City Parish outlines area of focus for 2020

Parishioners of City Parish came together for their Parish Assembly on Nov 3 at the Assumption Church Hall. The theme was To Grow, Glow and Set to Go for Mission.

Nov 22, 2019

By Aaron Lim
Parishioners of City Parish came together for their Parish Assembly on Nov 3 at the Assumption Church Hall. The theme was To Grow, Glow and Set to Go for Mission.

A record-breaking 110 parishioners registered for the assembly, and it was the highest number of participation for the parish in recent years.

After the opening prayer and hymns, parish priest Msgr Aloysius Tan welcomed all parishioners to plan and chart the future of the parish.

He said that the assembly is all about knowing and learning whilst having the opportunity to share in the joys and struggles of ministry life.

“Ultimately, we must achieve a sense of belonging through our growing in unity; our parish is on a journey that is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit,” he said.

Parishioners were then led into a  team dynamics session presented by Michael Xavier, in which the ice-breaking session reminded them that “faith is the pillar of each ministry, and the pillar of the Church is her leaders.”

He then spoke of having a healthy parish through good cultures. A picture of an iceberg was used to show that actions are visible but cultures  are unseen.

Michael then summarized a video on healthy parish values by Fr James Mallon which highlighted the importance of prioritising weekends, having a meaningful and welcoming community, as well as experiencing the Holy Spirit.

Parishioners were then divided into small groups to conduct brain storming sessions, as they reflected on the things that made them proud of the parish and their struggles as a community.

Later they were also invited to list down how they could grow in the areas of the parish, BEC, formation and mission whilst proposing an event for the year 2020.

In general, most parishioners are proud of the diversity of City Parish which consists of four churches, many language groups together with East Malaysian and migrant parishioners.

They expressed a greater desire to have more parishioners coming forward to serve in the various ministries and continue integration of the diverse cultures.

Proposals for events such as combined Christmas, Family Day event or outings, formation for BEC, liturgy and catechetical groups as well as reaching out to children were listed by parishioners as key areas to focus on for the year 2020.

Msgr Tan shared that 2019 saw the success of the pilgrim centre at the Church of the Assumption in conjunction with the Extraordinary Missionary Year, together with the English and Mandarin Evangelisation Night held in October.

“Despite 2019 being a challenging year with many large-scale events, I thank all our parishioners and volunteers for their generous support towards us.”

Msgr Tan then outlined several priorities for the year 2020, with the family BEC census and home visits on top of the list to get a clear picture of the parish population.

He also opened up the floor to questions from parishioners who shared constructive feedback for the improvement of the community.

The assembly ended with a fellowship dinner as a sign of thanksgiving towards all participants who had contributed for the growth of the parish.

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