Getting started ​

The parish has long been a place of gathering for the community of God’s faithful. Under the pastoral care of the parish priest, the parish is a place of worship where the community gathers for the Eucharist and the celebration of the sacraments.

As Pope Francis reminds us in Evangelii Gaudium, the parish is ‘the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration’ (§28). The word parish comes from the Greek word paroikos, which means ‘sojourner’. And so the parish is a community of sojourners—‘a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach’ (§28).

But while it is a gathering place for God’s faithful, the life of a parish is not to look inward but rather to equip its people to live out their baptismal call to go out into the world as bearers of Christ’s love and as witnesses to the Gospel. To be effective in this mission, a parish must make good use of the gifts and resources with which it has been entrusted.

What is the handbook? ​

The Parish Administration Handbook contains guidelines on parish administration and management, including the administration of parish goods. These guidelines should be viewed as a minimum for each parish to follow, and should be read in conjunction with the Parish Finance Committee Statutes of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Code of Canon Law.

How to use this Handbook ​

The Parish Administration Handbook integrates a wide range of resources, guides, manuals and other publications to offer a single, comprehensive source of information on Archdiocesan administrative policies and procedures.

Each chapter contains information pertaining to a particular aspect of the administration and management of a parish, with links to helpful documents and forms that pastors and parish leadership teams can use to carry out their roles.

Seeing what has changed ​

This Handbook should be viewed as a ‘living document’. Any necessary updates will be made on a regular basis, with the changes outlined in the changelog.