19 November 2023 Shimoga: The training for the Parish Pastoral Plan-2024 was held on 19 November 2023 for the PPC, PFC, Animators and Co-animators of BECs, office-bearers of all the Associations, priests and religious of the parish of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Shimoga. Fr Stany D'Souza briefly highlighted the purpose of the gathering which numbered around 85.
The resource person for the day was Fr Duming Dias who informed the gathering about why they were present and what they would achieve in three hours session. Fr Duming gave the example of the Indian cricket team which won all the matches till the semifinal, highlighting the good batting line-up, excellent bowling, meticulous fielding and timely coordination and planning and execution of the plan with backup from good team leadership. It was also the same with a parish which should be surrounded with good people and good leadership of the Parish Priest. Thereafter he spoke on the importance and role of the laity in the mission of the church. Hence they were the chosen ones to accompany the church and get actively involved in carrying out activities in the parishes.
Then he went on to explain in short what is planning, why we need planning, how to plan and how to implement what we plan. He also informed that there are 22 Commissions and we would club them and make 8 Parish Pastoral Commission Committees.
The participants were then divided into 8 groups and they were instructed to follow the objectives of their commissions and plan one activity for each Commission. They were given the worksheet to put down their activity. All the participants actively participated in the whole exercise. At the end they were able to select one activity for each Commission. Recalling what was done last year, Fr Duming Dias, the Director of Sannidhi, Diocesan Pastoral Centre, was hopeful that next year they would come up with a Year Plan 2024.
Earlier, the planning session began with a prayer by Fr Stany D'Souza. The session got concluded with the Angelus prayer.
