Building Stronger Parish Partnerships for Mission
Notification of proposed amalgamation
In 2021 our parishes began the project of Building Stronger Parish Partnerships for Mission. The initial strengthening of our partnerships included: creating a single representative Parish Pastoral Council, introducing the ministry of Parish Life Teams, and consolidating a single pastoral and administrative Parish Office.
At the beginning of 2024 a joint meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council and the combined Parish Finance and Investment Committee recommended that our parishes should now move to the next stage – the formal amalgamation of our three parishes into a single parish entity. For this to occur a number of steps need to be taken. Read more…
Frequently asked questions
These FAQs are provided against a background of what is happening today across all parishes in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Our parishes are focussed on managing any change that is needed to continue being a vibrant Catholic faith community. Read the Frequently Asked Questions…
Read the information to learn more about our future plans. Your view is important, so you are welcome to submit a question or comment.
Proposed Name
Fr Brendan and the Parish Pastoral Council propose that our new parish name be Our Lady of Pentecost. Mother’s Day (12 May 2024) is a perfect day to talk about this, as the Church also calls Mary, our Mother. Why, Our Lady of Pentecost? Well, out of the five Churches that make up our worshipping communities, we have three that bear the name of Mary – Our Lady of Victories, Camberwell, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Deepdene and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Wattle Park. At Balwyn, our Church is dedicated to All Hallows and at Surrey Hills to Our Holy Redeemer. I like to think that all were present at Pentecost (pente, incidentally is the Greek word for five). Read more…
Proposed Vision and Mission
Our representative Parish Pastoral Council has been working hard and has developed a working vision and mission for us.
Vision
United, we welcome all to join us as we journey in faith with God’s grace.
Mission
Through worship, outreach and genuine connections, we aim to inspire, transform lives and spread Christ’s love, welcoming all into our inclusive faith-community.
Explore our history
It is a fascinating, one hundred and thirty-five year history, and surprising to see how connected our parishes have been throughout.
In 1889, the Parish of Camberwell was established from the Hawthorn Mission. Prior to the establishment of Camberwell, if Archbishop Carr (Archbishop of Melbourne from 1886) had left the Cathedral and driven eastward, he would have passed through Richmond Parish to Hawthorn and remained in Hawthorn Parish till somewhere around Springvale Road, when he would have crossed into Heidelberg Parish, which included all the Lilydale-Healesville district. Read more…