Diocese of Geraldton Conference 2018
THE LAMP FOR THE STEPS AND LIGHT FOR THE WAY (Psalm: 118,105)
Listening to God and each other as we light the way forward in our changing and complex world
The Geraldton Diocese is honoured to be hosting this conference on the ancestral lands of the Southern Yamajti people.
We respectfully acknowledge the Yamajti people as the Traditional Custodians and First People on the land on which we gather and pay our respect to Elders past, present and future. As we gather to yarn and discern on future directions of our Church, we recognise and draw on the strength, resilience and capacity of Aboriginal people across our vast Diocese.
Location
Geraldton Catholic Centre
11 Maitland Street, Geraldton
Date
23rd - 26th July 2018
CONFERENCE SCOPE:
PHASE ONE – July 23-28 2018: Listening & Discernment
PHASE TWO – earlier in 2019: Discerning the Wisdom & Action
PHASE THREE – September/October 2020: Australian Plenary Council
COST:
$120 pp (includes morning tea, lunch and conference dinner Wednesday evening)
Payment instructions will be emailed on submitting the registration form below.
Agenda
Mon 23 July
7:00pm
Conference Opening
Welcome to Country, Liturgy, Address by Bishop Michael & Refreshments
Conference Facilitator:
Philomena Billington
Tue 24 July
8:30am – 8:50am
Gather for Cuppa
9:00am – 9:15am
Gathering Prayer
c/Mt Magnet
9:15am – 10:20am
Keynote: Focus on Being a Listening Diocesan Church
Fr Ormond Rush
Morning Tea
11:00am – 12:30pm
Insights from the Conversation Starters
Signs of hope in local communities,
Where are we called to be more?
Small Group Conversations
& Plenary
Lunch
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Outreach Sessions – listening to new voices
Senior Students Sharing – Whole Group
Local Voices: RAP Plans, Rabbit Proof Fence Immersions, Ethical Issues, Sacraments Module, Safeguarding
Plenary
7:00pm
Free Evening
Wed 25 July
8:30am – 8:50am
Gather for Cuppa
9:00am – 9:15am
Gathering Prayer
c/Port Hedland
9:15am – 10:20am
Keynote: Focus on the 2020 Plenary – a Listening Australian Church
Lana Turvey &
Fr Noel Connolly SSC
Morning Tea
11:00am – 12:30pm
Lana Turvey – Youth Survey insights
Listening to God by Listening to one another: Geraldton Diocese Listening and Dialogue Encounter
Small Group Conversations
& Plenary
Lunch
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Outreach Sessions – listening to new voices
Senior Students Sharing – Whole Group
Local Voice: RAP Plans, Rabbit Proof Fence Immersions, Ethical Issues, Sacraments Module, Safeguarding
Plenary
5:00pm
Conference Mass & Conference Dinner
Thur 26 July
8:30am – 8:50am
Gather for Cuppa
9:00am – 9:15am
Gathering Prayer
c/Northampton
9:15am – 10:20am
Plenary: Distilling the Wisdom
How are we called to grow in our local communities – parishes? Schools? Ministry Groups?
Morning Tea
11:00am – 12:30pm
Summary Comments
Lighting the Way in our Communities
12:00pm
Liturgy &
Commissioning
Lunch
A big thank you to our generous sponsors
Profiles
Philomena Billington
Facilitator
Philomena (Phil) is an educator, leader and facilitator with over 45 years’ experience in Catholic and Government education across 5 dioceses and 4 states of Australia, teaching in remote, rural and city locations. Phil retired as Director of Catholic Education (Sandhurst Diocese) at the end of 2014.
Phil is passionate about education and especially in rural Australia, the Arts in education, parents as key partners and lay ministry within the Catholic Church. Phil is committed to supporting young people living with disability and encouraging a more inclusive society. She is committed to encouraging and supporting Catholic education, especially in rural dioceses.
Phil has established Ministry Without Borders to ensure that pro bono support for parishes and charities is possible whilst still contributing to the educational mission. Phil’s ministry is focused on facilitating events, developing understanding of Mission & Catholic Identity, Religious Education, Spirituality & Theology, Leadership Development grounded in Catholic Identity, Strategic Thinking and Planning, Parent Engagement, Pastoral Planning and supporting Parishes, Systems and Schools as requested.
Fr Noel Connolly
Presenter
Noel Connolly is a Columban missionary priest. Noel worked in Korea (1970-74. Later he helped found the Korean Catholic Community in Sydney and was their chaplain up till 1981. He was Rector of St Columban’s College and the Pacific Mission Institute (Sydney) from 1979-1984, Vicar General of the Columbans throughout the world (Ireland) 1988 – 2000 and Director of the Columbans in Australia and New Zealand from 2005-2011.
He is presently Coordinator of Mission and Culture at the Catholic Institute of Sydney and lectures in mission theology at BBI-The Australian Institute of Theological Education. He is a member of Catholic Mission’s Adult Formation Team. Last year he was appointed by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to the Facilitation Team for the Plenary Council 2020.
Description of Presentation
Pope Francis’ vision of a listening church and synodal Church. Special emphasis on the role of the “people of God” and the need for people and clergy to decide together the important questions facing the church in Australia. In the process of the Plenary Council we hope to become a synodal church as well as preparing for the Plenary Council. We want to become a church that is renewed, humble and yet confident witness to Jesus and his Gospel.
Stephen Harris
Presenter
Stephen has been a teacher in Catholic Primary Schools in Perth for 25 years. He has a passion for sharing his faith with children and has taught RE from Year One to Year Seven. During the last ten years, he has also taught the Parish Religious Education Confirmation classes in his own Parish.
His leadership roles include being an Assistant Principal RE at three schools and that of Acting Principal.
More recently, Stephen has been a member of the Catechist Service at CEWA and has been co-writing the new Gathered in My Name Parish Religious Education Program for Catechists.
Description of Presentation
Stephen will present the new Gathered in My Name Parish Religious Education Program, demonstrating how participants can use the program’s components with children.
Gathered in My Name is designed for parish settings and for children from Pre-Primary to Year Six who attend non-Catholic schools. It seeks to help children to know God and to reflect God’s love in their lives in thoughts words and actions as Jesus taught.
The teaching and learning process revolves around the Life Experience of children, God’s Plan for them and their Response. Lessons contain Background Information, Catechist Reflections, Life Experience and Wonder questions, Scripture readings with questions and answers, activities, worksheets, prayers and suggested songs.
The program offers a one-hour lesson of Religious Education for 32 weeks per year level.
At present, the Year Three, Four, Five and Six year levels are available for use. These include the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Eucharist and Confirmation.
Fr Joe Parkinson
Fr Joe has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Perth for nearly 38 years, the last twenty working primarily in moral theology and bioethics. He has held positions with Catholic Health Australia and Australian Catholic University, and for many years has sat on the Reproductive Technology Council of WA and the Clinical Ethics Service at Perth Children’s Hospital. He is currently Director of the L J Goody Bioethics Centre in Perth, a position he has held for sixteen years, Deputy Chair of Trustees of St John of God Health Care, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle Campus.
Summary/Description of Presentation
Western Australia faces the prospect of laws permitting euthanasia and assisted suicide, possibly within the next 6 months. This is just one of many ethical challenges facing WA in the near future, and the Catholic community has much to contribute to public debates surrounding these issues. In this session Fr Joe will host a conversation on what we need to be saying, and how we can make sure our voice is heard, on a number of pressing ethical issues heading our way.
Ormond Rush
Ormond Rush is a priest of the diocese of Townsville, Australia, with a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University, Rome. He taught theology at the former Pius XII Provincial Seminary in Banyo, Australia, from 1991 to 2000, was appointed Dean of the ecumenical consortium, the Brisbane College of Theology, from 1998 to 2001, and President of St Paul’s Theological College, Banyo, from 2001 to 2006. He was elected President of the Australian Catholic Theological Association for three terms from 2007-2010. He is currently associate professor and reader at Australian Catholic University, Brisbane campus, and is a member of the Executive Committee planning the 2020 Plenary Council. His publications include Still Interpreting Vatican II: Some Hermeneutical Principles (New York: Paulist Press, 2004); The Eyes of Faith: The Sense of the Faithful and the Church’s Reception of Revelation (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009); and The Vision of Vatican II: Principles for Its Ongoing Reception (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, forthcoming 2019).
Summary/Description of Presentation
Pope Francis has spoken of his vision of synodality and of a synodal church in terms of “an inverted pyramid.” This presentation examines the roots of such a vision in the vision of Vatican II, particularly two reversals made by the council regarding the nature of the church. Moreover, it shows the centrality of the sensus fidei of the People of God (the sensus fidelium) within that vision, and the need to make listening to the sensus fidelium a pervasive element at all levels in the life of the church, beginning at the local level.
Andrea Musulin
Andrea has recently resigned from WA Police after spending the past 30 years in uniform. During this time she has specialised in the areas of domestic violence, sex crimes and child abuse. As a sworn police officer Andrea gained extensive experience in responding to sexually abused women and children and a large part of her career was spent developing crime prevention programs designed to prevent crimes and protect women and children and empower individuals to speak out and or to disclose abuse. Andrea has played an active community role in the Geraldton Diocese in relation to women’s and children’s safety and has been the Chairperson of the Hedland Women’s Refuge, The Hedland Domestic Violence Action Group, The Carnarvon Family Support Service, Gascoyne Women’s Refuge and the Gascoyne Family Violence Prevention Legal Unit. Andrea was attached to the Carnarvon Police Station from 2006 -2014.
Andrea was the Parish Council Chairperson at Saint Mary’s Star of the Sea Parish in Carnarvon for 7 years with Father Bronek and Father Adam.
Andrea is the current Safeguarding Director for the Perth Catholic Archdiocese and is the author of the Safeguarding Handbook and Protecting God’s Children Handbook for Catholic Parents.
Summary/Description of Presentation
This presentation will overview the new Safeguarding Handbook and requirements that are to be officially launched on Child Protection Sunday which is celebrated on Sunday September 9 2018 in all parishes throughout the Geraldton Diocese.
If time allows she will also preview her new resource for parents titled Protecting God’s Children which is now also available in the Geradton Diocese.
Micelle Shiosaki
Micelle has been an Aboriginal Teaching Aid/Aboriginal Liaison Officer at Nagle Catholic College for 8 years. She has a passion for aboriginal kids getting a good education, knowing and accepting their aboriginal culture. Micelle likes sharing her knowledge of culture with students and staff,
Her leadership roles include being Chair person for CEAC in 2016-2017. Micelle is also the coordinator for Madalah Scholarships for Nagle Catholic College.
Summary/Description of Presentation
Micelle and Daniel Bowen will present the Nagle Catholic College Reconciliation Action Plan, demonstrating how participants can use the RAP in other schools.
Jane Brown (College Counsellor) along with Micelle and 10 aboriginal students from year 9 and 10 will present activities, Q & A from Jurdu Group, students discuss how the girls group have helped them better themselves in class. What being in the Jurdu group means to them.
The program offers a one-hour lesson on Reconciliation in Schools.
Map
Accommodation
The following accommodation providers have offered a special discounted rate for bookings through their respective websites.
Ocean Centre Hotel Geraldton
Cathedral Ave & Foreshore Drive
Geraldton WA 6530
08 9921 7777
www.oceancentrehotel.com.au
Accommodation in Geraldton
https://www.visitgeraldton.com.au/
Check back in the lead up to the event as more resources are added to this page.