“THE great message of the day was we don’t have to be so broken to need renewal, we can just be renewed in the every day,” Regents Park parish lay ministry co-ordinator Carrie McCormack said.
Mrs McCormack helped organise Kingdom Now, a Logan Deanery renewal event, which saw 400 Brisbane Catholics gather at the Logan Entertainment Centre last Sunday.
She said it had been a “great sign of hope” for the Church.
“Hope mostly to do with the atmosphere and seeing parishioners – the Church – engaging with renewal ministry,” she said.
“Also (it was about) the opportunity to pray for our families who aren’t practising their faith,” she said.
Liam Desic, who co-led the event, said it was great being a part of an all-ages experience of the local Church “gathered in the midst of creative, visionary excellence that put Jesus at the centre”.
Regents Park parish priest Fr John Conway said from his own reflections there was a buzz among the people.
Fr Conway, who is the dean of the Logan Deanery, said seeing people mingling after the Mass was finished, “I think that’s an indication there was energy for renewal”.
“Guest speakers, Emma (Fradd) and Robert (Schroeders), and the panels, their contribution to the day energised and enthused those in attendance,” he said.
Renewal was also a challenge to see what was working and what was not working in parish life.
“How do we as a parish continue to grow and build?” Fr Conway said.
Ms Fradd said during the panel discussions the renewal event was everything that was needed.
“Everything I wanted for our Church in one room – lay people empowered to go out,” she said.
“I can’t wait to see where God brings our Church in Brisbane.”
Mr Schroeders echoed Ms Fradd, saying “Kingdom Now was a sign of hope for the local Church”.
Mrs McCormack said a stand-out moment for her was during the panel section when Men Alive co-founder Robert Falzon brought statistics to the discussion.
Mr Falzon discussed church attendance and particularly the absence of fathers in attendance.
“It’s important to hear that there’s a lot of positive action happening and we’re all wanting renewal and we can work together to achieve it,” Mrs McCormack said.
“In planning this event, it has brought our deanery together, it’s united us and that’s been fruitful in itself.
“And going forward, we’re going to have a much stronger 2020 plan as a deanery.
“We’ve committed to youth plans, but we also want to commit to parish renewal.”
Fr Conway said the deanery would review the event with the co-ordinating team and he would take that to the priests of the deanery and the youth co-ordinators and through those conversations, they would get a clear picture of the insights of the event.
“We’re considering the possibility of making this an annual event,” Fr Conway said.
