A Parish Based, Archdiocesan Supported Approach
Parish Assembly Toolkit
To take the Archdiocesan Assembly into local contexts, all parishes across the Archdiocese are being asked to run a Parish Assembly by Pentecost 2026. Parish Assemblies invite voices from your diverse community to come together and discern where the Holy Spirit is leading your parish.
To support your community to host a Parish Assembly, we have developed a series of resources. These include documents to inform your planning, templates to edit and use to lead into and to facilitate the day, and resources to train and equip your parish to host a Conversation in the Spirit.
Parish communities are encouraged to look over the toolkit resources and decide whether they are right for them, and to make them relevant for their local context.
What is a Parish Assembly?
A Parish Assembly is a gathering designed to help a parish grow in a culture of synodality—one of walking together through deep listening and communal discernment.
It is guided by the Holy Spirit and uses a process called the “Conversation in the Spirit” to identify where the Holy Spirit is leading the community through identifying convergences and divergences.
A desired outcome of your Assembly is a renewed sense of engagement and hope for the parish as it realises a vision for evangelisation and invites more to join in the life and mission of the Church.
Your Assembly does not need to big and complicated. At it’s core, it should have the following four features:
Representative
Those who gather do not have to be big in number, but they should represent the diverse voices and experiences within your parish community.
Synodal
Your Assembly should facilitate a Conversation in the Spirit, it is not simply a facilitated conversation. It is a process of prayerful, communal discernment.
Discerned
The group who gathers should discern what they have heard, to identify the convergences (similarities) and divergences (differences) of their conversation.
Reported
The community, and Parish Priest, should summarise the day and the convergences and divergences into a report. This should be shared with the Archbishop.
1. Prepare and Plan
Download the Preparation and Planning Document that outlines how to use the toolkit resources. This resource contains suggestions for how to prepare and plan for hosting your parish assembly, including; what key elements should be included in your assembly, how to build momentum and pray for your assembly, assembling your team and identifying what format and questions you will discern as a community, and practical considerations that your community may need to plan for.
2. Invitations
Download the template Invitations that can be sent across your community. Insert your parish name, date of your assembly and instructions on how your community can register. You can include a QR code for a Mentimeter presentation if relevant for your assembly.
Note: The links below are fully editable so you can customise, add and remove content for your assembly.
3. Slides
Download the template Slide Deck that can be used in your community. This includes timer countdowns for each round of discussion, recorded worship from Archdiocesan music ministry – Cana – as well as placeholders for prayer, discernment questions and discussion.
Note: The links below are fully editable so you can customise, add and remove content to make it specific for your assembly.
4. Program
Download the template Program for the day. This has space for your discernment questions, timings for the day and an area to add a QR code if using Mentimeter.
Note: The template is editable so you can customise, add and remove content to make it specific for your assembly.
5. Conversation in the Spirit
Download the Conversation in the Spirit Handout that can be printed and used to guide your time of prayerful dialogue. This includes a scripture for reflection, overview of each stage of dialogue as well as detailed explanation on the back. You can also watch the video explaining the Conversation in the Spirit process.
Note: The scripture is editable.
6. Discernment Tool
Download the Discernment Tool. You can provide this as a handout on the day for those gathered to identify themes and keep track of what they have heard from each other.
7. Report
Download the Synthesis Report template. This template has some simple headings that can be used to guide the information that is included in your report. The community should decide what other information may need to be included. These reports should be shared with the Archbishop, to also be shared with the Interim Discernment Council. The convergences and divergences across our Archdiocese will form the basis for our next Archdiocesan Assembly.
8. Mentimeter
Download the Mentimeter (Menti) guide that describes what Mentimeter is, and how to use it as part of your assembly. Mentimeter is a powerful online tool that facilitates live feedback and interaction with your community, and records the responses to assist with identifying convergences and divergences and in writing a synthesis report.
Please contact the Synodal Evangelisation Team if you would like to talk more about how to use Mentimeter in your community. You can also access some additional Mentimeter resources.
9. Worship
Access pre-recorded worship music from our Archdiocesan music ministry – Cana. These songs can be used as desired throughout your assembly, and used to facilitate prayer. Some prayers to share during this time of worship can also be downloaded.
Note – please ensure you have the correct copyright licenses. Contact the Synodal Evangelisation team if you have questions.
10. Parish Stories
Access the Parish Stories that were shared at the Archdiocesan Assembly. These may not be relevant for showing at your parish assembly, but may be useful throughout your preparation and planning phases as they are powerful testimonies about evangelisation across our Archdiocese.
11. Evangelisation Statement
The ‘Evangelisation: Encounter, Discipleship, Mission’ document was written by the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry, May 2023. It is a brief, and powerful, examination of what evangelisation means in our Catholic context.
This may be a useful document to provide across your community to inform discussion and prayer around where your parish is being called to in it’s evangelising mission.