Synod 2006 possible actions

Synod 2006 held over Queen’s Birthday or Pentecost weekend, 2-4 June, presented a number of propositions. These have now been released with the promulgation of the synod booklet.

Liturgy, prayer and spirituality

Opening and closing rites in te reo and other languages are incorporated into the mass.

The Turanga Māori adviser is invited to visit and assist pastoral areas with understanding Māori spirituality and ritual.

Materials and workshops for liturgies which reflect the place of tangata whenua in our church are developed.

Traditions from all ethnic groups are incorporated into liturgies, embracing our cultural diversity in consultation with the different cultural groups.

We share each other’s ethnic charism and faith understanding by participating in mass celebrated with different rituals and languages.

Different expression of faith are explored.

Creativity is genuinely supported and encouraged.

Physical spaces are reshaped for creative worship experiences.

A travelling music ministry provides and promotes liturgical guidelines and resources (attentive to copyright).

Local school music groups are invited to be part of liturgies and prayer celebrations, featuring youth art.

An annual celebration for children is established.

An annual thanksgiving celebration celebrates the gifts of the community.

Liturgical planning is coordinated at pastoral area level as well as by parishes.

Pastoral areas

– form liturgy teams

– draw up a calendar of pastoral area activities and celebrations

– develop a liturgical planning checklist, including bicultural aspects

– coordinate eucharist times to avoid overlapping

– ensure that liturgy committees are fully representative of the community.

Formation in spirituality and prayer is widely available to all.

• People meet to pray, share, discuss relevant issues and deepen their knowledge and understanding of God’s revelation.

• Study and fellowship groups in prayer and spirituality are available for all ages, cultures, and faiths.

• Different styles of prayer are included in programmes such as Marriage Preparation.

• Resources are available for prayer rituals and blessings held in homes.

• Spirituality modules which set key life transitions in the context of Catholic spirituality are developed and incorporated into secular educational programmes.

• Education in different traditions and styles of prayer is available, especially through small group study and practice.

• Prayer resources for Aotearoa New Zealand are developed and promoted.

• Spiritual companions and guides are trained and supported.

• Eucharistic adoration is promoted.

Opportunities for retreats and reflection days are available to all.

• Retreats and reflection days are offered for all ages.

• Young people have retreats run by youth leaders, during which they can participate in a parish Mass.

• Leaders and ministers have opportunities for special retreat/reflection days.

Sharing our living faith

Education and life-long growth in faith

• Every person is committed to a culture of life-long learning.

• Our needs are met through a variety of media that embrace the most effective technology in a way that meets people’s demands and is accessible.

• Small groups of all ages, cultures and faiths meet to pray, share, discuss relevant issues, and deepen their knowledge and understanding of God’s revelation.

• Educational programmes identify and nourish gifts within the community and encourage their use.

• Our leaders in ministry receive ongoing formation and have access to the resources they need.

• New ministries develop to meet identified faith needs.

• People are supported and educated at key transition points in their lives.

• Our schools and parishes have a vibrant relationship with each other, sharing liturgies, resources (buildings, time, gifts) and stories.

• Families who enrol in schools or sacramental programmes receive ongoing support and help in faith development.

• Youth and young adults are enthusiastic, involved and participating because their faith needs are being met in an appropriate way and place.

• There is ongoing research into the issues of modern life (eg, bioethics) and educational resources for disseminating the insights.

• We have a body of expertise which feeds into pastoral areas and parish centres.

• People are excited by their knowledge of social justice teaching and are responding to the social and moral issues of the day.

In 2011 every person is committed to life-long faith formation and learning.

• Formation and support in prayer, spiritual growth, faith education and cultural awareness are available to all parishes, pastoral areas and chaplaincies.

• Small group learning is actively promoted.

• Courses are held in pastoral areas.

• Small groups of all ages, cultures and faiths meet to pray, share, discuss relevant issues, and deepen their knowledge and understanding of God’s revelation.

• Educational programmes:

o Identify and encourage use of the wealth of untapped knowledge and ability within the community.

o Promote informal education by delivering resources to families.

o Nourish cross-cultural understanding of Church teaching.

o Provide education in different traditions and styles of prayer through small group study and practice.

o Identify barriers to learning.

o Develop evangelisation programmes to keep alive the memory/story of Jesus.

o Offer marriage courses for all ages.

o Offer programmes to help families nurture the faith of their preschoolers.

o Develop spirituality modules to incorporate into currently available secular educational programmes for key transitions and give them a Catholic context.

o Carry out ongoing research into issues of modern life, such as bioethics, and provide educational resources to disseminate the insights.

Understanding and appreciation of the sacraments is strengthened by ongoing adult education.

• New teaching and learning methods of sacramental formation are explored.

• Children and parents are visited before and after sacramental programmes.

• Families enrolled for sacramental programmes are given ongoing support and help in faith development.

• Post-sacramental celebrations are developed and implemented for parents and their children.

• Sacramental formation ensures that Liturgies of the Word with Communion, when no Mass is available, are recognised as appropriate and authentic.

People are given support and education at key transition points in their lives.

• Educational programmes are developed and made available for transitions, such as birth, preschoolers, parenthood, marriage, schooling, starting work, relationship breakdown, redundancy, financial issues, sickness, death, embarking on a new venture or faith journey, mid-life, elderly, bereavement, sexual abuse, violence in homes.

• Peer support is provided at key transition points.

Young people are enthusiastic and involved because their faith needs are met in appropriate ways.

• Attractive, well organised and financially viable education programmes and activities, with friendship, food and open friendly leaders, are available to all young people.

• Young people participate in workshops and forums where topical issues are discussed and debated.

• Formation is offered to all levels, outside formal school or religious education programmes in a retreat/camp-type environment, and run by persons of all ages.

• Schools have trained chaplains who link with pastoral areas, parishes, other schools and all families, widening their role and collaborating with pastoral workers where there is no Catholic school or college or where students attend other schools.

• Funding for chaplains between archdiocese, pastoral areas, parishes and schools.

• Resources are shared so that all young people have access to faith learning.

Leaders and ministers are given ongoing formation and support.

• Leaders are offered mentoring and parish-based training for their ministries.

• The archdiocesan Leadership in Family Ministry programme trains and sustains lay and religious leaders to share responsibility for ministry to families.

• Leaders are offered spiritual direction and supervision through a process which is comprehensive and culturally appropriate.

• Leaders have opportunities for annual conferences that form, celebrate, enthuse, teach, gather and energise ministers in the various areas.

• Small group leaders are trained and encouraged to network with each other, acknowledging the importance of peer education and testimony.

• Men and women are trained to offer homilies and reflections for appropriate liturgical occasions, including Liturgies of the Word with Communion.

• Guidelines are drawn up for leaders in different ministries, including job descriptions, exit clauses and succession planning.

• Training in volunteering and hospitality is offered to all parishes, pastoral areas and chaplaincies.

• Best practice strategies are developed for involving, sustaining, training and enlivening volunteers and creating a welcoming environment.

• A visitation ministry is set up in every parish to make visits and identify new ministries needed.

• Educational programmes are developed around these needs.

• A process of reflective evaluation for changing needs and structures is developed.

• A paid archdiocesan change manager is employed with responsibility for providing education for change management at the local level.

• A body of expertise which feeds into pastoral areas and parish centres is developed.

• Ecumenical services and activities are encouraged.

• An evangelisation group is set up to identify and visit families of children attending State schools and help them in the religious formation of their children.

• People with marketing skills are identified to advertise available resources.

The gifts of all members of the archdiocese are discerned, nourished and celebrated.

• Parishes and pastoral areas learn the power of invitation and develop processes for discerning gifts, so that all members of the Church can be involved, serve and contribute to the Church’s mission.

• Leaders are discerned, identified and offered educational workshops and seminars, recognising that they are willing to share their gifts and talents.

• Every ministry is identified, promoted and celebrated with appropriate training.

• A gift-discernment Sunday is held annually in every parish.

• An annual thanksgiving celebration for the community’s gifts acknowledges and celebrates all forms of participation.

• Young people’s talents are expressed and celebrated in the life of the community.

• People are invited to share their wisdom and insights, as seen in the synod interviews.

• Former religious and priests share their skills and insights.

• Meet-the-parish groups welcome all newcomers, recognise their gifts and incorporate them into parish life.

• Best practice groups and parishes teach and form others in their areas of expertise, so that all gifts in the archdiocese can be used for mission and outreach.

We are reflective, Spirit-filled people, outward-looking and mission-oriented, learning and sharing with people of all beliefs, ages and cultures.

• Situations of deep hurt such as historic land issues are recognised and acknowledged, and efforts made to achieve reconciliation.

• We reach out in an inclusive and reconciling manner to those who are alienated, open to what they have to say and allowing them to transform us.

• Evangelisation programmes keep alive the memory/story of Jesus.

• Schools and parishes make sure that families enrolling at schools are informed they are part of the parish and are visited by a parishioner who is specially trained and part of a larger team.

• Evangelisation groups identify and visit families of children attending State schools to help them in the religious formation of their children.

• We collaborate with other faith traditions, supporting and strengthening existing Christian groups in the community and encouraging ecumenical services and activities.

• All communication in and with society by the archdiocese, parishes and pastoral areas is compassionate in its outreach and offers a positive witness to Christ in the world.

Our communication needs are met by effective use of media and technology.

• A technology group with paid manager and staff develops a technological expertise database, making a wide variety of resources available and train people in media skills.

• Best practice, successful programmes, events, activities, materials and resources are shared across the archdiocese.

• Current and commonly available technology and a publicity person or team ensures young people’s activities are visible to our own faith communities and to the broader community.

• A detailed communication plan is developed for the archdiocese, parishes, pastoral areas and chaplaincies, so that the outcomes and fruits of the synod can be widely promulgated and celebrated.

Ministry and local leadership

In 2011, the Archdiocese of Wellington is collaborative in its ministry and leadership.

• As a community we are healing, forgiving and openly collaborative.

• A best practice model of collaborative ministry has been developed, is fully resourced and is highlighted by all communication/media avenues.

• There is commitment and ongoing support for training priests and seminarians in collaborative ministry.

• Formation workshops on collaborative ministry are held in every pastoral area.

• Central administration fosters and mentors relationships across all areas and nourishes those at grassroots level.

• More decision-making is devolved to parishes so they can discern and meet the needs of their people, reflecting the collaborative model.

• Parishes, chaplaincies and pastoral areas receive ongoing formation in the theology and practice of pastoral planning.

• The wisdom and experience of priests is fully recognised and honoured.

• The placement of priests and pastoral leaders is reviewed in tandem.

• There is ongoing reflection on and clarification of the roles of priests, deanery, pastoral leaders, etc.

• Lay leaders and Launch Out candidates are introduced and meet people in each pastoral area annually.

• The community embodies the principle of subsidiarity within a spirit of interdependence.

• Young people are actively involved in all leadership and decision-making teams in parishes and pastoral areas.

• Young people are included in every dimension of the Church’s life and mission.

Our community is welcoming and inclusive, reaching out to everyone.

• Hospitality is recognised as everyone’s responsibility.

• All our actions seek to engender a spirit of hospitality, invitation, healing and holiness.

• All communication, both responsive and proactive, is characterised by passion, enthusiasm, pride in our faith and commitment.

• A gift-discernment process forms all parishes and pastoral areas in the power of invitation so that all members of the Church are involved, serve and contribute to the Church’s mission.

• Parishes, pastoral areas and chaplaincies are trained in best practice volunteering and hospitality.

• Volunteers are involved, sustained, trained and enlivened as a result of studies of their needs.

• Concerted research and education enable a welcoming environment to be created.

• All parts of the archdiocese live in a spirit of interdependence, aware that resources, directions and commitments are for all and with all.

• Interdependence includes sister churches and all people of good will.

• All communication in and with society by the archdiocese, parishes and Pastoral Areas is compassionate in outreach and offers a positive witness to Christ in the world.

We are committed to recognising our bicultural heritage in our multicultural environment.

• Parish and pastoral area community plans recognise our bicultural heritage in a multicultural environment.

• Turanga Māori are invited to establish a presence in all parishes and provide formation.

• There are visible and audible signs of Māori and multicultural diversity at parish level.

• All liturgical celebrations reflect the place of the tangata whenua in our Church.

• Cultural diversity is embraced through consultation with our different cultural groups.

• Programmes are established to nourish a cross-cultural understanding of Church teaching.

Young people are actively supported and included in every dimension of the Church’s life and mission.

• Young people are included in planning, actioning and evaluating all areas of social, liturgical and community life.

• Young people’s talents are expressed and celebrated in the life of the community.

• They are actively promoted and supported by parishes and pastoral areas.

• Structures and attitudes are given flexibility to meet their needs.

• Regular forums are held with young people to find out their needs, and include young people who are outside the formal Church structure.

• Intergenerational teamwork is established in parish life.

• There is consultation with youth to identify their social justice initiatives and priorities.

• Young people’s involvement in service and social justice projects is encouraged and given community support.

• Communities are encouraged to recognise that, for young people, social life is as important as liturgical life and hospitality is fundamental to ministry.

• Physical spaces are reshaped for creative worship, different expressions of faith are explored and creativity is genuinely supported and encouraged.

• A dedicated physical space is provided in each pastoral area for young people to personalise and make their own, where they are free to express their faith and uniqueness.

• Attractive, well-organised and financially viable programmes and activities are made available for young people, involving friendship, food and open friendly leaders.

• Faith education and formation takes place in retreat/camp-type environments, run by persons of all ages and for all levels, outside of school or religious education programmes.

• Young people take part in workshops and forums where topical issues are discussed and debated.

• Resources are shared so that all have access to faith learning.

• Proven and successful youth initiatives, such as ‘Jesus for Real’, are funded.

• The enthusiasm, involvement and participation of youth and young adults are recognised and celebrated, allowing their faith needs to be met in appropriate ways.

• The commitment of youth and young adults to a deep understanding of what it means to be a Eucharistic people is acknowledged and celebrated.

• Students leaving college are put in touch with tertiary chaplaincies, where appropriate.

• Current and commonly available technology is used to publicise effectively what is happening in our young Church.

• A publicity person or team ensures young people’s activities are visible to our own faith communities and in the broader community.

• Contact people are appointed to facilitate and coordinate activities relating to young people.

• Young people provide links between community groups.

Parishes and schools have a strong, vibrant and mutually supportive relationship.

• Schools and parishes draw up a joint plan for developing their relationship.

• There is a parish presence in the school apart from the parish priest.

• School programmes and activities include non-parent parishioners, shared festivals, workshops and open days.

• School Masses are held on Sunday.

• Liturgies, resources (buildings, time, gifts) and stories are shared.

• Local school music groups are invited to be part of liturgies and prayer celebrations, utilising youth art.

• Faith formation in schools is fully supported by parish and Church.

• Schools are encouraged to have trained chaplains who link with pastoral areas, parishes, other schools and families.

• Funding for chaplains is shared between archdiocese, pastoral areas, parishes and schools.

• Where there is no Catholic school or college or where students attend other schools, chaplains and pastoral workers widen their role to ensure that students have access to faith formation.

• Schools and parishes make sure that families enrolling at schools are informed that they are part of the parish, and are visited by a parishioner who is specially trained and part of a larger team.

• Parishes and schools share all resources and relevant information with young people.

• Parishes, chaplaincies, schools, religious congregations and community groups are effectively interconnected and integrated.

There is active and effective pastoral planning.

• Parish and pastoral area community plans recognise our bicultural heritage in a multicultural environment.

• The special geographic and socio-economic circumstances of different pastoral areas are taken into account in all planning.

• All pastoral area councils are operational by mid-2007.

• Pastoral area councils draw up a calendar of pastoral area activities, celebrations, shared education opportunities, etc.

• Central administration is reviewed across all areas, fostering and mentoring relationships and nourishing those at the grassroots level.

• A change manager and/or management team is appointed to lead the process of change at local level.

• There is meaningful and measurable sharing of resources: financial, physical and spiritual.

• Property, finances and resources are audited and rationalised.

• Surplus resources are sold where necessary for the development of multi-purpose, user-friendly buildings.

• Lay pastoral leaders are resourced by means of a levy.

• In all actions that impact on our community and its development we are able to articulate:

o the vision we are seeking

o the plan we are working to

o the actions we are taking.

Working for justice and peace

In 2011 everyone in the Wellington Archdiocese knows and understands that social justice is at the heart of the gospel.

• Social justice is a priority in prayer and action throughout our Sunday and non-Sunday lives.

• Liturgy and social justice are coordinated so that liturgies reflect gospel values of social justice in prayers, homilies and music.

• We are informed and visible advocates for positive change.

• Social justice groups and contact people are established in each parish/pastoral area, with members formally commissioned to defined roles and responsibilities.

• Each parish council has a social justice coordinator.

• Youth are consulted to identify their social justice initiatives and priorities.

• Young people are encouraged to be involved in service and social justice projects and supported by the community.

• We devote time to fighting injustice and responding to practical needs.

• Every pastoral area has social justice outreach and awareness of needs.

People are excited by their knowledge of Catholic social teaching and respond to the social and moral issues of the day.

• Educational opportunities in Catholic social teaching are widely available, including a social justice formation programme.

• Education in Catholic social teaching is provided to parishioners in a way that is relevant and responsive to contemporary and long-term issues.

• Parishes support and reinforce programmes such as Catholic Social Teaching Week.

• Situations of deep hurt, such as historic land issues, are recognised and acknowledged and efforts made to achieve reconciliation.

• Pastoral areas and parishes reach out in an inclusive and reconciling manner to those who are alienated, open to what they have to say and allowing them to transform us.

The archdiocesan commitment to social justice is reflected in its budget and other resources.

• The operational and coordinating component of the archdiocesan social justice programme is strengthened by reviewing and increasing its budget to reflect the Archdiocesan commitment to social justice.

• Targeted and appropriate resources are provided, such as key social justice texts in readily understandable language and translations where appropriate.

• A think tank is established to retain the dynamism and experience of the synod social justice groups and work towards a future Archdiocesan Social Justice Synod by 2009.