In 2018, our Ryde-Gladesville Parish is embarking on a process to create a new Parish Pastoral Plan. Your input, thoughts and ideas are most welcome as we move towards our preferred future.

Please use the form below to select two priorities which you think are the most important for the parish at this time.

The description of each focus area is as follows:
 
1.0 Welcome and Hospitality      
• A good roster of trained  ‘meeters & greeters’ for each Mass and major parish functions
• A culture of looking out for, and reaching out to: newly arrived, recently bereaved, returning from sickness…etc…etc
• Ideally—never ‘a stranger in our midst’

2.0 Community and Belonging
• Generally, parishioners are known to each other and feel  ‘at home’ in the parish
• There is a good range of age-appropriate and interest events and initiatives enabling parishioners to mix socially

3.0 Ministry Services
• There is a strong network of ministry  groups to support and complement the Priests in meeting the pastoral and spiritual needs of parishioners
• Most of the ministry groups have an adequate number of members so that responsibilities and duties are shared equally
• Ministry group members have training and ongoing support  and resources

4.0  Liturgy/Worship
• Liturgy is public worship by and for the church
• Liturgy is ACTION in symbol and ritual
• Common liturgical practices: Eucharist--proclamation of The Word & Breaking of The Bread; praying, listening, responding, singing, attending in gestures….all in an assembly of believers
• Ever-present challenge---to make our liturgies uplifting, inspiring, nourishing for the soul, strengthening relationship with God……

5.0  Adult Faith Formation
• Parish-provided access to programs and experiences enabling growth in understanding and appreciation of church, faith and spirituality
• Ongoing invitation and support, helping a movement as needed from: spectator mode to player mode; from consumer mentality to a discipleship of Jesus mind-set; from compliance to commitment….from co-dependence to co-responsibility
 
6.0  Youth/Young Adults
• Creating ‘a space’ in the parish where Catholic youth and young Catholic adults can find community among peers
• Provision of age-appropriate religious and spiritual experiences for youth/young adults enabling them to express and share their faith/spirituality.

7.0  Outreach/Mission  
• Mind-set shift from a ‘maintenance parish’ to a parish ‘on mission’
• Creative outreach initiatives inviting the 8,000 + baptised Catholics in the parish to some level of re-connection
•  Social justice and humanitarian outreach to locals doing it tough and to others struggling at the margins
• Ecumenical and inter-faith engagement and collaboration