Parish Conversations

Feedback from Parish Conversations held during March /April /May 2011

The stimulus for this initiative was that we find ourselves as a faith community in an unfamiliar place. We no longer have a certainty about the church we grew up with or what the future holds . The scandals continue to shock and wipe the ground from under us and yet we must go forward.

A parish is about it’s people and their faith. It is a place where that faith is nourished and parishioners bring their faith back into their everyday lives. To be a parish that is able to respond to the faith needs of it’s people in the culture of today we needed to engage , discuss and listen to one another’s experience.

With our “Parish Conversations” we have taken a step in this direction. The following is a summary of what we heard and experienced.

About 100 + people took part – we were delighted with this response especially as this was something new and unfamiliar.

Everyone engaged with the discussions, some were a bit hesitant coming in but by the end of the evenings everyone was still there talking and there was a great energy and buzz.

It was interesting that the same points were coming up from each of the 7 meetings and there was very much a ‘ying-yang’ feel to it

Where there was a negative there was also a positive...

for example...

While there was serious disappointment and let down with institutional church – there was very positive feelings about the local experience of church in this parish.
People felt a good sense of community and belonging in Ballygall - but there was also a strong need to reach out so that others would feel welcome and experience being a part of what we have.
There was a very strong appreciation of the goodness of young people and young adults – plus a great concern that we as church are not able to connect with them
People were worried about having very few priests in the future – but a lot of hope/ confidence about lay people taking up a new role
There was a real and tangible sadness that so many people don’t come to church, especially our younger generation – a real sense of being incomplete without them.....together with happiness that people now come because they want to, not out of fear like it used to be for so many.
There was real concern about how faith will be passed on to the younger generations....... and great hope in the sacramental programmes we have in place that reach out to children and parents preparing for the sacraments
People were confused and uncertain about the future, where we will be in five years time for instance?..... , some people said they had never thought of our parish in that way before– allied with a sense of hope that things can be different that we will become a better more true church.

For those of us who were there, we were genuinely moved by the faith of the people . As the song says “Something inside so strong”.

The conversations were real – and genuine .... – we were talking about things that really matter...our faith...and the faith of our children and grandchildren the faith of the future generation.

We don’t have the answers but we have started something – and that is important – if we do nothing, then we are definitely headed for extinction – if we do something, then perhaps for us like the disciples a long time ago things will start to happen

But we need to feel that we are all ‘in it together’ – that it’s not just the priests / parish team / parish council worrying about the future – but that it’s about all of us together caring for our future, caring that our faith and our parish has a future.

We’re feeling our way forward – one step at a time – like the headlights of a car at night, seeing as far as the next bend in the road, then seeing a little further –the road revealing itself as we travel along it.

The main thing now is to keep this process of conversation alive, to keep on the road of dialogue and listening, trusting and believing that this is worthwhile that we have something worth talking about and investing our energy in -our faith.

We’ll talk about this again after the Summer hols – in the mean time the PPC continue to reflect on what we heard and about the next step – maybe .....further conversations.... with people who don’t come – maybe with young people –The PPC are committed to creating more and better communication in the parish. We invite all our parishioners to engage with this process by reflecting on what is going on, talking about it at home or among friends and neighbours or you may like to take part in a future conversation. The PPC are always available to listen.

Until our next update.... keep talking!!!

To access our Parish Forum click here

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