The Diocese of Lismore will come together in 2027 for a two-stage Diocesan Assembly, creating an opportunity for people from across the Diocese to prayerfully discern shared priorities for the future of our local Church.
Bishop Gregory Homeming OCD has called a Diocesan Assembly for 2027. The process will begin with four Regional Assemblies in April and May and culminate in the Diocesan Assembly in July 2027.
The assembly will bring together people from parishes, schools, agencies, organisations and communities across the diocese. Through prayer, listening, dialogue and discernment, participants will consider practical actions that can guide the diocese’s pastoral life and mission in the years ahead.
What is a Diocesan Assembly?
A Diocesan Assembly is a gathering of people from across the local Church to reflect on its pastoral life and make recommendations for its work and mission.
It is an important expression of a synodal Church: a Church that walks together. It creates space for a diversity of people to listen to one another, recognise the movement of the Holy Spirit and discern a shared way forward.
The assembly is consultative and pastoral in nature. It is not a legislative body and does not exercise juridical authority. Its role is to assist the bishop through shared discernment and to help identify the pastoral priorities that will guide the diocese into the future.
Why are we having an assembly?
Over the past six years, people throughout the Diocese of Lismore have participated in an extensive period of listening and consultation.
This has included the Australian Plenary Council, the global Synod on Synodality, the Diocesan Review and Renewal, parish workshops, Parish Vitality Surveys and more than a decade of engagement with young people. Together, these processes have gathered the hopes, concerns and experiences of people across the Diocese.
Five themes have emerged consistently from this listening, reflecting what people across the Diocese have repeatedly shared through these different processes. Therefore, the Assembly will not begin the listening again. Instead, it will bring together what has already been heard and help the Diocese move from listening to discernment and action.
What does the assembly hope to achieve?
The Diocesan Assembly seeks to:
- discern together the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the future of the Diocese of Lismore
- bring people from across the Diocese together in prayer, encounter and dialogue
- identify clear priorities and practical actions for the Diocese
- provide direction for the development of a Diocesan Pastoral Plan
- nourish and strengthen the faith and mission of the people of the diocese.
The assembly is not an end in itself. Its recommendations will help shape the work that follows, particularly the development of a Diocesan Pastoral Plan for the years ahead.
What happens after the assembly?
Following the Diocesan Assembly, its outcomes will be documented and shared with the wider diocese.
The Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Diocesan Youth Council will then draw on the Assembly’s priorities to develop a draft Diocesan Pastoral Plan. Parishes, schools, agencies, organisations and communities will have an opportunity to respond to the draft before the plan is finalised.
The Pastoral Plan will translate the Assembly’s prayerful discernment into shared priorities and practical action. It will help guide the work and mission of the Diocese in the years ahead.
A spiritual journey
The Diocesan Assembly is, before anything else, a spiritual event.
While it will involve discussion about the practical life and mission of the Church, its deepest purpose is to listen for what God is asking of us together as the People of God in the Diocese of Lismore.
Spiritual preparation will therefore be central to the months leading up to the Assembly. People throughout the diocese will be invited to pray, reflect on the five themes and prepare themselves to listen with openness, speak with honesty and discern with humility. Participants
Further information about the five themes, Regional Assemblies, participation, registration and prayer resources will be published as it becomes available.
