Investing in the On-Going Formation of the Laity

The pastoral plan highlighted the need for young and old alike to be supported and regularly renewed in their Faith. As pastoral areas begin to take shape and priests are spread even further, there exists an urgent need for new investments in education and training to support greater lay involvement in the life of the Church. Living Our Faith will encourage renewal as well as evangelisation by:

• Assisting lay formation at the local pastoral area One of the single greatest needs in the Church today is the on-going faith formation of its parishioners. In every endeavour of life, we have to continuously grow and develop in our knowledge and abilities. Our faith life is no different. Parish and Diocesan programmes strive to address the need for education and renewal. Living Our Faith will help fulfi l this by making available funding and programmes for youth ministry, support of youth directors, catechetical training and bursaries for relevant study. Parishes and pastoral areas will draw from this support, direction and assistance to build lasting faith communities
  
  
• Funding gap year experiences for youth and young adults seeking to give a “Year Out for God” - allowing them to work for worthy causes in the local community and volunteer in missions around the world. These young people would grow in their stewardship and be able to share their experiences with others across the Diocese through visits to parishes and pastoral areas
  

• Encouraging volunteers and evangelisation in the community - Living Our Faith seeks to play a major role in evangelisation efforts across the Diocese by helping local parishes to seed new initiatives such as street pastors, retail chaplaincy, homeless shelters and refugee assistance. Given the civic benefi t of these programmes beyond the Catholic community, every effort would be made to secure local government funding to match Living Our Faith investments
  
• Establishing a Diocesan wide skills & talents register so that parishes and pastoral councils with needs can more easily find parishioners with abilities and vice versa

Establishing these programmes will strengthen parish life, help bring more people back to the Church and attract new people to the Faith.

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