THE PARISH FORUM THAT GREW AND GREW

By Felicity de Fombelle

Tony Abbott was the inaugural speaker almost five years ago. Since then,
more than 30 others have followed, including Kevin Rudd, Peter Garret
and - Christopher Pyne.

Barnaby Joyce will speak next month, with High Court Judge Susan Crennan
and academic and commentator Professor John Warhurst to follow later
this year.

For an event started by one parishioner, Bill Mason, with a small team
of parishioners from the parish of St Thomas More in Canberra, the Forum
has been an outstanding success.
And the forum is set to expand even further with the recent announcement
of a partnership between the parish and CatholicLIFE, a team
established by the Archdiocese to support parish activities.

CatholicLIFE’s expert team will help the forum reach a wider audience,
nationally and globally, via the Internet and social networking sites.

The formal agreement was signed on Tuesday by St Thomas More parish
priest Fr Julian Wellspring and CatholicLIFE director Shawn van der
Linden, in the presence of Archbishop Mark Coleridge at the Archbishop’s
house.

Father-of-four Mr Mason said he started the forum, on behalf of his
Parish to support leaders in public life and to provide them with an
opportunity to present a Christian perspective on the issues of the day
in the public square.

“At the time it wasn’t that popular to step out in the public limelight
demonstrating Catholic or Christian principles,” he said.

“The forum has been a huge success. We have averaged audiences of over
100 people for more than 30 forums over five years. Some forums have
been quite fiery as you can imagine.”

“One highlight of the Forum has been the extent that faith does
influence the public and private lives of many of our speakers. Our
audiences with their strong level of interest and attendances have often
been inspired, encouraged and uplifted by the expression of these
thoughts and views by our speakers.”

The forum published its first volume of speeches in December 2007, which
was launched by then Chief Justice Murray Gleeson, and will publish its
second volume in June next year.


“We just wanted to demonstrate that a little parish could do something significant to really make a difference,” Mr Mason said.

“Our team have put in thousands of volunteer hours, but now it has gone
beyond a little parish initiative and we need to take it to the next
level. We want to make the forum even bigger, by drawing on the
professionalism and expertise of the CatholicLIFE team.”

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Archbishop Coleridge paid tribute to Mr Mason and his fellow parishioners.

“This is the kind of energy and creativity we need,” he said.

“The forum has uniquely added to the profile of the church in Canberra
and has contributed not insignificantly to the life in Canberra as well.

“The forum punches above its weight and this partnership will ensure that continues into the future.”

Mr van der Linden said the St Thomas More Forum could become one of Australia’s pre-eminent forums.

“Why shouldn’t it?” he said. “What they have achieved is amazing. They
have this jewel and are able to attract such an impressive line up of
speakers because of their reputation.”

“We want to bridge the tyranny of distance so the forum can be more
easily accessed by far flung parishes in the diocese and beyond.”

Mr van der Linen said the partnership between CatholicLIFE and the St Thomas More Forum was a natural fit.

“CatholicLIFE’s main aim is parish support, to help parishes flourish,”
he said. “Through our expertise in technology, multimedia and social
networking we can help the forum increase its influence and reach a much
wider audience, which is really exciting.”