On September 6 and 7, the Archdiocese of Brisbane convened the inaugural assembly of the Archdiocesan SYNOD24. This significant gathering focused on exploring strategies for effectively implementing the decrees issued by the Plenary Council within the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The event saw the participation of approximately 150 individuals, who came together with a shared sense of purpose and spiritual unity at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Banyo.
To offer a glimpse into the Synod24 experience, we have documented the reflections and sentiments of participants from the first day of the event. The feedback highlights an atmosphere marked by positivity, respect, humility, and gentleness. These thoughtful and heartfelt descriptors reflect the generous listening and spirit-filled interactions that characterised the initial day of SYNOD24. The responses reveal a deep sense of engagement and a collective commitment to meaningful dialogue, illustrating the rich and supportive environment that has defined the early stages of the Synod.
SYNOD24 – September Day One Highlights Transcript
My table was just fantastic! I mean few of us only knew one or two other people, so we got to know each other. I was just impressed that everyone was coming with a humility, and a gentleness and a desire to contribute something positively which I know the Spirit will bless, you know, that openness and attitude.
We really found a community Spirit and the fact that we were kind of bonding as a family and will do for the next well, over the next three days yet to come. So yeah, that was really lovely.
My hope is together we are just one Church, one body in Christ.
Well we’ve just finished the first session, and I must say there’s such a sense of anticipation and hope for what the Holy Spirit is doing in the Church at the moment. There is a great sense of hope in the group and also individually that we are in God’s hands, that He is here walking with us, the Holy Spirit is with us.
Largely, the talk at our table was around being ready to trust God, being ready to hold our agendas lightly and just really be ready to listen to one another.
I think just the goodness of people and their experience and people speaking and being sure to speak from their life experience. They must feel that confidence that the Holy Spirit gives.
My table was great! Like we came to a clear table consensus pretty fast. There was a lot of sombre emotion because it was a hard topic and I think we were able to really hear each other to the point where we could hear what the hesitancies were or what the agreements were. So I actually had a really positive experience, yeah.
I think it was a good conversation, it was challenging at times. I felt it was very respectful and we were able to really converse and speak freely and share each other’s point of views and allowing our own point of view to be challenged and rethought of and rephrased.
I’m surprised at the level of trust that I experienced in the process. That was a surprise to me, I didn’t know what the process itself would look like, and having put the challenge card up a couple of times, but then talking through what I experienced being challenged by and actually come to a point where I can endorse the action of the decree that was a surprise, a positive surprise.
I really hope being a young person, I really hope that we can create a vision that really includes young people’s voice as well as responding to what we need now.
That it can actually really be the beginnings of a kind of deeper conversation that continues, you know, that we don’t just say, okay we’ve done that now, but rather we can continue to talk about what’s the best way forward on these issues and many others that we do need to really engage with and try and bring energy about.
My hope for the Synod is that we find unity and diversity, that we learn to respect each other and we have a great sense that we are one Church trying to live the gospel, trying to love God and love our neighbour and make the gospel come alive, that we are the body of Christ here and now.
As we conclude the first two days of SYNOD24, the feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Members have expressed a profound sense of eagerness, vitality, and communal spirit, which has led to enriching conversations and a range of positive experiences. Fr David Pascoe, reflecting on the discussions at his table, was particularly moved by the genuine and heartfelt contributions of the attendees. He noted that it was evident that those present were “good people with good hearts, all eager to make a meaningful contribution to the Church.” We invite you to watch this video, which beautifully captures the experiences and reflections of those who took part over the weekend.
SYNOD24 – September Day Two Highlights Transcript
Compared to yesterday, those in the table are now more aware of what they are able to contribute, they are freer in expressing their challenges or dissent and that’s what I felt in the group.
There was one example this morning, when I said what I said, I felt like the Spirit had moved through me because it wasn’t something that I thought about in my head, but as I was saying it, it came out in a very spiritual way where I felt I had articulated myself really well without thinking about it.
It’s gone great so far I feel the spirit of joy and of calm and excitement for the Church a lot of dreams to be planted in our Archdiocese.
I keep thinking broadly about how we’re going to implement it, but however, the Holy Spirit is actually guiding you in a way of where it would like to lead the Church moving forward.
I pray that it’s going in a good direction. Whether it is, I’m not sure, so I guess we’ll wait and see.
I think today we experienced probably a little bit more robust discussion at the table. Which to be perfectly honest has actually been a really good thing. I think the differing opinions and the leaning into the listening is a really important part of the process and I think I would have been disappointed if we just had complete agreement every step of the way, so, yeah.
It’s a big day today, but I’m feeling it’s going well in general and the people really understand clearly what going on in the document, but also in the way they sharing each other to make a decision.
I think we’ve had some very dynamic interactions at the table. That has really led to more productive outcomes. I think one of the challenges that we’re feeling is there’s so much more to say, and so much more to do.
I think the importance of people feeling safe in church is integral to getting people to participate and I think today we’ve talked about all of those things so we just need to make sure they’re embedded and integrated into the future.
It would be useful to maybe reflect on making sure we don’t make change for change sake, we get the outcome we expect, but perhaps even go back and reflect on the problems that we’re trying to solve in the first place. Emotional problems are certainly part of it, but practical problems are as well.
As we began it took a little bit to sort of, what’s the rhythm here? But by the end of today, there’s been a really good rhythm. Good people with good hearts and sort of wanting to be here, wanting to contribute, it’s a good surprise in that sense.
The process is often the product, so gathering together, meeting people outside your context, that’s all building communion, so I feel like the Synod as a process is doing what it’s meant to do. Yes the motions are important, but there’s something deeper at work and I guess that’s the heart of synodality.