10 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2024 Mick Chalkley From Sandhurst Mission and Pastoral Council In this Jubilee year for Sandhurst, the Mission and Pastoral Council (SMPC) gathered in Shepparton for meetings in February, April, July and November. Our work plan included: a focus on the strategic directions which had arisen from the preparation and consultation meetings and the Diocesan Assembly conducted in 2022-2023; ongoing listening and learning about the structures and financial situation of the Diocese; and providing advice regarding the development of programs, events and the exercise of various diocesan ministries including a proposed partnership for Sandhurst Youth Ministry. The Council decided at its February meeting to forgo the development of a detailed Strategic and Pastoral Plan, refocusing its energies on proposing a set of broader priorities and goals. This decision was significant as it reflected the fact that the Council is continuing to mature in its self-understanding of its purpose: a body that listens, discerns and acts on behalf of the whole Diocese in service of the Church on mission. By mid-year the members, with Bishop Shane, had agreed on ten Strategic Mission and Pastoral Goals, grouped under three strategic directions: Gospel mission and pastoral outreach, belonging and sense of community and, life-giving and empowering formation. The Goals were promulgated by Bishop Shane in a special edition of the Sandpiper e-News, on 22 November. The Goals provide direction for the activities of the Sandhurst Mission and Pastoral Life Office, parishes, schools and other diocesan entities and movements for the next four years. The Council’s task will be to monitor, review and evaluate progress towards the Goals. Ms Gabby Downie chaired the February, April and July meetings of the Council, which included expertly guiding us through the various processes that led to the development of the Strategic Mission and Pastoral Goals. In June Gabby announced that she was stepping aside from the position of Chair and stepping down from the Council. I was appointed to the role by Bishop Shane on 20 July following a process of prayerful discernment by the members of the Council. I am grateful to Gabby for her strong and thoughtful leadership of the Council as its inaugural Chair. She has laid strong foundations for the Council to exercise co-responsibility for leadership of the Church on mission in our Diocese in a synodal key. The casual vacancy created by Gabby’s decision to step down from the Council was filled in October by Mrs Libby Dowling (Yarrawonga). Both Libby and Ms Kate Fogarty, Executive Director Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd were commissioned as members of the Council by Bishop Shane during the celebration of the Eucharist on Saturday 23 November in Shepparton. “Each member of the Council was encouraged and challenged by the vision and task of being and becoming a Church on the journey together: the people of God proclaiming and living communion, participation and mission.”
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