Ngā mihi nui – Thank you very much – all those involved in the preparations for the Catholic Parish of Wellington South’s Third Anniversary Mass celebrations.

Photo credit Ranier Hensel

Photo credit Ranier Hensel

Join us for the first Life Teen Night for 2019

• 5pm Mass at Saint Anne’s 
• Dinner
• And the most awesome team ridiculous race of the century!!

Meet new friends and have so much fun!

We are pretty excited!!

Do you enjoy camping, the outdoors and doing adventurous activities like kayaking, cycling, tramping?
The Suzanne Aubert Scout Group is running Cubs (girls and boys aged 8 – 11) and Scouts (girls and boys aged 11 – 14) on Monday nights 6.30 – 8pm at St Anne’s Hall in Newtown.
This terms activities include: rock climbing, camping, MTB bike adventure and games nights. Come along and join the adventure.

For more details either email SuzanneAubert@ group.scouts.nz
or contact Rob McCullough on 022 177 1007

Sunday 24th February
10am – 2pm
Our Lady’s Home of Compassion

• A great opportunity to celebrate together as a Parish.
• Outdoor Mass celebrated outside the Lyon Room. (The Lyon Room
• will be available for those unable to sit outside)
• Shared picnic lunch, sausage sizzle, games and other activities.
• Opportunity for fun and fellowship
• There will be no other vigil/Sunday Masses that weekend.
• Postponement date Sunday 10th March

Thank you to all who attended the recent Stewardship Afternoon at St Anne’s. It was a great turnout and a wide range of communities in our parish were represented.
There was thought provoking comment and animated discussion. While there is much we can do, we also recognised that there is a lot of welcoming going on in our communities and we shared many stories of this.
Thank you to Mike Gourley especially for taking the time to share with us his experience, as a disabled person, of ‘welcoming communities’. Mike’s sharing stimulated a lot of reflection on our facilities especially and how we engage with people with disabilities (some of which are not visible).

Below is a summary of key themes /ideas and next steps…
Theme 1: Being welcoming and feeling welcomed

• Personal greetings – when arriving, leaving and by those sitting next to you 
• Hospitality after Mass – being invited; new people are approached 
• Being invited to be involved and to volunteer – everyone has something to contribute
• Being asked your name – and knowing others’ names. (Name tags for greeters, Eucharistic ministers, etc?)
• Good music
• “Come as you are” – be clear we welcome everyone and all diversity (encourage people to be comfortable with their self-identity)
• Doing things together, knowing more about each other (social events, family groups, etc, outside of Mass times)
• Involve young people (invite them to choose a role in Mass; support Lifeteen and eXaLT)

Theme 2: Being welcoming of disability and inclusion

• Personal welcome and concern: greet the person, not just their disability.
• Ease of access – ramps and handrails: to the church, to the altar, to toilets, to pews (spacing of benches)
• Being asked if you need assistance
• Good AV and sound systems – large clear print for overhead projectors with strong contrast
• Voice projection training for presiders/readers to speak clearly into microphones
• Concern and awareness for invisible disabilities
• Warm churches
• Spare wheelchair/walker in each church? Defibrillators?

Theme 3: Wider ideas for enriching our communities and being even more welcoming

• Gather feedback from visitors and new parishioners – learn if they how welcome they feel and why (and why not)
• Ensure liturgy, ministries and roster volunteers are representative of the whole community – invite more people to participate (individual invitations work)
• Te Reo slides with English translations alongside (and slower pronunciation)
• Bi-cultural and multi-cultural signage
• Even more inclusive language in the liturgy
• Grow engagement with the wider community – look out beyond our church buildings (including social justice activities)
• Continue to establish the Home of Compassion as the “joint meeting place” for our parish churches and whole of parish events
• Grow school-church-parish links
• “More lively” liturgies
• “Spontaneous notices” at the end of Mass – e.g. family news, birthdays..
• Gender-neutral toilets

Next steps

1. Individual communities to discuss opportunities to utilise some of the ideas listed above.
2. Parish Council& Leadership Team to consider actions to be integrated into current pastoral plan in the New Year.
   

Thank you again for your support,
God bless
Stephen Neal, Chair, Pastoral Council

Tau kē ! – Awesome!

Anna Kozyniak from the St Joseph’s community was presented with an award marking the many hours of committed, unstinting service in our church community as well as the St Catherine’s College community.

Anna is a most generous woman who turns her hand to anything that is required.  She:

• trains leaders in various ministries at church, eg, Children’s Liturgy;
• organises functions, eg, midwinter church gathering of the parish;
• prepares the physical space before Mass and often comes very early to turn the heaters on;
• caters for almost every event we have, eg, baptisms, special morning teas for people celebrating a milestone (all of this out of her own pocket;
• is a key organiser of the Easter and Christmas Religious ceremonies and other celebrations, eg, Sacramental Programmes such as First Communion etc;
• assists at parish working bees and brings morning tea for others;
• weeds the parish gardens;
• visits those who are ill or shut in

At St Catherine’s, she:

• volunteers with sports teams;
• weeds the garden;
• bakes for school events, eg prizegiving, fairs etc;
• has been a member of the College PTA.

There are probably other things Anna does which I am unaware of. She never shouts it out, just gets on with it.
One would never know how busy Anna is or that she is immersed in family life while she is doing all this. Always pleasant and calm, always thoughtful of others.

We are proud to be associated with her.

Stephanie Kitching rsm

Parishioners, including the students and teachers from St Francis de Sales school, joined together to celebrate All Saints day on Thursday 1 November.

A member of the congregation began her journey to being a full member of our Catholic community. Mass included a celebration and welcome, as Fr David gave a special blessing to her and her sponsor.