In just over a week, on Saturday, 26 October, the new Parish of Our Lady of Pentecost will come into being.  On the eve of this historic occasion, it is worth pausing to reflect on how and why this new Parish has come about.  There are very practical, sociological and historical reasons for this move.  There are also theological and ecclesiological reasons.  Let’s reflect on each of these.

First, the practical, historical and sociological.  Our Lady of Pentecost Parish is an amalgamation of what was once five parish communities from Camberwell through to Surrey Hills.  The breakdown of that territory into various parishes has changed and evolved over the past one hundred years.  The current boundaries of the new Our Lady of Pentecost Parish, approximate to the early parish of Camberwell and St Brigid’s Parish, Surrey Hills that existed sometime in the early twentieth century.  A fuller history of the parishes is available on our website.  In many ways Our Lady of Pentecost Parish is a reunion of the communities and suburbs that were once together.  Demographics and Church attendance have changed over time.  In the mid-twentieth century the population of Melbourne was growing and the number of Church attendees was much higher than it is today.  The Churches at Camberwell, Deepdene and Surrey Hills would each have seen well over 1,000 attendees every weekend in the 1970s and 1980s.  Today, there are close to 1,000 people who regularly attend Sunday Mass across the five Churches of Our Lady of Pentecost Parish.  It was simply not sustainable to maintain five separate Parishes for such a population.  Demographic studies have also been undertaken by the Archdiocese of Melbourne in which an optimum sized Parish was proposed that would be viable and vibrant.  Factors such as the number of total Catholics in the area, the number of Church attendees, number of baptisms, schools, hospitals and so forth, were taken into account in suggesting what a future Parish might look like in an urban diocese such as Melbourne.  The results of that analysis suggested that a Catholic population of around 15,000 people would have a very good chance of sustaining a vibrant Catholic Parish with a strong mission.  Our Lady of Pentecost Parish will have just over 14,000 Catholics with around 5,000 Catholic families (or families where one or more members are Catholic).  The median age of Catholics will be 46 years.  Along with the Parish Pastoral Council and the Finance and Investment Committee, I am confident that the new Parish of Our Lady of Pentecost will continue to grow into a welcoming, outward looking, missionary focused parish.

There are also theological reasons for this new Parish.  A parish is more than a geographic area.  It is a community of people, whose hearts and minds are united around the person of Jesus Christ.  Whereas the parishes of the past were focused on building schools for the Catholic education of the young and creating groups and clubs that held Catholics together, the parish of the future will have a much more outward looking focus.  In an environment where there is such diversity of religious, philosophical and ideological ways of putting life together, it is important for a Christian community to find a place of nurture and nourishment, to enable its members to live and work and dialogue with diversity and difference.  We should have an interest in the world and all its peoples because that is what we believe God is like!  Christians believe that every person is made in the image and likeness of God, not just some but all.  And Christians believe that God works in and through those he has created in his own image and likeness.  Not just some, but all.

These beliefs are reflected in the vision and mission of Our Lady of Pentecost Parish.  Our vision is: United, we welcome all to join us as we journey with God’s grace.”  And our mission: “Through worship, outreach and genuine connections, we aim to inspire, transform lives and spread Christ’s love, welcoming all into our inclusive community”.

It will be exciting to see the new parish of Our Lady of Pentecost take up this vision and mission and make it a living reality.

By Fr Brendan Reed

Published: 18 October 2024