Holy Rosary & St Martin de Porres Pastoral Cluster held their third Parish Assembly at the Living Water Centre on Sunday, March 5. Fr Jason Gordon, parish priest of the Pastoral Cluster opened the day's proceedings at 10.00 a.m. with prayer and welcomed the approximately 200 parishioners who had come together for this annual event.

The objective of the assembly was firstly to give thanks to God for His many blessings bestowed upon the Pastoral Cluster during the year 2005.

• To listen, pray and to reflect upon God's call for the Pastoral community;
• To present the annual report covering the key developments within the Pastoral Cluster during 2005 and the financial reports of both parishes.
• As a Pastoral Cluster, to determine where we are now; to chart a pastoral vision pertaining to where the pastoral cluster would like to be in 2011.

Fr Jason Gordon at the assembly

Cross section of parishioners

During the morning session representatives of the various ministries made brief presentations. An open forum to define a pastoral vision for the cluster followed.

After much deliberation, a draft vision statement was created. It reads as follows: “Loving, humble and spirit-filled disciples united in Christ, transforming our communities through our prophetic witness.” This statement will be refined during the coming weeks.

In the afternoon session a picture review of 2005 was shown. Participants examined the characteristics associated with the names of both parishes - Holy Rosary and St Martin de Porres so that a mission statement and core values could be developed.

The Assembly ended with Holy Mass. Fr Jason Gordon was the chief celebrant, assisted by Frs Roger Paponette and Curtis Moise, OP. During the Mass, two catechumens were invited to enter fully into the life of the Church. This was followed by an adapted Rite of Enrollment ceremony in which a group of approximately 50 parishioners affirmed their response to a call to a deeper commitment to God and the Church.