Rebuilding a missionary SFA Church

Feb 02, 2024

By Anne Ng
The Church of St Francis of Assisi (SFA) hosted its annual Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA) on January 20, drawing an attendance of around 200 participants comprising parish council leaders, ministry leaders and parishioners.

This year’s PPA centred around the theme Rebuilding a Missionary SFA Church, aligning with the overarching theme of the KL Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly 2023, Rebuild our Church.

The assembly began with a praise & worship session, led by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Ministry. Parish priest Fr Paul Cheong, OFM Cap, extended a warm welcome to the participants, emphasising that their presence was not coincidental but led by the Holy Spirit.

Following this, a video titled Our Journey Together 2023, from Feedback to Action was presented, providing a visual overview of how the leadership team has actively responded to valuable feedback collected last year through the implementation of new initiatives and strategic steps.

William Cheong, the Parish Pastoral Council chairman, then presented the 2024 plan, outlining the parish’s five-year rebuilding plan from 2022 to 2026. The journey, initiated in 2022 with the building of a Participatory SFA Church, focusing on ‘finding workers for the vineyard’ and ‘building a vibrant community.’ The subsequent year saw the commencement of the synodal process, actively addressing grassroots concerns.

Looking forward, leaders and parishioners were encouraged to adopt a missionary mind set. Nineteen strategic plans were devised to transition from a maintenance-oriented church to a missionary one, guided by the ‘SFA Eight Habits of Effective Christian Living.’

Danny Nesan, the chairman of the Parish Coordinating Council, then provided a briefing on Spiritual Conversation using the See-Judge-Act method. He reminded the participants of the significance of seeing through the eyes of Jesus, judging with the discerning spirit of God, and acting as Christ would.

Participants were then divided into discussion groups, each focusing on three key topics: Participatory Church, Synodal Church, and Missionary Church. Each group engaged in the Spiritual Conversation rounds, tackling questions about the joys, obstacles, and proposed solutions of belonging to a Participatory/Synodal/Missionary SFA Church.

The gathered feedback was synthesised and presented after the tea break. General sentiments revealed that parishioners feel blessed to be part of a vibrant church with systematic management, effective leadership, and well-equipped facilities. The diverse needs and interests of the community are catered for through numerous programmes. However, some areas still need addressing, such as BEC participation, youth involvement, and succession planning.

In his closing remarks, Fr Paul urged the participants to embrace Jesus’ great commandment to ‘Love God and our neighbour’ and the great commission to ‘Go and make disciples’. It was a call to action, an invitation for each participant to actively engage in the life and mission of the parish, collectively contributing to the transformation of SFA into a vibrant community of effective missionary disciples.

The assembly concluded with Fr Paul leading the participants in the hymn Spirit of the Living God, invoking the Holy Spirit to guide the community on its spiritual renewal journey.