What Is A Parish Partnership?

Catholic Charities USA is seeking to connect parishes across the country with Gulf Coast parishes suffering from Hurricane Katrina-related destruction. At the heart of the partnership is the desire to be connected with the partner parish and with God. The form that a particular Parish Partnership takes depends entirely on the tow parishes involved and on the creativity and gifts of the members of the two parishes. Sharing each other’s faith journey, learning about each other’s life and worship styles, concern fo the well being of the other, all enhance our understanding of the word “neighbor” and contribute to an appreciation of the global dimensions of our Church. Establishing a Parish Partnership is an evolutionary process involving the support of the parish priests and dioceses. Developing this relationship requires work, dedication and understanding from both parishes, but the reward for these efforts was great.

A critical understanding in building a Parsih Partnership is just that…Understanding that both parties must want to enter into a process of learning so that they have an understanding of each other’s reality and can build on each other’s trust. Parish Partnerships are multi-directional, meaning they involve both giving and receiving. It is not the intent that one parish should dominate and send, but that both parishes should understand and support each other through prayer, visitation, communication and gift sharing. Al Churches are both “sending” and “receiving” Churches ---all Christians, based on the very nature of our baptism, are called to share in the mission and wvwryone has God-given gifts to share. (Taken from www.Catholiccharitiesinfo.org )