Parish Ministry Groups

More information to follow ...

We are pleased to announce the launch of Our Lady of the Southern Cross Parish’s new teen youth group, running during term times!

Designed for our young parishioners aged 13-17, this group will provide a vibrant space for fellowship, fun, and faith-based discussions.

Meetings will commence after the 5pm Mass on Sundays, with the option to gather every two weeks. Our overarching themes  will focus on fun, education, giving back and faith. The activities range from movie nights, games night, faith education, baking and group discussions to a variety of other engaging events that we’ll name as we grow together.

We warmly welcome all teens within the age group to join us in building a community where everyone can share, learn, and enjoy. Please find our calendar of events below.

Any questions please email: office@olsc.org.au

St John’s church has always sought to meet the needs of the local community, however, the specific Food Outreach Program emerged out of the COVID 19 crisis when so many experienced hardship due to the extended lockdowns and the challenges that arose.

The program was created with the intention to meet both social and financial needs of our local community.  Our guiding principles would be to:

• respond to any request from our parish area
• respect the dignity of those seeking assistance
• abstain from setting criteria for clients to qualify for help
• engage with clients to learn their circumstances and needs
• commit to building connections between our workers/volunteers and clients and between the clients themselves.

We were supported in these principles by the then parish priest, Father Martin Tanti and the parish secretary, Joan Parr.  We established a relationship with OZ Harvest which continues today.  They supply us with reclaimed food from local supermarkets, mostly fresh fruit and vegetables and occasionally non-perishables on an ad-hoc basis.  Parishioners also contribute to our stores with donations, in particular with winter and Christmas appeals.

Each Thursday, we receive a delivery from Oz Harvest and volunteers from St John’s and the local area pack specific parcels for households based on their size, ethnicity and dietary requirements.  The number of parcels is entirely dependent on the size and quality of the delivery.  Our volunteer drivers collect and deliver the parcels immediately.  The turnaround occurs within two to three hours to ensure the quality of food is preserved and of best use to our clients.

Volunteers

Rafelina De Donato, Antonia Tascone, Marianna Tascone, Melissa Kelson, Steve Payne, Chris Carter, Laurie Alessio

Julie Sarle and Bill Loughlin, Thomas Black, Pat and Barry Morton, and Jen Payne.

More information to follow ...

More information to follow ...

Jan's experience of RCIA

“Coming from a background of no religious participation for the past 59 years, the RCIA has been like a journey on a train and not knowing when to get off and finally finding the right station.

While volunteering at the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre, I found tremendous peace which inspired me to investigate the Catholic faith and that led me to doing RCIA with Fr Cassius. This has been like learning a new language. The Catholic Theology I learned was both challenging and enlightening but needed to be translated into everyday life as I have already experienced – my life has changed for the better because of my newfound faith in God, Jesus, Mary and a sense of belonging to a Catholic Parish Community like St Joseph’s.”