After months of planning, 100 members of the Adelaide Synod gathered on Saturday for the first of two plenary sessions to discuss the future direction of the archdiocese. Source: The Southern Cross.
Adelaide Archbishop Patrick O’Regan opened the day at Serafino winery in McLaren Vale by asking all members whether they accepted the responsibility entrusted to them in their role as representatives of the people of the archdiocese.
Each of the 12 tables of members, a mix of laity and clergy, discussed the first Synod theme – Becoming Missionary disciples. Then, the room was split into two, with each table discussing two additional themes from: Communion in grace – Sacrament to the world; The mission of Catholic education and being Church together; Formation for mission and leadership; and Structures and planning for communion, mission and participation.
The format was simple: each table was given an overview and consultation feedback (from discussions with the wider Church community earlier this year) along with specific recommendations to be addressed. At which point the day proper began.
Every member was allocated two minutes to talk about what they felt was integral to the theme and why. A digital clock on the screen above the stage counted down by the second with members instructed to stop talking immediately the time count went to zero. And once the urgency was grasped, it worked seamlessly.
A greater pressure still arrived with members then given one minute (again with a countdown) to relay what they had heard their counterparts say, followed by a 15 minute round-the-table debate to try and reach a consensus.
The formula proved a natural ice breaker and the ensuing two themes – one held in each of the day’s three sessions – went by without hitches.
Pastoral Services team leaders Sarah Moffatt and Peter Bierer reminded the members that a further online meeting will be held on June 16Â to further look at the recommendations required to head into the second and final session in Hahndorf on June 27.
The current working document will then be the subject of a vote among the Synod members on June 27, with the final document – as approved by Archbishop O’Regan – to provide the groundwork for the archdiocesan pastoral plan.
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A seamless first session of the ocese of Adelaide Synod (By Richard Evans, The Southern Cross)
