Attendees left inspired after International Women's Day event Parish employees attended the 13th Annual International Women's Day breakfast at Westport Bowling Club hosted by the Hastings Women's Business Network, on Wednesday 8 March. The attendees heard inspirational talks from local employers, Just Better Care, Bennetts Steel, Men and Women at Work and the Commonwealth Bank on their [...]

Emmaus Village brings focus on those living with dementia Dementia rates in Australia continue to rise with it now overtaking heart disease as the leading cause of disease burden* among Australians aged 65 and over, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW). The report says that in 2022, over 400,000 Australians were [...]

Repairs underway to Church roof after storm The storm in early February 2023 caused one of the crucifixes on the church steeple to break away from its mount which caused damage to roof of St Agnes’ church in Hay Street. Last week Scaffolding was erected on the Horton Street facing part of the church (as shown in [...]

‘Back to School’ vouchers a winner for Uniform Store and Parish families The St Agnes’ Catholic Parish Information Technology (IT), Program Management Office, and Finance teams worked closely with the St Agnes’ Uniform Store to ensure families of students attending Parish schools could take advantage of the Service NSW ‘Back to School’ vouchers during the peak January/February [...]

So much fun had by all at Shrove Tuesday renewal events The call to celebrate Shrove Tuesday (21 February) with pancakes was resoundingly answered by the amazing St Agnes’ Catholic Parish community! The six parish schools, our residential care services and the Parish Pastoral Office and Admin Centre all found creative ways to get involved (See Facebook posts [...]

 Jayden gains valuable experience through Lucid opportunity Jayden Farrington, a Year 12 student at Newman Senior Technical College, is completing a traineeship in Information Technology with the St Agnes’ Catholic Parish. In December last year, as part of his Parish traineeship, Jayden was given an opportunity to extend his skills and experience in digital media by working [...]

Lent: A time of ‘Living Hope’ Lent begins on 22 February with Ash Wednesday. Our theme for 2023 is ‘Living Hope’. Thank you to the leaders who attended one of the two  formation sessions last Tuesday. We can confirm the following renewal groups will meet during Lent: Wednesday Groups 10.00 am     Lake Cathie 10.30am    Port Macquarie Thursday Groups [...]

Save the date for our next Pastoral Community Renewal Event SHROVE (PANCAKE) TUESDAY 21 February 2023 Have fun! Get involved! Fr Paul’s Pancake Breakfast Fr Paul is hosting a traditional Pancake breakfast at the BBQ area at the Parish Administration Centre from 6.30-8.00am. Drop in for a while if you [...]

Fantastic efforts by storm clean-up crews Tony Leahy, Acting CEO, has praised those involved in the clean-up and repair operations since last Friday's storm, which caused extensive damage across multiple Parish sites including the Parish Administration Centre. “It is great news that we have been able to return to some degree of normality so quickly. This could not [...]

Twilight gathering looks at ways to encounter Jesus more intentionally this Advent About 30 people enjoyed the Advent Twilight gathering held on Monday evening, 21 November 2022 at St Joseph's Primary School in Warlters Street. The gathering began with a light meal and then broke into small groups for a time of more focused conversation during which people [...]

Indigenous Education Workers in Lismore Diocese benefit from training collaboration Eleven Indigenous Education Workers employed at schools in the Lismore Diocese have completed a Skill Set in Educational School Based Support (Inclusion) thanks to a collaboration between the John Henry Institute (JHI) and the Catholic Schools Office (CSO). Natasha Murphy, Manager of JHI based in Port Macquarie, [...]

Community Advent Breakfast enjoyed by all A beautiful morning and the smell of bacon and eggs (cooked by Chef Extraordinaire, Fr Paul) greeted those who attended the Parish Advent Breakfast, open to all, and hosted by our Pastoral Renewal Team from 6.30am to 8am on Wednesday 21 December! The team was delighted that around 60 people came [...]