OUR PARISH
Our mission
To know, love and serve Jesus by sharing our gifts through our baptismal mission.
Our vision
EVANGELISATION: REACHING OUT AND SHARING OUR FAITH
Drawing on their personal relationship with Jesus and ongoing experience of the Holy Spirit all members of our community are willing and able to constructively reach out beyond the community, share their faith and invite others to encounter Jesus and the community of faith.
COMMUNITY: LOVING AND CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER
Hospitality, love and care are essential to the life and joyfulness of our community. It is a place where all are welcome and included. Through taking responsibility for the life and growth of the community, each member experiences a strong and growing sense of belonging.
DISCIPLESHIP: LEARNING AND GROWING TOGETHER IN FAITH
Through ongoing participation in small faith sharing groups and celebrating the sacraments, all members of our community are committed to growing in the knowledge, understanding and practice of their faith and so live more fully Jesus’ call to discipleship and mission in our world today.
WORSHIP: CELEBRATING & PRAISING GOD’S PRESENCE
Our experience of worship, especially our Sunday Eucharist, is the high point of life in our community where we celebrate and praise God for his presence in our lives. All members, through their full and active participation, experience prayerful, nurturing and uplifting liturgies, enabling them to live out Jesus’ mission in their lives.
MINISTRY / SERVICE: GIVING OF/parish-ministries/ OURSELVES
Seeing their life as part of Jesus’ mission, and being responsive to the needs of the society in which we live, our community enables every member to use their unique gifts and skills in ministry, giving of themselves in the service of others.
LEADERSHIP: GUIDING AND INSPIRING OTHERS TO GROW AS MISSIONARY DISCIPLES
All leaders take shared responsibility for intentionally guiding, inspiring and empowering members of the community to grow as missionary disciples.
An invitation to be part of our parish renewal
Dear Sisters and Brothers
Here at Our Lady of Mount Carmel we are blessed to have so many caring and committed parishioners who make our parish the vibrant and welcoming community that it is. Building on this strong foundation of faith and community we have embarked on a Parish Renewal Program. Over the past year or so we have studied and implemented the Divine Renovation model, a specifically designed program for renewing Catholic parishes and supported by our Diocese. This process has lead to the creation of a strategic role for the Parish Pastoral Council, the creation of a Parish Leadership Team to implement the strategy, and the development of key visions in the areas of worship, ministry, community, discipleship, evangelisation and leadership.
These visions, approved by a parish meeting, have refocused our efforts in a spiritual renewal. Recently, this has lead to the beginning of Alpha in our parish, the renewing of our Youth Group and a broader view of community and hospitality. This renewal will continue to devolve from a strategic level with the Parish Council through to application within our Ministry Teams and then be embraced by our parishioners and ultimately by the broader community.
Alongside this spiritual renewal is the need for a refurbishment of the parish property and facilities. The parish was created almost 40 years ago and our church was built more than 25 years ago. There is a need to update, remodel and build the facilities that are needed for our parish to flourish for the next 25 and 40 years.
We have a Property Committee that is overseeing this refurbishment.
This is an exciting time for our parish and it will be all the better with your involvement. I am pleased to share these initial ideas with you and look forward to you sharing your thoughts.
God bless,
Fr Shane Kelleher OCD