EXODUS 10:9)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see vibrant Eucharistic celebrations where God is worshipped with reverence and awe, and people are inspired.”

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “There I see pastors speaking the truth in love to all who will listen.”

    But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. (EPHESIANS 4:15)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see a parish where there is a culture of invitation and welcome”

    The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel (EVANGELII GAUDIUM, 114)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see disciples sent forth to proclaim a crucified and risen Christ”

    When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. (1 CORINTHIANS 2:1–5)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see a parish where the sick, hungry, hurting, and lost are given preference”

    And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. (MATTHEW 25:40)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see a parish so deeply connected to those hurting in the community that their pain is our pain”

    If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. (1 CORINTHIANS 12:26)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see a parish that is an epicentre of hope for all who draw near to it, a lighthouse amidst the storms of life”

    You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lampputs it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. Inthe same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and giveglory to your Father in heaven. (MATTHEW 5:14–16)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see the community supporting one another in small faith-sharing groups”

    And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting tomeet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as yousee the Day approaching. (HEBREWS 10:24–25)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

  • What is a small faith-sharing group? 

    Small faith-sharing groups meet a very practical and human need: the need to belong. In a large parish, there is always the danger of getting “lost in the shuffle.” In a small parish, there is always the challenge of being the “new person” or outsider.

    Small faith-sharing groups allow us to share our faith with others and to grow together in community. Using prayer, shared experiences, and explorations of faith, these small groups can create in a smaller setting a community that enhances the life of the entire parish. 

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  • “I see a place where there is no in-crowd or out-crowd but rather there are the people of God, serving one another and using the gifts that God has given them for the upbuilding of the community”

    Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each ofyou has received. (1 PETER 4:10)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see a parish where saints are made”

    “I always feel, however, the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint, because I don’t count on my merits, since I have none, but I trust in him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to himself and make me a saint, clothing me in his infinite merits.” (ST THERESE OF LISIEUX, STORY OF A SOUL, P72)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “I see a parish where all people can hear the voice of God calling them and actively respond to their baptismal call, their vocation –to the ordained life, consecrated religious, married or single life”

    A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people (POPE FRANCIS, JANUARY 16, 2014)

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “[In] the Parish I see, the clergy are not over-burdened because they have good men and women around them, supporting them in their leadership and exercising appropriate leadership themselves”

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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  • “The person of Jesus and his invitation to “Come and see” and then to “go and make” is at the heart of the Parish I see and, in that parish, good things grow and our buildings can scarcely contain us.”

  • Please prayerfully consider the following statements and questions

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