PRIORITIES

1. SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

The parish community is the place where our faith and the faith of our children is born, receives nourishment and grows in maturity. The close interaction between the clergy and the laity provides the opportunity to seed, nourish and cultivate our faith.

An essential part of this program is Parish Renewal which contains initiatives around the family, Divine Liturgy and the Clergy.

1.1 Renew and grow spiritual life

Each parish to provide at least one Divine Liturgy in English each week to allow parents and children the choice of Arabic or English liturgies to instil familiarisation with the Melkite Faith and an understanding of the history of the Faith

Each parish to introduce Spiritual Development classes (before or after Divine Liturgy) by:

Rolling out to all the parishes the "God with us” program.
Training Sunday school volunteers to assist in educating the youth of the Church.

2. CLERGY AND RELIGIOUS

The role of the clergy and Religious is vital to the religious and pastoral renewal of the Eparchy. Full and ongoing formation of clergy is a significant and effective means to ensure the health of the Eparchy in Australia and New Zealand. The relationship between the Clergy and the local parishes is an important pastoral issue.

2.1 Clergy

Ongoing Formation
Provide support and where applicable programs aimed at addressing issues of health, pastoral effectiveness or general professional advice.
Establish Tertiary studies or refresher courses for Clergy aimed at updating their knowledge or raising their level of awareness of Spiritual or cultural topics.

2.2 Laity

Implement as a priority, Pastoral visitation programs to improve the interaction between priests and parishioners on an individual level to build strong relationships
Evaluate ways to lighten priests’ load from administrative duties and other non necessities to enable them to spend more face time with the community. Consolidate a solid data base of community information

3. COMMUNITY LIFE (welfare and parish)

It is of paramount importance for our Melkite Community to maintain our courage in preserving our Eastern Christian Churches and to be faithful to the tradition of our Melkite Church in Australia and to bequeath strong heritage to our children and grandchildren.

3.1 Parish Renewal

Establish a liturgical committee to assist the Clergy in preparing English homilies to be delivered at English Liturgies.
Determine best method of involving the participation of youth in the Divine Liturgy.
Parish Pastoral Councils in conjunction with Parish priests are to develop parish plans to actively engage the Laity in the life of the parish.

4. PASTORAL LIFE (children, youth, young adults, couples, families & elderly)

The Pastoral life plays a significant role in fostering the importance of the family within the life of the Church. An invigorated and rejuvenated pastoral life plays a key role in developing, educating, supporting, and caring for its members leading them to a closer union and a richer understanding of Christ.

The pastoral life of Church offers a wide variety of services within the community working closely with various agencies in promoting the welfare of the family within the Melkite community.
The youth of each parish to work with their parish priest and pastoral committee to examine the idea of creating a ‘youth space’ for regular youth meetings etc. Expand on the existing MAYA (Melkite Australian Youth Association) framework giving youth roles and responsibilities and allowing them to lead.
Using the MAYA framework, explore ways of building positive relationships with other youth groups within the Melkite parishes. This will help build a more effective communication channel between parishes.
Guidance and development - provide training programs / guest speakers in Youth Ministry and leadership for the Melkite Youth to encourage participation and contribution to the life of the Church. These courses will help youth develop quality leadership, teaching the youth how to be effective leaders in their parishes and offering topics of interest to them eg Morality, Liturgy, Catholic Social Teaching, Theology, Scripture
Each parish to establish a weekly confession schedule e.g. Before Divine Liturgy or as set by the parish priest
To build a network with other Catholic Church youth groups.

Establish new courses and expand on existing courses in Catholic apologetics which teach youth how to observe their faith and traditions, and how to defend them – for example – Faith Talk and St Gregory’s Centre.

5. EDUCATIONAL LIFE

All Gospel Values are grounded in the experience of Christian faith. The role of education in our church is founded on the principle of building in all community members a faith relationship with God.
Education should lead all members to experience the awe and wonder of God’s creation; to appreciate human need, to value a sense of belonging to a community of believers, to value the dignity of all people and to maintain love, peace, understanding and hope.
Establishment of a Sunday School Organising Committee responsible for the planning, preparation and implementation of:
Spiritual Development Program / Allocation of resources
Training of Spiritual Development / Teachers / Youth Ministry and leadership

6. GOODS OF THE CHURCH

The Goods of the Church are the Melkite community’s assets that we use to support each other in living a Christian life and giving glory to God. Due to the importance of supporting our faith, this area brings with it a sense of responsibility and duty for good financial management of the parish and its income, as well as, adequate financial support and sponsorship for the parish and its mission.

Educate parish priests on the Financial System, and ensure they are aware of parish financial planning.

The Directors of the Eparchy to prepare a high level 3 year vision of the financial plan encompassing future property acquisitions and facilities.

Announce and continuously provide updates on all events taking place in all Melkite parishes in Australia and New Zealand – particular Balance Sheet say on quarterly basis.

Set up a State by State view/calendar of activities to minimise clashes.

Encourage the parish financial committees to take more responsibility for the financial health of their parish.

Promote ability to make donations on a quarterly basis rather than monthly. This will facilitate the works of the Church.