Research Publications

BOOKS:

New

A HANDBOOK FOR BUILDING STRONGER PARISHES: Case Studies, Reflections, Worksheets, Action Plans

book-cover

In this new book, Dr Trudy Dantis draws on her ground-breaking research into factors that lead to parish vitality to provide Australian case studies with down-to-earth examples of what can be achieved in eight key areas that lead to stronger parishes: planning, spirituality and faith formation, liturgy, community building, welcoming and hospitality, outreach, evangelisation and leadership.

This work is supported by the ACBC Pastoral Research Office Director Robert Dixon’s helpful introductory articles enabling parishes to build up a comprehensive parish profile from readily available information.

A Handbook for Building Stronger Parishes provides excellent case studies, reflection questions, worksheets and action plans to support you and your parish team.

The handbook is now available for purchase from: garrattpublishing.com.au

ADVANCE NOTICE: MELBOURNE BOOK LAUNCH
Friday 9 December, ACU St Patrick’s Campus
More details coming soon….

 

BUILDING STRONGER PARISHES REPORT SERIES 2016 

BSP Report 1 Community building, Welcoming (206x300) BSP Report 2 Mission Outreach and Evangelisation (208x300) BSP Report 3 Spirtuality and Faith Formation (206x300)

 

 

 

 

 

 

BSP Report 4 Liturgy (206x300)BSP Report 5 Leadership (206x300)BSP Report 6 Planning (206x300)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the Project Report published in May 2015, six sub-reports have been produced on various aspects of parish vitality arising from the research. The reports are produced in both hard copy and downloadable formats. These are now available from the ACBC website at www.catholic.org.au/shop/acbc‐shop. Use the search function to search for ‘Stronger Parishes’.

The six reports are:
1) Community Building, Welcoming and Hospitality
2) Liturgy
3) Spirituality and Faith Formation
4) Mission, Outreach and Evangelisation
5) Leadership
6) Planning

 

BSP Major Report Cover 13 May
BUILDING STRONGER PARISHES PROJECT REPORT MAY 2015

Trudy Dantis and Robert Dixon

This comprehensive report on the project is available now for order. The cost of the Hardcopy report is $21 (including postage and handling, excluding GST). There is also an E-version of the report priced at $10.

Both versions are now available from the ACBC website at www.catholic.org.au/
shop/acbc‐shop. Use the search function to search for ‘Stronger Parishes’.

For more information, contact the Pastoral Research Office on (03) 9953 3459 or via email: office@pro.catholic.org.au

 

 

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

ACRTracing the Pulse: An Investigation Into Vitality In Australian Catholic Parishes
Trudy Dantis
The Australasian Catholic Record
Volume 92, Issue 2 (June 2015)

Abstract: As a ‘definite community of Christian faithful’, every parish is called to embody the presence of the church in the wider community. It does this by being a place of living communion and participation that is wholly mission-oriented, an environment conducive to hearing God’s word and growing in the Christian life, and one that is engaged in dialogue, proclamation, outreach, worship and celebration. In doing so, a parish becomes ‘salt’ and ‘light’ for the community it is located in (cf. Matt 5:13-16). Parish vitality can therefore be likened to the ‘saltiness’ or ‘luminosity’ of a parish community. It is imperative for every parish community to grow in health and strength if it is to be an effective source of evangelisation and an authentic witness of the Gospel. As Wittberg notes, ‘To the extent that their communal “salt” loses its flavor, parishes – are worse than irrelevant, because they no longer image God’.

Click here to access the article.

 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS:

BSP prelim2BUILDING STRONGER PARISHES PRELIMINARY REPORT – 2012 Supplement
As we continued our work on the project, this report presents some of our initial observations from research conducted in the seven parishes visited in 2012.

Click here to view the report.

For reports on the other parishes that participated in the project please view the previous edition below.

 

 

 

BSP Prelim Report

BUILDING STRONGER PARISHES PRELIMINARY REPORT (2011)

This report presents some of our initial observations from research conducted in the nine parishes visited until December 2011 and provides an insight into the vitality found in these parishes.

Click here to view the report.