By Tania Rimac
Over 500 people from across Australia and New Zealand gathered in February for the Divine Renovation Australasia Conference.
The three-day conference, Called to More, was an opportunity for leaders in mission, evangelisation and parish renewal, to gather to be inspired and equipped to lead missional parishes.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney was a supporting partner of the event, in response to its continued commitment to support parishes across the archdiocese, as outlined in the archdiocesan mission plan, Go Make Disciples.
Divine Renovation is an international ministry with the mission “to inspire, connect, and equip parishes to be missional, and through [parishes] bring people to Jesus.”
Though each parish is unique, the team at Divine Renovation recognises “three keys” essential to the renewal of all parishes: the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Primacy of Evangelisation, and the Best of Leadership.
Fr James Mallon, founder of the Divine Renovation ministry, and key-note speaker at the conference, was joined by other church leaders including Fr Chris Ryan MGL, parish priest of St Declan’s Penshurst and Director of the Areté Centre for Missionary Leadership, and Daniel Ang, Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation.
The speakers sought to advance the conversation around parishes moving from maintenance, to mission.
At the conference clergy, religious and lay faithful attended plenaries and various workshops according to their ministry needs, as well as Mass and other opportunities for prayer throughout the conference.
Post conference a number of priests engaged further support from Divine Renovation through their various coaching offerings, including Kickstart Coaching.
Kickstart Coaching is a six-week coaching series tailored for parish priests, with other priests in the group, to support them in leading their parish.
It is facilitated online by a trained leadership coach and is designed to support priests in leading their parishes towards renewal with a focus on the “three keys.”
The conference provided parishes the opportunity to reflect on their current strategies for outreach and evangelisation, and the need for evangelisation to be a priority for the renewal of our parishes.
One such support for outreach and evangelisation tool which was highlighted was Alpha; a tool used by parishes to create a space for people to have a conversation about life, faith and meaning, no matter where they are in their faith journey.
Since the conference several parishes across Sydney have piloted and run Alpha to provide a place for people to come and explore faith and encounter Christ, either for the first time or more deeply.
For more information about Divine Renovation or Alpha, or any way the Parish Renewal Team can support you in renewing your parishes contact [email protected].