PENANG (Herald Malaysia): A family parish rooted in Jesus Christ, driven by faith, teamwork and dedication that will transform lives and communities was the vision agreed by parishioners of City Parish, Penang when they came together during their parish pastoral assembly on Nov 20.

Fifty-six parishioners attended the assembly at the Assumption Church hall which started with Praise and Worship by the Filipino Catholic Community of Penang (FCCP). The Bible was then enthroned followed by gospel reading and prayer.

John Dass, the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) chairperson welcomed the parishioners. He thanked the parish priest and the assistant parish priest and other priests who help celebrate mass in City Parish.

In his keynote address, Parish priest Fr Dominic Santhiyagu elaborated on the purpose of the assembly.

“You have heard when there is no election, the people will suffer. Well, when we have no mission the parish will suffer. That’s why we are here today to discern together what our pastoral needs are. Let us all do things in an objective manner.”

He thanked the Parish Animating Team (PAT) and the PPC for their work in planning for the Assembly. Leaders of all groups were not forgotten as he thanked them for their unending support and participation. Finally, he said, thanks should also go to the parish staff, who did all the administration works for the Assembly.

A slide presentation of all parish events and activities in 2011 was presented by Francesca, the PAT secretary. The participants were reminded about two events in December, the Feast of St Francis Xavier and the Christmas party.

This was followed by a review of the parish special event — Family Day, and the BEC special event — Family 24- hour Prayer Day. A review of the BEC and Service Groups was also done.

Fr Dominic then introduced the Diocese’s Thrust, Target and Slogan, and explained briefly the 2012 theme - Evangelisation Through Liturgy. The parish’s vision and mission, as pre-prepared by PAT were then unveiled and participants were given a free hand to edit them.

The City Parish mission follows:

• To be rooted in the Word of God.
  
  

• To build Christ-Centred parish communities and BEC.
  
  

• Reaching out to all as witnesses for Christ and the Church.
  
  

• Being a welcoming parish.
  
  

The groups then made their planning report, followed by group discussion. Participants were grouped to discuss two questions — in what way can we evangelise to Christians and non Christians and what other pastoral issues do you wish to bring to the attention of this Parish Assembly.

Some feedback to the first question were: encourage Bible Study, visit the sick, invite non Christians to our social events, show movies with gospel values followed by discussion, understand why we worship (liturgy).

The feedback to the second question mostly centred on BEC — a vibrant and lively BEC needed, more youth participation in BEC, integrate the Word of God in BEC, follow up on the newly-baptised after RCIA, ensure all races (Altar Servers, hospitality ministers) are represented in a multi-lingual Mass.

After all the review and planning had been completed, the participants were asked to vote on the condition of the parish — stagnant, growing, grown. Surprisingly, all voted for ‘growing’.

The last presentation was by the Parish Finance Committee. Christopher Kushi, the secretary, showed the income and expenditure of the parish, apart from the budget requested from various groups and the budget approved.

Before wrapping up the assembly, Joyce Lee, the PPC secretary made some general conclusions.

She highlighted the consensus agreement that the Parish is growing. This is very evident from the physical signs that can be seen, she said, e.g. the church had been air-conditioned, the parish office had been re-organised and renovated. Renovations were done at all the four churches. However, she added, what about the spiritual growth of the parishioners and the people who come to worship?

“The feedback to the group discussions, on question 1, touched on outreach, open house during Christmas, inviting friends to church events, etc — all these can be summed up as friendly and loving. There was also a comment on understanding why we attend Mass. I hope with the new Mass order and the theme to do with liturgy, we can concentrate on making the Mass more alive and solemn.” — By Lucia Lai