Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
At St Bridget’s there are two active groups of lay Ministers of Holy Communion, those who assist the priest at the weekend Masses and those who visit housebound parishioners on Sunday mornings.
Extraordinary Ministers to Holy Communion are those assisting with the distribution of Holy Communion at weekend Masses on a rostered basis.
Extraordinary Ministers to the Sick take the Eucharist to the sick and housebound parishioners on Sunday mornings, the one day when many of those who cannot get to Mass desire to receive Holy Communion. This also provides them with an opportunity to have a chat with someone new each Sunday.
If you are interested in joining this ministry, please contact the Parish Office.
Greeters
Greeters welcome regular worshipers and visitors with a welcoming smile, and distribute the newly parish bulletin.
Altar Society
A dedicated group who care for the flower decorations of the church on a weekly basis.
Choirs/Music Ministry
Suspended during the pandemic.
Lectors
A dedicated group of parishioners who read at Mass on a weekly basis.
Altar Servers
Children from year 3, preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and older, are able to help out at Mass by becoming altar servers.
If your child is interested training sessions are available.
Contact the Servers Co-ordinator Edgar D’Souza at: news@stbridgetsgreythorn.org.au
Resource Centre
The Resource Centre offers a service to parishioners where cards and gifts for religious occasions can be purchased. Among the items in stock are greeting cards for Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation etc, inspirational plaques and bookmarks, rosaries, bibles and missals. Operates on an honesty based system.
St Vincent De Paul
St Bridget’s has a strong St Vincent De Paul conference.
Their primary role is visitation. Members respond to calls to the SVDP call centre for material assistance. They visit the poor in their homes, and are able to give food vouchers, assistance with bills and material aid such as clothing and furniture. Members always visit in pairs, and generally, this takes a morning per month for those who visit. Most of the people visited are in North Fitzroy but visits also cover the Balwyn and Mont Albert area.
Members also conduct “bread runs” where unsold bread from local bakeries are delivered to organisations who serve meals and make up food parcels for the hungry.
SVDP run two appeals every year, in winter and at Christmas.
Members also participate in SVDP activity outside the parish, in particular “twinning” with poorer SVDP conferences in other countries.
Members meet on a monthly basis in the parish conference room. If you’d like to ask a question about participating but do not want to feel obligated, please call 1800 305 330.
After Mass Coffee
After Mass on the first Sunday of the month parishioners are invited to linger for a while and meet fellow parishioners over a cup of tea or coffee. It is an ideal way of making new friends in the parish community and catching up with old ones.
Interchurch Relations
St Bridget’s parish is represented in the North Balwyn Inter-Church Council. Meetings are held quarterly.
Christian Meditation
Meditation, also known as contemplative prayer, is the prayer of silence and stillness. This prayer of the heart, is praying without words and images. It is a journey from our heads to our hearts; a journey from our ego (our false selves that our minds have created) to our hearts, where God dwells, which will reveal our true, divine selves to us.
Popularised in the secular world for its physical, emotional and mental health benefits, meditation teaches us to be in the present moment, to let go and let God do the work, and thus can have beneficial effects – lowering blood pressure, calming the nerves, and lifting our mood/spirit.
Meditation helps participants grow to know themselves and to know God, and thus to love God, ourselves and our neighbours as ourselves.
Come and join this journey of silence and stillness every Wednesday at 9.30am via Zoom
Contact the Parish Office for details.
Scripture reflection
Time: 8.30am, Every Sunday via Zoom.
Join the reflection group in praying with Scripture using the Benedictine Lectio Divina and the Ignatian Imaginative Contemplation methods.
The purpose of contemplating the gospels is to come to know the living Lord Jesus.
Jesus comes to participants from the outside, as the Word of God. With their imagination, they can “see” him, “hear” him, “touch” him. The Spirit comes to participants from the inside, revealing Christ to us.
Contact the Parish Office for details.
Refugee Action Group
St Bridget’s Refugee Action Group provides secure accommodation and support to a refugee family.
Donations are Tax deductible. Please contact Chris Barring-Gould (Treasurer) cbg.stbridgetsrag@gmail.com for information on how to make a Tax Deductible donation online.
The Group meets regularly on Wednesday evenings in the St Bridget’s church narthex.
Everyone is welcome. If you are keen to be involved but are unable to attend regular meetings add your name to the emailing list and participate when and as you are able.
For further details contact: Robert Stewart: robert.stewart@bobstewart.com.au