Archbishop Fisher is planning for the future of Sydney parishes with this hope. He hopes “for a Church in which the Gospel is preached with joy, the wisdom of tradition mined with fidelity, the sacraments celebrated with dignity and welcome, and the seminaries, convents and youth groups teeming with new life; a Church in which parishes are true centres of the new evangelisation, the laity theologically literate and spiritually well formed, outreach to the needy effective and growing, and God glorified above all”.

He wishes to consult with the Catholics of Sydney to help with this planning – hence the Parish 2020 initiative. Over the last 18 months he has been consulting with the clergy. Now it is the laity’s turn to be consulted.

To help the laity fulfil their part in Parish 2020, Archbishop Fisher has formed a 15 member working group which includes Bishop Brady and Bishop Randazzo and which is chaired by the Vicar General Fr Gleeson. This group is responsible for the provision of resources for the parishes and the dissemination of information between the parishes and the archdiocese. It will also receive the parish feedback submissions and present them to the Archbishop.

To facilitate the parish consultation at St Michael’s, Fr Janusz has decided to form a leadership committee composed of representatives of different groups and ministries in the parish. These representatives will then go back to the groups they represent, consult with them and bring back information to the leadership committee.

This committee met in December 2016 to discuss the “Leaders Survey”.

Based on this discussion, I filled in and submitted this survey on the 21 December 2016.

Again, the committee met on Saturday, 11 February 2017.

The three Facilitators’ Seminars hosted by the Archdiocese on 15,18,21 February 2017 were well attended.  The auxiliary bishops were present as well as the Vicar General Fr Gleeson. They were keen to impress on us the importance of getting feedback from as many parishioners as possible – through the Parish and Community Survey and later on as well.

The time and effort our parishioners have expended in completing the Catholic Archidocese of Sydney Parish and Community Survey is truly appreciated.  Archbishop Fisher would like us to keep the Parish 2020 initiative in our prayers, asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we discern what is best for the Church in Sydney and for all the faithful, now and in the future.

Valerie Gonzaga

Parish 2020 Coordinator

Parish and Communities Terms of Reference

Parish 2020 Q&A

Parish 2020 Prayer

Archbishop Fisher Address at Clergy Conference 

St Michael’s Hurstville Parish Profile