What is a Parish:
A Parish: It is a community of people in a particular locality, who find Jesus to be a light, a guide, a power, a strength, an inspiration, ie they are interested in Jesus, and who associate with one another in an organised way, and who avail of the means that help them to come to know Jesus more deeply and to follow him more closely.
The local church are its people and Christ, a Body of whom Christ is its head and we are its members. One of the functions of the local church is to be Christ’s bodily presence in our locality The way in which Christ is made visible is through the community of his followers.. Secondly, we all have a common task which is to be of service to the kingdom of God as Jesus was. No one is called to be served in the church, but all are called to serve. We all are partners in service of the kingdom. These two functions are what we are about, and it is called Evangelisation.
The seven elements of Evangelisation are Worship, Word, Community, Service, Sunday Eucharist, Stewardship & Leadership.
Becoming a member through sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation
When we are baptised we are anointed to do Christ-like functions, to be a member of his body. With Eucharist, we share with the other people and with Jesus, to be nourished to be more Christ-like. With Confirmation we are confirmed in our responsibility for our task and as a member of the Body of Christ, the church.
We are fully and equally members of the Body of Christ. We do have different roles to play and functions to perform but we are all equal. Clergy have a particular role to play which they are anointed for, but the anointing at baptism is the more important and makes everyone equal.
Being a member of the Body of Christ
The local church are its people and Christ, a Body of whom Christ is its head and we are its members. One of the functions of the local church is to be Christ’s bodily presence in our locality The way in which Christ is made visible is through the community of his followers.. We all have a common task which is to be of service to the kingdom of God as Jesus was. No one is called to be served in the church, but all are called to serve. We all are partners in service of the kingdom.
The Kingdom of God ( or heaven). Look at the life of Jesus. He proclaimed the kingdom and he healed people.
What is of fundamental importance for the local church is its overall ministry which is proclaiming the kingdom and embodying in the area a kingdom which is an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of justice, love and peace. It is only when we see the task of the parish in this way and have this vision for this part of the world in which this parish exists, that the question of partnership and involvement in parish life ought to arise for us at all.
It is only when we begin to see that the task of the church is to preach and to show forth in its life the loving care of God, that we begin to understand the ministry of service to which baptism calls us.
For this task it is obvious a parish needs lots of people with a whole variety of gifts and talents and a whole community using their gifts together as partners in the service of the kingdom. A parish needs much more people involved in areas that are not liturgical.
People with particular gifts and talents must be recognised first of all. They must be encouraged. Secondly, their gifts must be developed (training and formation) and thirdly, we must recognise that gifts and talents will change due to age and circumstances
Baptism is not a call to live quiet and submissive lives. The baptismal call is to proclaim and publicise the kingdom as well as live its values. There is something public about membership of the church. We are asked to be involved in such a way that it is recognisable that we are members of the church.