Parish Assembly - a gathering of parishioners for an annual general meeting for consultation & feedback on pastoral concerns of the parish.

The Parish Hall at Church of the Risen Christ was packed to the brim with a 200 odd crowd at 1.30pm on Sunday 27th November 2005.

They were to there to participate at the Church's 2nd annual Parish Assembly. Supported by a team of veteran musicians, the prayer leaders first led the crowd in a rousing praise & worship session, charismatic style.

No matter big or small, shepherding a congregation requires divine guidance. Fr Adrian Yeo leading the assembly in a prayer for wisdom & unity.

Fr Adrian Yeo, associate priest, then said the opening prayer with a quotation from Acts 4:32-35.

He prayed for unity and guidance, so that the Parish Assembly would effectively address the needs of the parish community.

Vivienne Lim explaining the organisational structure of the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). Some parishioners have yet to familiarize themselves with the workings of our PPC.

Thereafter, Vivienne Lim, chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council chaired the Assembly.

She started by explaining the organisational structure of the Parish Pastoral Council & how, with the help of Councilors, investigated and researched into issues raised and formulated plans towards the betterment of the Parish community.

These ideas are then channeled to the PPC-Exco for implementation.

John Png, chairman of the Publicity Ministry, updating the audience of the Ministry's duties. The Ministry also plans to maintain an archive comprising of materials & photos relating to the Parish's history.

The audience was given an update of 2 recently created ministries that materialised as a result of PPC's initiatives, based on the feedback given at the last Parish Assembly.

The new ministries are the Publicity Ministry and Vintage Care Group.

Publicity Ministry was formed to coordinate the various communication channels in the church so that parishioners can easily know what is happening and make use of the different training opportunities and events that are going on.

The Ministry has also created the church website (www.risenchrist.org.sg) and made improvements to its bulletin. In addition, the Ministry plans to create an archive covering the history of the Church and offer web space to interested church groups.

Vintage Care Group was formed to look after the socio-spiritual needs of elderly parishioners. Although it has just been recently formed, it has already attracted 80 elderly parishioners to sign up with them.

Jeanette Kong showing a sample video of the CaFE programme to the audience.

The PPC then announced their proposed vision for 2006 - to create a more united and vibrant community in Christ. The theme for 2006, "We are One in the Lord", was then unveiled to the participants.

To coincide with and to achieve the vision, PPC announced several parish-level activities and plans including introducing Cell Groups (or Small Christian Communities) within the parish, conducting a survey to assess the needs of the parishioners for Support Groups (e.g. single parents, parents of special needs children, bereavement, foreign workers, etc).

Plans were also made to introduce Faith Formation programmes such as the CaFE (Catholic Faith Exploration) programme and Parish Renewal Experience.

The assembly was also told of several parish-level activities in the coming year and were encouraged to attend them; namely Parish Feast Day (Easter Sunday), Lay Apostolate Sunday, devotions & procession in honour of our Lady (to be held in May and October 2006) and the annual Parish Assembly.

The Assembly listening attentively as a parishioner gives her suggestions. For many, the gathering was also a good opportunity to witness firsthand, the gravity & breadth of concerns from various sections of the community.

The session was thereafter opened to the floor and parishioners actively participated in the Q&A/Feedback session.

Various members of the floor took turns at the microphone to convey their support for the planned initiatives and also added further concerns and suggestions for improvement of the parish community.

Fr John Sim closing the Parish Assembly for year 2005. He expressed hope that more parishioners will participate actively in the Assembly for year 2006.

The Parish Pastoral Committee thereafter thanked the parishioners for their active participation.

With that, the Parish Assembly 2005 came to a close. Parish Priest, Fr John Sim thanked all those who contributed to the success of the Assembly and expressed hope that the turnout for the next assembly would be bigger.

He then led the closing prayer, asking the Lord for grace to help care for one another, and be a witness of His love to the world.

The participants thereafter adjourned for refreshments & fellowship outside the Parish Hall.

Making friends, discussing the issues raised.... & filling the stomach after the 3-hour Assembly. What better finale would you have?!