Australian eJournal of Theology 17 (December 2010) 95 Parish on Mission: A Reflection on a Renewed Sense of Parish Leadership and Ministry in the Present Realities of the Church in Australia Ormond Rush Abstract: In this article the author examines some of the factors conditioning the context of parish life in Australia today and proposes some fundamental priorities that should shape a parish’s sense of mission in response to that context. A wide range of issues is listed, from globalisation to the dramatic downturn in church attendance in recent times. Cause for hope and courage in responding to such diverse challenges, it is proposed, is to be found in focusing on Jesus’ own primary concern, the reign of God; finding inspiration in biblical more than secular models of leadership; and avoiding the temptation to turn inward. Key Words: signs of the times, reign of God, mission of the church, parish ministry, parish leadership hat might a renewed sense of parish leadership and ministry look and feel like in the present realities of the church in Australia? 1 I want to begin with the last part of that question: “in the present realities of the church in Australia”. It was the methodology of Vatican II’s pastoral constitution on the church in the world of today, Gaudium et Spes, to start with present reality, to interpret it, and then to work out appropriate responses in the light of the Gospel. So, following that injunction, this article will first address the end part of my sub‐title, “the present realities”, and then move to the first part: “a renewed sense of parish leadership and ministry”. THE PRESENT REALITIES OF THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA What are the present realities of the church in Australia? Using the metaphor of a scan, such as taking an MRI scan or doing a radar sweep, let us scan the present realities. Once again, following Gaudium et Spes, let us call this a search for “the signs of the times”. 2 What 1 An earlier version of this article was first presented as the keynote address at the Augustinian Parishes Symposium, 23‐25 October 2008, at the Chevalier Centre, Kensington, Sydney. 2 See GS, 4: “To discharge this function [i.e., to continue the work of Christ with the guidance of the Paraclete Spirit, referring back to the previous sentence in GS, 3)], the church has the duty in every age of examining the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the gospel, so that it can offer in a manner appropriate to each generation replies to the continual human questionings on the meaning of this life and the life to come and on how they are related. There is a need, then, to be aware of, and to understand, the world in which we live, together with its expectations, its desires and its frequently dramatic character.” Tanner translation. Norman P. Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 vols. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990), 2:1070.