MISSION PLANNERS NETWORK OF OCEANIA
Promoting & advocating a culture of planning within the Catholic Church in Oceania
Our Work
Vision & Mission
The Mission Planners Network of Oceania promotes and strengthen a culture of planning for mission and evangelisation within the Catholic Church in Oceania. We engage pastoral research and best practices in church growth to offer experience, knowledge, resources and processes that enable dioceses and parishes to advance the mission of Jesus Christ under the guidance of the Spirit.
Ongoing Objectives
The following objectives are core to our work, and are exercised in a spirit of synodality:
• Communicate – to be a conduit for information sharing between pastoral planners and facilitators of professional skills
• Celebrate – to encourage ‘esprit de corps,’ energising our ministry through opportunities for prayer, worship and social interaction
• Educate – to offer education and training in pastoral planning theory and practice
• Collaborate – to facilitate the sharing of pastoral planning between dioceses and initiate research or pastoral planning projects
• Advocate – to raise issues of national pastoral planning significance and pursue them with pastoral planning offices, the Bishops Conferences and their Commissions, Catholic national agencies and the media
The Role of the Standing Committee
The committee liaises with the Pastoral Ministry Network Committee, promoting pastoral planning according to the objectives and actions of the MPNO Strategic Plan .
Core responsibilities of members of the Standing Committee include:
• To promote and carry forward the objectives of the MPNO, in alignment with the mission of the Pastoral Ministry Network.
• To ensure planning for mission is a core stream within the offerings of the Pastoral Ministry Network, including events, resources and communications.
• To participate in regular committee meetings and maintain contact with nominated diocesan pastoral planning contacts.
Our History
How We Were Known Before
We were first known as the National Pastoral Planning Network (“NPPN”) but at some point became the National Pastoral Planners Network. In 2018 we changed our name again to Mission Planning Network Oceania (MPNO).
Our Beginnings
We are unsure of the exact date the National Pastoral Planning Network was established, but the first Pastoral Planning Conference was tacked on to the Catholic Adult Education Conference in 1990. (more about why conferences are important to us later)
Aussies & Kiwis Coming Together
Pastoral Planners from New Zealand attended some of the conferences in 2000s and in 2009, we had our first conference across the Tasman.
Becoming the MPNO
In September 2018, a group of around 20 NPPN members from Australia and New Zealand met in Sydney for a Discernment Day. The day led to a decision to change the name of the NPPN to the more-inclusive Mission Planners Network of Oceania (MPNO). It was felt that the new name reflected the Network’s purpose of planning for mission and evangelisation within the Catholic Church throughout Oceania.
Why are Conferences so Important to Our History?
Conferences are a central part of the history of the MPNO/NPPN as they provide an opportunity for like-minded people to connect with each other and to share wisdom.
We believe this is what a network is – a structure or system of interconnected individuals or groups which are stronger together than they are apart.
Past NPPN/MPNO Conferences
1990 – Geelong (after the Catholic Adult Education Association Conference)
1991 – Adelaide
1992 – Goulburn
1993 – Brisbane
1994 – Sydney
1996 – Melbourne
1998 – Adelaide
1999 – Hobart
2001 – Townsville
2002 – Sydney
2004 – Melbourne
2005 – Newcastle
2007 – Ballarat
2009 – Wellington, New Zealand
2011 – Sydney
2013 – Gold Coast
2015 – Adelaide
2017 – Melbourne (combined with the Melbourne Association of Pastoral Associates)
2021 – Alive in the Spirit Virtual Conference (combined with the Pastoral Ministry Network and the Christian Initiation Network Australia)
Committee Members
Richard McMahon – Chair
Director, Synodal Consulting
Cathy Spencer – Secretary
Director, Diocesan Outreach & Mission Services, Cairns Diocese
Lisa Bright
Director, Synodal Consulting
Stephen Reid – Executive Member
Senior Researcher, National Centre for Pastoral Research
Hugh O’Brien
Parish Worker, Cairns Diocese
Amy Armstrong
Pastoral Ministry Coordinator, Dunedin Diocese
Cathy Jenkins
Executive Director, Mission Leadership at Mercy Health,