North Belconnen parish explores community, evangelisation, and outreach in Parish Assembly

Parishes, schools, communities and ministries around the Archdiocese are preparing for their own Conversations in the Spirit, following on from the inaugural Archdiocesan Assembly in October last year.

The resulting community expressions will be brought together and discerned through future Archdiocesan gatherings, bodies and initiatives in 2025 and beyond.

Fr Mick MacAndrew, who hosted a Parish Assembly for Our Lady of Perpetual Help in North Belconnen on Sunday, said Conversations in the Spirit was a wonderful way to discern a vision.

“We prayed, we listened to each other, and we listened to the Holy Spirit speaking through each of us,” he said.

“We had a good range of ages and people, and we have come up with, I’m sure, the material we need to discern the future of the parish for the next three years.”

Parishioner Frank Brassil said many great ideas had been shared through the enthusiastic engagement of parishioners.

“We could welcome people to our parish better, and one thought was that we could keep our church open,” he said.

“We could let people in our broader community know that churches are places for peace, and they can come here for half an hour of peace. If we could do that, maybe the understanding of our church in the community could improve.”

Parishioner Gabrielle Sullivan said her group had talked about evangelisation.

“We think our mission is to take the word of God seriously and spread it to as many people as we can,” she said.

“There are also some immediate goals we can aim for – we should know people’s names, we should welcome people to the parish, and we should foster groups and activities that are relevant to our mission.”

Paul Sykes noted the idea of evangelising with parents at the two parish schools.

“Often, there are lots of families who aren’t closely connected with the actual parish,” he said.

“How do we get those parents wanting to bring their children into the sacraments of the church? How do we get them more involved? How do we reach out and encourage them to stay involved in parish life?”

Fr. Mick said the Parish Pastoral Council would sift through the material gathered at the Assembly over coming sessions.

“The council will come up with a vision statement to present to the whole of the parish and then, we will start implementing the vision, step by step,” he explained.

“We are all united through the power of the Holy Spirit, and each of us is gifted by the Holy Spirit to contribute to our parish life.”

Parishes and other groups are asked to engage in local Conversations in the Spirit by Pentecost (8 June, 2025).