Parishioners of Victor Harbor and Goolwa recently launched a vision and mission statement – the first of its kind for the South Coast Catholic community.

The vision is ‘to build a faith community centred on the loving relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, expressed in personal lives and communal parish activities’.

The mission statement has four elements: celebrating the Eucharist, growing a personal relationship with the Trinity, caring for each other and our environment, and reaching out to those in need and others in the wider community remembering that ‘we are all God’s children’.

It features the Icon of the Trinity painted in 1412 by Andrei Rublev and will be placed in the foyer of St Joan of Arc’s Church in Victor Harbor and St John the Apostle in Goolwa.

Developed over the past 12 months by members of the Parish Pastoral Council, the mission statement was described by parish priest Fr Vinh-Quang Tran as a response to the “crisis of spirituality” arising from a lack of “encounter with God”.

He said it reflects the eight Gospel characteristics identified as part of the Renewing Parishes process.

Fr Vinh said he often related the vision and mission statement to his homily and uses it as a basis for a prayer of intercession once a month.
Launching the statement, PPC chairman Ray Klecko stressed that it was a “living document” which belonged to everyone in the parish.

“Whilst it has a beginning, it has no end – it will always be there for us to reflect upon, to review our practices, to gauge our successes or failures, and to improve upon as required,” he said.

The launch of the mission statement can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlYJ1uDjRLI&feature=youtu.be