Executive Officer’s report: May 2019

May was a month of activity with both an internal and an external focus.

On 03 May 2019, the AMPJP Council held a teleconference meeting. These meetings take place four times a year and enable the Council to deal with matters relevant to the AMPJP. I joined Council members Paul Oakley and David Penny at the ISMAPNG offices for this teleconference (photo is of an ISMAPNG sculpture at Stanmore).

On 05 May 2019, I went out and represented AMPJP at the Mass and celebrations to mark the establishment of Sophia Education Ministries as the ongoing steward of the schools previously under the care of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Another of my external activities involved my participation in the Mission: One Heart, Many Voices Conference. I worked with Ellen Geraghty, ISMAPNG Executive Leader Mission Integration to arrange a lunch and two sessions for Directors of Mission within the conference program. These Directors of Mission said that they appreciated the opportunity to meet with others in the same position, share resource ideas and discuss possibilities for collaboration. you can read more about the conference and view our workshop paper in another post.

The other major external activity was joining Diocesan Plenary Council 2020 Facilitators at a two-day consultation. I have also written more about this in a separate post.

Over the Easter season, our Sunday Gospels have reminded us that the Risen Lord is with us, always and in all places. The Scriptures presented Jesus as: giver of peace during times of fear; reassurance to those in doubt; The Good Shepherd, the model of love; and at one with God. These portraits show Jesus as the fulfillment of Moses’ prayer that God send a “shepherd” to guide and guard the comings and goings of God’s people in their day-to-day lives.

“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” (Num 27:16-17)

May we be conscious of Christ’s presence with us in both the small and significant events, activities and people in our lives.

 

New events listed on the website:

• • 23-26 July 2019 Formation for Australian Catholic Educators Eco-retreat
  • 26-27 August 2019 CHA Governance Symposium, AGM and Awards (details updated)
  • 28-29 August 2019 Safeguarding the Flock: The response to the Sex Abuse Crisis
  • 29-30 August 2019 Synodal Servant-Leadership in the Particular Church
  • 17-18 September 2019 Safer Churches Conference 2019
  • 16-18 October 2019 AICD and BBI-TAITE Foundations of Directorship™
  • 11-15 November 2019 AICD and BBI-TAITE Company Director Course™

New website content:

The public news section of the AMPJP website now has the following posts:

• Mission Conference (30 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• National Catholic Safeguarding Standards released (30 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• Plenary Council 2020 – a path made by walking (30 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• EREA launches new Reconciliation Action Plan (29 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• National Reconciliation Week 2019 (17 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• Resource to help you live and share your faith (16 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• National Palliative Care Week (15 May 2019 – also accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)

The member section of the AMPJP website now has the following posts:

• List of Canon lawyers (08 May 2019 – only accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)
• AMPJP member contact details (08 May 2019 – only accessible to AMPJP General and Council members)

The council section of the AMPJP website now has the following posts:

• Corporate documents (08 May 2019 – only accessible to AMPJP Council members)
• AMPJP Council meeting minutes (08 May 2019 – only accessible to AMPJP Council members)