Brendon has now concluded his leadership of the parish and we wish him well in his new position with the diocese. At the present time, a new leader has not yet been appointed, but this process is underway. In the interim period, the following arrangements are in place.
Based on our experience under the Lay Leadership model, Bishop Bill had decided to await the outcome of the recruitment process for a replacement Lay Parish Leader before further canvassing any interest among Diocesan clergy for a possible new priest appointment at St Joseph’s. The Lay Parish Leader recruitment
process will hopefully be finalised by the end of June. Hence, Fr Geoff, as our existing Priest supervisor, is still our clergy contact for sacramental matters (but he will not be taking on any management or planning roles of a Parish Priest).
Since Brendon has vacated the full time role of Parish Leader, a number of functions which were undertaken by him require review. Some of his pastoral work has been put on hold temporarily pending the outcome of the recruitment process, but a number of key parish functions will temporarily be managed as follows:
Office & Communications
- Parish Office is open Mon-Wed (9am to 2:30pm). If we had volunteers undertaking some simple tasks such as checking on church supplies; or shopping for supplies, then this could assist the operation of the Parish Office by freeing the Parish Secretary to do more specific Admin functions.
- Parish phone line will be manned during above office hours only; incoming calls outside of this time will receive a recorded message and can leave voice mail.
- The printed parish Bulletin will continue; relevant diary notices to be provided by appropriate ministry contacts; occasional Sunday reflections will be provided by existing Sunday Celebration of the Word Reflection Givers; the Bulletin is compiled and printed by Parish Secretary on Friday morning.
- A Parish calendar will be available on the Parish website for reference to upcoming events.
Church opening/closing
- The church will be opened Mon-Fri, nominally 9am–2pm; opening & closing by Carleen/Parish Secretary, or a parish volunteer on a roster.
- The church will only be opened on Saturdays as required for access to cleaners and for Sunday Mass preparations (e.g. flowers and liturgical decorations).
- The church will only be opened on Sundays for the celebration of Mass or liturgies and will be closed immediately afterwards unless followed by a Baptism; opening and closing by Sacristans or Musicians on a roster.
Sunday liturgies
- To co-ordinate any specific liturgical requirements for Sunday Mass (or Sunday Celebration of the Word) and make announcements, a new ‘Mass Co-Ordinator role’ has been developed and will be undertaken by volunteers on a roster.
Funeral Ministry
- Funerals will continue to be held at St Joseph’s for the short term, but the future is very much dependent on more volunteer support for our existing Funeral Ministry.
What can I do ?
Please be patient as we navigate these changing circumstances. There is an increased workload on volunteers to make the Parish function more effectively and to keep our Sunday celebrations and Funerals viable, and our church to stay open. If you value these services, there is an invitation for you to assist our Parish community by volunteering.
Please contact the Parish Office or see one of the Parish Team.