AMPJP Regional Forum in Perth

Trustees from St John of God Australia and MercyCare met on 18 December 2018 to discern their contribution to the AMPJP’s submission to the Plenary Council 2020. The discussion was free-flowing with many insightful comments.

Pictured above: Stephen Halley-Wright (MercyCare); Carmel Ross (MercyCare); Mary McComish (St John of God Australia and MercyCare); Eva Skira (St John of God Australia); Tony Wheeler (MercyCare) and Jennifer Stratton (MercyCare).

The AMPJP Plenary Council submission process

There is a sense of urgency as the Plenary Council organisers require all submissions by 06 March 2019.

The main AMPJP process for consulting with trustees of member organisations will be via face-to-face meetings as we believe this will best:

• build mutual understanding and our learning from each other; and
• foster an atmosphere of prayer and patient discernment.

There will be meetings in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth as 57 of 63 trustees live near these cities.

After each meeting the participants of the meeting will be sent a record of the meeting. They can then make any clarifications or changes. After the last meeting, a draft document will be circulated to the participants of each meeting, AMPJP member representatives and member organisation Executive Officers. Unfortunately there is is only 2-3 weeks for us to go from draft to final document. The AMPJP Council will approve the final document.

Process for each meeting:

1. Prayer

2. Explain the approach to be taken:

• No interrupting each other
• No expression of judgement (+ or -) on what a person says
• Think as a trustee – not husband, wife, parent, grandparent, parishioner etc

3. We will start with a local focus and successively move to look at the broader perspective, using the questions:

• What do you think God is asking of me in my role as a trustee in Australia at this time?
• What do you think God is asking of my Ministerial PJP Council in Australia at this time?
• What do you think God is asking of the ministries my Ministerial PJP Council sponsors in Australia at this time?
• What do you think God is asking of the Association of Ministerial PJPs in Australia at this time?
• What do you think God is asking of the rest of the Catholic Church in Australia at this time?

4. For each question we have four phases:

• A period of personal reflection
• Individuals sharing their response to the question with the group (Lawrie recording these)
• A period of reflection on “Has something you have heard (from others or internally) moved you?”
• Sharing their response with the group (Lawrie recording these)