Mission Focus THREE:
Being an Outreach Community

St Anthony’s Parish continues to live in the Vincentian tradition, which emphasises a mission to care for those who are struggling with the demands of life. Consistent with this ethos, through the consultation process, Parishioners expressed the need for St Anthony’s Parish to be an active outreach community, both within the local community, but also more broadly.

Our challenge

Individually and as a Community of faith, there is need for us to broaden our vision beyond the confines of our community, engaging with the unchurched, with those of different cultural groups, with youth, with the transient university students and with those of different faith traditions.  Within our own Community, our task is to reach out to and engage with the families of Primary School children.

Our opportunities

• Getting more people involved in the Community
• That existing Parish Groups be encouraged, strengthened and renewed
• To be involved in Ecumenism
• Attending to the special needs and situations of families today
• To address the needs of the sick, homebound and bereaved in the Parish
• To be involved in outreach to the poor
• To reach out to non-practising Catholics and the unchurched
• To be active and visible in the life of the community
• To be active in promoting vocations in the Church

Current activities

• Support the groups in the Parish: the Men’s Group, Ladies Group, Singles Group, Youth Group, the Book Club, the St Vincent de Paul Society, Our Lady of Grace, St Francesco di Paola
• Continuing the Communion to the sick and housebound
• Continuing to involve the families in our Parish Primary School in the celebration of Mass
• Supporting the St Vincent de Paul Society in their outreach to the poor and needy

Proposed activities

• Set up a Grief and Support group
• Allow housebound & elderly parishioners to be in touch with the Parish by offering transport and/or visiting in homes
• Provide small faith formation programs for our School families, especially participating in CEO’s faith formator program
• Instigate the “Welcome Catholic” program to invite unchurched and non-participating Catholics to return to the Catholic Community
• Increasing our involvement in Catechetics in public schools
• Look to “twinning” our Parish with another Vincentian Parish from the Pacific
• Sponsoring a refugee family in the Parish
• Have a vocations co-ordinator for the Parish
• Regular prayers for vocations
• Have a vocations notice board in the Church
• Have more contact with other Christian traditions in the area
• Have a vibrant website