20th Anniversary of St Catherine of Siena

To mark the 20^th anniversary of the opening and blessing of St Catherine of Siena Church at Sippy Downs Archbishop Mark Coleridge will preside at the 8.00am anniversary Mass on Sunday 13 October.

This is a celebration for the entire Parish and all parishioners and friends are invited to join the Sippy Downs community as they mark this milestone.

The Annual Men’s Retreat

will be held on Saturday,  26 October at the Sunshine Coast Hockey Clubhouse. The retreat Director will be Rev Peter Pellicaan, Director of Evangelisation Brisbane. All fathers and sons on the Sunshine Coast are warmly invited to attend.

New Data System

What has become obvious over the past couple of years is that data is important.  Through baptismal details, marriage records, school enrolments and parish data it seems that the church has been collecting data since the Last Supper! But, collecting data for the sake of collecting data just does not make sense!

Up until now, we have been using a data system called PACS, which has well and truly passed its use-by date.  The Archdiocese, along with the Australian Church is transitioning to a new data system designed specifically for churches called Flocknote.  This new data system promises to be user friendly, allowing our office to run more efficiently while at the same time giving us   broader communication options. Over the next four months, we will slowly transition over to the new data programme and during this time familiarise ourselves with the different options the new software gives us.

The first thing we need to do as a parish is to establish a reliable parish data base, basically who is part of our Parish Family?  From next weekend, we will be inviting everyone to complete the census form. To make it easy, it will be done simply by a QR code and then you simply add your details.  For those who find technology a challenge, don’t worry, we will provide assistance to ensure that your details are included in our Parish data base.

Looking to the future as a Sunshine Coast Parish, it is essential that we have a reliable and up-to-date base if we are to be responsive to the needs of our community and  proactive in proclaiming the Good News!

Scan the QR Code or Follow this link – https://maroochydore.flocknote.com/ParisheNews to get a head start!

To sing is to pray twice

Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician once reflected that  “The highest goal of music is to connect one’s soul to their Divine Nature, not entertainment”. It is a profound statement that actually highlights what our music ministry strives for here in our Sunshine Coast Parish.

On Saturday, 26 October, at All Saints Church, Albany Creek, Liturgy Brisbane is coordinating a music workshop for all involved in parish music ministry. The Presenters are Christopher Trikilis, Director of Music at the Cathedral of St Stephen and Michael Mangan, composer, musician and education consultant at Liturgy Brisbane.  All parish musicians are invited to attend and we hope to car pool to ensure as many musicians as possible can be part of the workshop.

Please contact Michael Fitzpatrick: [email protected]. As always, we are grateful for the ministry of all our musicians.

Następna polska Msza św

The Mass in Polish will be celebrated at St Mary’s, Buderim on Sunday 22 September at 4.00pm. Polish Mass is on the fourth Sunday of every month. Tell your Polish friends — all welcome.

Junior Ministers

Our Junior Ministers youth group that meets at Stella Maris each Sunday at 3.00pm takes a break during school holidays and will resume on the 6 October 2024.

These School Holidays—Fun Days with God

All primary school aged children are invited to participate in our Parish School Holiday Programme called “Fun Days with God”. These days occur once during every school holiday. Our next “Fun Days with God” will be this Tuesday 17 September (please note the change of day from Wednesday to TUESDAY) from 9.00am -3.00pm at the Stella Maris Church in the Bliss Room. Bookings are essential .

It will be an exciting day of fun activities. Children need to bring their own morning tea, lunch and hat. The cost of the day is $10.00 per child with a maximum of $20 per family. High school students are also welcome to come and assist us on the day.  For more information or to register,  please email Bernie Baillie at [email protected]

Tap&Go

You will notice our new Tap&Go machines at the entrance to the church.

With the closure of the 3G network in October, our old machines were becoming obsolete.  The new Tap&Go machines operate using the 4G network.

Basically, the new Tap&Go devices work the same way with the exception that now you can select an amount.

Hopefully, these new machines will also be faster and more reliable!

However you to choose to financially support the mission of your Church, a grateful parish says thank you.

Thank you

Over the past six month our youth, with your generous support, have been fund raising and the proceeds have gone towards the lowering of the costs for each of our younger parishioners to attend this year’s Ignite Youth Conference at St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane.

Last week at Sippy Downs, they organised a car wash and the sparkling clean cars helped raise just under $1000.

Next weekend, the conference takes place and we wish Fr Isaac, the NET team and all our younger parishioners safe travels and a rewarding and faith filled experience at this year’s Ignite Conference.

Parish Endowment Fund

The churches, schools, and parish infrastructure of our Stella Maris Parish is a living legacy of the vision, sacrifice and determination of those who handed on the faith to us. They created the foundation for our Catholic Community through their generous sharing of their talent, time and treasure. Without their vision and determination, our parish would look completely different!

One of the challenges we face today is how we honour and build upon the sacrifices and vision of those who handed on the faith to us and gifted us the resources and ability to be who we are today as a Parish Family. If we are honest, most of us have a deep fear that if we make any substantial gift to the parish, it will not be appreciated or valued and in the end be squandered!  It is a legitimate fear!

In other parts of the world, especially in the United States, endowment funds have been established to precisely address this concern.  An endowment fund accepts and invests any contribution and only uses the interest as income. In practical terms for a parish endowment fund, the parish uses the annual interest and income for the mission of the church, while the initial contribution remains in place.  So, a person or family have the confidence that their financial contribution will still be working for the mission of the Church and Parish ten, fifty, a hundred years from now!

With the support of the Parish Finance Council, the Stella Maris Endowment Fund has been established.  This fund, independently and professionally managed, will support the work and mission of the parish in perpetuity. It is an option for anyone, or any family wishing to make a contribution to the long term mission and maintenance of Stella Maris.   There are information envelopes at the entrance to the church.

By inviting you to consider supporting the Stella Maris Endowment Fund by remembering the fund in your will or making a pledge today, our hope is that the fund will continue to grow. In this way, we all have the opportunity to hand on the faith and provide a lasting legacy.

Thank you.