Year in Review 2024 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst 13 2024 Reports new ways of providing pastoral and missionary outreach. It is our hope that the PVP will encourage and support the ongoing renewal of our parish communities, and provide an experience of what it means to be a synodal Church in mission. Two parish groupings participated in PVP pilots between May and September: Eaglehawk and Inglewood-Marong parishes, and the Wangaratta, Wangaratta South and Moyhu parishes. The pilot visitations were positive experiences for these parishes and have assisted the working party in their efforts to refine and improve the PVP documentation and processes. I am especially grateful to Rev. Stephen Bolling PP (Eaglehawk and InglewoodMarong) and Rev. Nathan Verallo (Moderator for Wangaratta, Wangaratta South and Moyhu), and the pastoral council members, parishioners and staff of these faith communities who participated in the pilots. I also thank the members of the PVP Working Party: Mrs Leslie Cooper (Executive Assistant to the Director, Mission and Pastoral Life), Mr Tim Nolan (Executive Assistant to the Bishop), Rev. Adi Indra (Assistant Priest, Wodonga), Rev. Stephen Bolling, Mr David Walker (Parishioner, Numurkah) and Mr Simon White (Senior Accountant at the Chancery). Dates have been assigned in Bishop Shane’s calendar for visitations with all parishes in the Diocese over the next four years and will be finalised in consultation with each parish community. It has been my privilege to lead the Mission and Pastoral Life Team in 2024: Ms Katrina Strong (Communications Coordinator) and Mrs Leslie Cooper. In 2022 and 2023 Leslie worked in a part-time capacity as a Project Support Officer but, in the light of the needs of the team and our commitment to providing services to support and grow the various ministries in our parishes, the position held by Leslie was reviewed and reconfigured as a full-time Executive Assistant. Leslie continues to support diocesan projects as well as being a first point of contact for the Office of Mission and Pastoral Life. Katrina has exercised a key role in promoting the Sandhurst 150th Anniversary events and celebrations throughout the year, in addition to editing the Sandpiper e-News, producing videos and providing updates to our social media channels. Mary Pianta (Disability Contact Coordinator) has continued to offer information to parish communities about practical ways to foster understanding and inclusion. Two new Mission and Pastoral Life roles have been developed and approved by Bishop Shane: Assistant Director, Mission and Pastoral Life and Youth Ministry Team Leader. The Assistant Director will work closely with me, managing the day-to-day operations of the Mission and Pastoral Life Team, as well as developing and implementing plans to achieve the Strategic Mission and Pastoral Goals relating to formation. The Youth Ministry Team Leader role emerges directly from a partnership p r o p o s a l developed by the Sandhurst Youth Ministry Reference Group. The Team Leader will shape and lead a new Youth Ministry Team and assume responsibility for the effective implementation of the Sandhurst Youth Ministry partnership. The Sandhurst Youth Ministry partnership is an agreement to actively collaborate in and exercise co-responsibility for the provision and leadership of Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Sandhurst. The partnership will be between the diocesan Chancery, parishes, priests and Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd. In late December Bishop Shane appointed Mr Geoff Gowdie as Assistant Director, Mission and Pastoral Life and Mrs Claire Spinelli as Youth Ministry Team Leader. Both Geoff and Claire will commence at the Chancery in early 2025. Following a request from the Council of Priests, in 2023 and 2024 the Office for Mission and Pastoral Life convened three Liturgical Formation Seminars based on the Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter on Formation in the Liturgy Desiderio Desideravi. The first was hosted by the Wangaratta South Parish on Saturday 14 October 2023, the second in Shepparton on Wednesday 18 October 2023 and the third in Bendigo on 21 May 2024. Each seminar took the form of a keynote address on Desiderio Desideravi expertly delivered by Professor Clare Johnson (Director of the Centre for Liturgy at Australian Catholic University) followed by workshop choices of Reading the Word, Music for the Liturgy and Extraordinary Ministers of Communion. Our workshop presenters included Dr Paul Taylor (Director of Music, Sacred Heart Cathedral Bendigo) Ms Lyn Breen (Parishioner, Cathedral Cluster of Parishes), and myself. More than one hundred and forty lay
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