PARISH GROUPS 2010 - 2011

For the past twelve years the first Wednesday of each month (not January or December) has been our Parish Meeting Night.

It is the night when all Parish Groups meet.

We begin in our church at 7.15pm for prayer followed by announcements. At 7.30 each group meets separately for one hour. At 8.30 all meetings finish and everyone gathers for supper. You can be home by 9pm!

Between now and Pentecost every Resurrection parishioner is asked to consider the following:

• Their baptismal call to rejoice in and share the Good News of the Risen Jesus.

• The high level of participation by Resurrection parishioners that makes us a great parish.

• Why should you leave the vital work that keeps our parish going to somebody else?

• This is a great way to get to know other parishioners.

• There is Christian joy when you share your God-given talents with others.

• There is real energy and enthusiasm when 200 parishioners come together in the Lord’s name.

• This is a commitment for twelve months, from Pentecost to Pentecost.

BULLETIN

The high quality of both our monthly Big Bulletin and weekly bulletins is recognized throughout the Melbourne Archdiocese and beyond. Sometimes it takes a visit to a different parish, a look at a bulletin from another parish or the comments of a visitor to fully appreciate how fortunate we are at Resurrection to have such high quality publications.

This is no accident. It happens because there is group of dedicated parishioners (two of whom have worked tirelessly on the Big Bulletin for twelve years) who constitute the Bulletin Group. Nobody is expected to do everything; there is simply too much for any one person. However if the various tasks are broken down into manageable parts; such as typing, gathering articles, printing, folding, writing, contacting other parish groups, formatting, choosing front cover colour, encouraging parishioners to write articles, graphic design, and just coming up with ideas it all comes together.

If you have an interest in any of the above this is your group. Join the Bulletin Group, and keep our Bulletin the leader in the field. You will also get to meet and know some terrific people.

FINANCE

The careful and professional management of the parish finances is entrusted to this group. Given that around 90% of our parish revenue comes from our Thanksgiving envelopes this is a special and sacred duty.

The Finance Group has oversight over all parish finances. It is their duty to advise the Parish Priest on all financial matters. It would therefore follow that some basic understanding financial management is required. That however can be through professional qualifications, knowing how to budget for a small business or even how to manage household finances.

F O G

Faith On Going is not very good English but it is rather catchy and perhaps the very word fog is descriptive of what most people encounter at some stage of their life.

This new group might organize Reflection Days, Retreats, Seminars, Bible Study, Discussion Groups, Prayer times, or perhaps arrange for speakers to visit our parish and thus enrich our faith journey.

Members of this group should be good listeners and able to discern the spiritual needs of Resurrection parishioners.

JUNIOR YOUTH MENTORS

There appears to be a groundswell of support gathering for the establishment of a Junior Youth Group. The suggestion is that it be for young Resurrection parishioners currently at school in years six, seven, or eight.

How can you support the establishment of such a group? What shape might a Junior Youth Group take? How often should the group meet? As this would be a new group we are starting with a blank page. However it would surely be a good thing for our young parishioners to get to know or to stay in touch with students of their own age.

Anybody joining this group would need to obtain a “Working with Children” card if they don’t already have one.

LITURGY

The word liturgy comes from a Greek word meaning work. There is always work associated with good liturgy. This year’s Easter celebrations are but one recent example of this truth.

No one person can be expected do everything or even to know it all. However if a group of parishioners come together united in their interest in how we pray, praise, worship, celebrate, or experience ritual there is no end to the possibilities.

The Liturgy Group has traditionally been of our larger groups. This is fortunate because if you stop for a moment and think of Mass, liturgical seasons, baptisms, weddings, funerals, environment and much more the scope of this group becomes apparent.

If you have an interest in good, creative liturgy; should you have always wondered why something is done in a certain way this is where you may choose to commit your gifts and energy.

OUTREACH

As the name implies this group is to reach out. To families with a family member having special needs, to those grieving for the loss of a loved one, for women challenged by cancer or other illness. How might this happen?

Perhaps by offering comfort or practical support to a family with somebody (often a child) with special needs; a BBQ, a family day, guest speakers, or just spending some time with the parent/career are just a few of the possibilities. On the last Friday night of each month a group of parishioners who have suffered the loss of a loved one come to Fr Noel’s for a meal, for companionship, for a laugh and yes sometimes a cry.

For some years there has been a group of women who occasionally come together socially, spiritually and for support. These women have been touched by cancer or some other serious illness.

The Outreach Group can be the “umbrella” for all these diverse activities. The Outreach Group could lift the profile of these much appreciated initiatives. In this way other Resurrection parishioners who may be struggling can be reached. There will also be a deeper appreciation that Resurrection parish does care and we certainly do reach out.

Working Bee Preparation

Visitors invariably comment favourably on the overall look of Resurrection Parish. One of the first things noticed is our beautiful gardens, and then it might be the tidiness, the signage, or just simply that it looks like a place that is loved.

Resurrection Parish is indeed a place that has been loved into life by many people over the years. It just has not happened. It has required lot of hard work. Our four working bees each year really keep things moving. However to get the most out of these four working bees they need to be organized. This is where this group comes in. Each person in the group can take responsibility for a designated area of our property, keep an eye on it, and make a list of possible jobs for the next working bee.

At the monthly Parish Meeting Night each group member is expected to report on the likely scope of work for the next working bee. In this way priorities can be established so that on the working bee day parishioners who come have their time and talent put to the best possible use.

Please note that by joining this group you are committing yourself to coming to the Parish Meeting Night and not just simply coming to working bees. There was an opportunity to sign up for working bees as part of the Parish Ministry sign up in February. If you did that the working bees for the remainder of this year are 15 May, 11 September, and 27 November.

MINUS 22’S

Perhaps a better name can be found for this new group, maybe the first order of business! Might there be enough energy and enthusiasm to start a new group for post secondary young parishioners, until they “graduate” to the Plus 22s? What might be the form and focus of this group? How often might this group meet?

The only way to find out and start dealing some of these questions is to invite parishioners of this age group to express their interest by signing up.

PLUS 22’S

For about five years we have had a group for those in our parish aged between 22 and 35 (+). There are usually four or five BBQ’s each year at Fr Noel’s after a 10.30am Mass. Many but not all are former members of our youth group known as RYDERS.

These BBQ’s are terrific days that offer the opportunity for young people to gather and socialize; there is always great camaraderie and good cheer present.

But could this group be more? What if a few in this group would make the time to come to the Parish Meeting Night and plan the BBQ’s or perhaps initiate some other activities? What if there was the opportunity to discuss and deepen faith? What if…?

If you would like to get involved in helping to organize this group simply sign up. Alternately if you would like to be advised of the next function and simply write information please along with your name and contact details.

RCIA

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is based on the early church model of the catechumenate. That is committed Christians of a particular faith community sharing their faith and knowledge of Church teachings with other adults called to conversion.

This invariably means a two way flow of faith and information. RCIA team members begin as mentors but become partners and friends of those searching for God and perhaps meaning in their lives.   

Some of the attributes of an RCIA team member might be:

• a friendly and welcoming personality

• a person who rejoices in and is happy to share the Good News of the Risen Jesus

• an interest and basic understanding of the Bible

• an interest and basic understanding of the Church, its teachings and its history

• an ability to listen and an openness to new ideas

• a reasonable understanding of theology and liturgy

• a willingness to share faith and friendship with others

• a basic ability to teach

• to be respectful of other opinions 

No one person is expected to have all of these gifts, however if you possess some of them this is your opportunity to answer your baptismal call to spread the Good News. This group meets fortnightly during the year in addition to the Parish Meeting Night.

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL

To be well-educated means many things – to be a good reader, a good writer, to be good at mathematics, to have knowledge about a wide range of things. In our school, it also means to have knowledge about God, His Son Jesus and the Church which is entrusted to proclaim The Good News. In the spirit of co-operation and partnership the School Advisory Council seeks to develop further all of these elements of being ‘well-educated’.

The School Advisory Council aims are to:

• Foster close relationships between all who make up this community.

• Work closely within and contribute to the total Parish Meeting structure.

• Discuss issues tabled by the parent representatives.

• Elicit ideas and opinions in regard to school policy and programming.

• Create support for those working on behalf of the school.

SENIORS

This is a group made up of some seniors and some who do not as yet qualify for that distinction.

The purpose of the group is to organize activities for Resurrection Senior parishioners. These include both spiritual and social activities. Anointing Masses, morning teas, movie days, lunches, outings, and the Christmas lunch are just some of the many ways this group reaches out to our senior parishioners.  All this takes time, good humour, and some organizational skills, but the reward of seeing “golden oldies” enjoying themselves more than compensates for the effort.

SOCIAL

The Social Group is a fun group who enjoys planning and organising Social events for our Parish.  WE are determined to get the people of our Parish together to have fun and get to know others in our Parish Community.  WE are a group of people from many walks in life, our meetings are light-hearted, while we come up with different ideas to get people to come out, meet new friends and socialise.
We need people who are great at welcoming, meeting new people and who can make others feel welcome when they first come to one of our functions, as this leads them back time and time again.  We are always looking for new and innovative ideas to get people to join us.  If you think you are one of these people, why not come to one of our meetings and see for yourself.
 

ST VINCENT de PAUL

Our St Vincent de Paul conference is part of a world-wide organization started by Frederic Ozanam in 1833.

Five nights each week food is given to needy families in our parish. They are visited by members of the St Vincent de Paul conference. Each member takes a turn visiting once a week or once a fortnight, depending on the number of members in the conference. Members always visit in pairs. The annual Christmas family/children’s party held in December for all the families visited throughout the year is always a highlight.

If you would like to make a real difference in people’s lives where your reward may be a smile or a thank you; commit to this group.

SUDANESE WELCOME

Seventeen of seventy-five of last year’s Preps were from a Sudanese background. Many have arrived in Australia as refugees. The aim of this group is to help these families make the transition into Australian life. It might be with employment, education, English, material goods, or just befriending a family. For this group to be successful both Sudanese and non-Sudanese parishioners need to be involved. There is also an exciting project under serious consideration to help establish a school in Sudan. 

THANKSGIVING

Next year there will be a Thanksgiving campaign it will be called Stewardship Renewal. As around 90% of all parish income comes from parishioners who faithfully and generously commit to our weekly envelopes, we need to start planning for next year’s campaign.

The Thanksgiving group takes a lead role in monitoring our Thanksgiving Programme. They do this by an analysis of the data, collecting statistics, and keeping parishioners informed about how the programme is going.  This on-going task is vital to the success of every campaign.

This is a group in need of more members to supply the energy and enthusiasm both now and next year. We need to hit the ground running for 2011.

YOUTH

Resurrection Parish has been truly blessed over the last ten years to have had a very active youth group known as RYDERS (Resurrection Youth Disciples Engaging in Real Situations). Some years have been better than others, but there has always been a nucleus of committed young parishioners involved. There have been seven youth camps during this time and six young parishioners have represented Resurrection parish at World Youth Days in Rome, Toronto, and Cologne, and eleven in Sydney two years ago.

With the possibility of a Junior Youth Group might this be the time to think of this Youth Group forming around students from years nine, ten, eleven, and twelve? If so it might be good to have some adult mentors. Any such adult would need to have or obtain a “Working with Children” card.

ANYTHING ELSE

Are there any gaps?

Is there another group that you feel would benefit the parish?

If so what is it?

Would you be prepared to be part of such a group? If so click here to sign up