The relationship between the parish and school represents one of the greatest opportunities for evangelisation in the Australian context. Growing relationships and connections at various levels of parish and school life has been the key ingredient in the story of St Brigid’s, Marrickville. Fr John and Paige will share the story of this Christ-centred and Eucharistic community, identify several principles to grow the parish-school connection while acknowledging those titles, roles and factors that can impede our working together as Church. Participants will be invited to reflect on the potential of leadership in this collaborative relationship and also to consider their own success stories and challenges in building up parish and school communities in the unity of Christ’s mission.

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The disclosure of a history of sexual abuse within our Church is a mark of our generation. There is no part of our Church that has not been affected by the scrutiny afforded consistently over the last thirty years by judicial processes and by the media. We now find ourselves in the midst of a Royal Commission which seeks to attend not only to the incidents of abuse but also to the way in which our Church has not responded well to the pain people have experienced. What is the challenge to our communities of faith by this crisis? How might a community of faith live through this experience which deeply impacts upon the whole Church in a way that is genuinely redemptive? How might a community of faith journey with, and contribute to the healing of those who have suffered, especially when the experience of the community and its leaders has been as damaging? The seminar seeks both to provide some lines of reflection and to draw from the wisdom of the participants themselves.
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