A new video series from the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation’s Parish Renewal Team showcases parishes that have embraced the Archbishop’s vision in Go Make Disciples.
The series highlights how local communities are working together in Christ’s mission and highlights the tangible fruits that amalgamations and informal collaborations are bringing to communities across Sydney.
Now streaming on the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s You Tube channel, two short films document how both formal mergers and informal collaborations are revitalising parish life.
Through interviews with priests, staff, volunteers, and parishioners, the series captures the challenges of change and the renewed energy that follows.
The director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, Daniel Ang, said the initiatives reflect a key priority of the Archbishop’s vision in Go Make Disciples, particularly its call to structural renewal in service of mission.
“Structural renewal is not simply administrative change; it is about freeing our parishes for mission and ensuring our structures serve the proclamation of Christ,” he said.
“It’s important to recognise that our parish configurations in Sydney have not always looked as they do today. Our ancestors in faith made changes in response to the needs of their time, with an eye to the future, and priests and communities are doing the same today”.
He noted that local priests have been central to this renewal, with communities responding generously to their leadership.
“The Parish Renewal Team within the SCE has simply sought to accompany and support priests and parish leaders in that shared commitment to change for the sake of Christ’s mission”.
The first film, “The Fruits of Change – Sydney City South Parish”, profiles the union of St Joseph (Rosebery), Our Lady Mount Carmel (Waterloo) and St Vincent de Paul (Redfern). United under a single parish priest since 2017, the three communities merged in 2021 and began to flourish.
“The churches are more alive and more vibrant,” said parish priest Fr Paul Smithers. “We have more volunteers. We have more young families. We have more finances to support us. And money is for mission. So, all those fruits, I think, contribute to the building up of a wonderful place.”
Fruits of this joyful union include greater attendance at Mass, new initiatives and new families coming into the parish attracted by the new, warm and welcoming, and Christ-centred community.
“I think the biggest fruits have been the building of our preschool, the building of our new primary school at Rosebery. The new families that have come into the area have encountered a wonderful, warm, welcoming place, a Christ-centred place,” said one local parishioner.
A standout initiative has been the establishment of the Atrium of the Good Shepherd – a faith formation program for local children aged 3 to 12 to encounter God through scripture and liturgy.
“Lots of good has come from this community being together,” said Elizabeth Arbaster, pastoral associate for mission. “And this community, has been really open to having new things here.”
The series does not shy away from exploring some of the difficulties and challenges that can emerge, particularly from older parishioners, when communities come together.
“Initially there was some resistance to coming together. But over time, the more we did things together, the more it softened hearts, particularly in the small groups, in the focus groups, it really brought people together,” reflected Fr Smithers.
“I think there’s an element of fear about amalgamating,” admits one parishioner. “And it can seem overwhelming. But when the people are behind it, then it gives them that opportunity to grow the parish.”
The second film, “The Fruits of Collaboration – Lenten Cross Pilgrimage in the Central Deanery”, follows a 2024 informal collaboration between the four parishes of St Joachim’s Lidcombe, St John’s Auburn, St Raymond’s South Auburn, and St Peter Chanel & St Joseph in Berala.
The four-kilometre Lenten Cross Pilgrimage brought diverse communities together – from different ages, backgrounds and nationalities – to pray, walk and witness Christ as a wider, united Church.
“It was very beautiful and very moving,” says Fr Josh Miechel, parish priest at St Joachim’s.
“It reminded us we are not isolated parishes but one community journeying together.”
“When we’re there in numbers, we tend to stand tall. We stand proud for what we believe in. And to show that togetherness with the other parishes and to do it in public is very, very powerful,” said a parishioner from St Joachim’s.
To watch the full videos go to the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s You Tube channel.
For more information please visit: https://www.sydneycatholic.org/sydney-centre-for-evangelisation/#Collaborations-for-Mission
