News from Bundaberg
Meet the People of Bundaberg
Our weekly production of “Church Chat” has proven to be a great way to meet some of our parishioners from across all Mass communities. In the last month we’ve met Bill, who’s been a part of Bundaberg and St Patrick’s community for a long time, and who now enjoys the ministry of pastoral care to the sick and housebound and as a hospital chaplain. We’ve met Roy and Margaret, an inseparable older couple who have been married for 65 years and whose faith in God is at the core of their life. Anita, one of our Filipino ladies, shared her story of life in the Philippines, her journey to Australia, and her family. We’ve met Madonna, the principal of St Mary’s; Jana, the catechist of the Atrium of the Good Shepherd; Joe, the chair of our Planning Group; Mick, one of our friendly musicians who knows every second person in Bundaberg – Bill knows the other half; some young people, some older people; Ann, our darling Scottish lady; and we hope to meet many more long after the shutdown has finished.
If you would like to meet some interesting folk from Bundaberg go to our website and watch Church Chat
Opening up the Churches
After months of being closed to the parishioners our churches are open, to a degree. In readiness for their opening, months of dust had to be removed. Cleaning began.
During this time St Patrick’s Church had a complete face-lift. After many years of faithful stewardship at St Pat’s, Frank and Lea Pippia decided it was time to retire their gardening, maintenance and cleaning gear. A landscaping project was begun, with Frank’s blessing, in which the large palms that surrounded the church, as well as Frank’s nursery behind the church, were cleared and replaced by two simple garden beds at the front.
A call-out to MenAlive last week saw a good response for a working bee to wash and clean the exterior and interior of the church. It now shines.
Parish Planning
The Parish Planning Group has been engaged over several months in formulating a Parish Plan. The Church Chat with Joe McCorley is an excellent means of understanding the basis of the plan. The Church Chat can be seen by visiting the Parish website https://www.bundabergcathholic.net.au or YouTube channel
The goal of the Parish Planning Group (PPG) is to raise awareness, and the engagement of all Parishioners, in a project to develop “A Vision and Revitalisation Plan” for the future of the Bundaberg Parish. The PPG engaged an experienced facilitator in church planning and development, Mr Craig Farmer, Sydney, to assist us in the achievement of our goals. The first stage of the plan will involve several consultations and workshops of different groups within the Parish/Faith community, as well as groups not involved in the parish.
It is the decision of the PPG to engage a wide spread of parish representatives in all the different stages of the planning process. The process of communication at this time of the Corona Virus has been difficult, but with Zoom, all things are possible, and the first level of consultation has begun.
Youth Hub
Corona, COVID, Pandemic. Phrases that have overtaken our everyday life. While the current health crisis has affected each of us in many ways, for “The Youth Hub” here in Bundaberg it has been a blessing in disguise.
Our youth coordinators and Youth Ministry Team set to work completely renovating the youth centre, planning over a months’ worth of content and reimagining our youth brand. The renovations of our youth centre were enormous! We completely transformed the top floor of the old presbytery into a modern, multifunctional space. We repainted the yellow wall into a bright white, replaced the carpet with beautiful wood inspired vinyl flooring and self-painted murals and a feature wall. We added plants, new furniture and pious goods collected from around town.
Most importantly the time spent together as a Youth Team was vital. It allowed us to invest time that we could never have dreamed of having to create a youth ministry we were proud of. Since finishing the renovations and with restrictions lifting, we have had two young adults’ nights and they have been an incredible success. The inviting nature and relevance of the space works! Although at first we were heartbroken to have to cancel our ministry, the time we were made to have, to slow down and reassess, has not only given us full confidence to relaunch but allowed our youth to grow beautifully into a faith driven, relational ministry. Check out the transformation via this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIwQvVy4s44
Life in a Time of Covid
Shirley Pitts, a parishioner, shared with Bishop Michael her life during this time of isolation.
I am in isolation because of my age with my family delivering my food etc. I had my flu shot and other medical attention. I am joining in with Zoom for our prayer meeting, mass on YouTube and I am enjoying the parish chats.
I have been doing little visits to my RI room to count books, check orders and supply teachers with their necessary books when they go back to school. The school chaplains invited me to pray with them for an hour a week on Zoom, which is very powerful. They have included the RI teachers in their prayers.
I am doing gardening and sewing. I enjoy the pictures; I have made them from my scraps. I will have them ready for charity when everything starts up to help with fundraising. They are for CWL, Blanket Buddies, LifeLINE, Pensioners, ROTARY, CWA, and St Vincent de Paul.
I can relax because it is all done. The Lord has blessed me in Aged Care. I have had a ramp to help me with my walking and they have adjusted my bathroom to my needs, two months ahead of time. It has brought me great happiness. Praise Jesus! He is so KIND and COMPASSIONATE.
GOD BLESS YOU. I will look forward to your visit when we get back to normal.
Shirley Pitts.