Stephen Bolling is Parish Priest of St Liborius’, Eaglehawk and St Mary’s, Inglewood-Marong. He is also a member of the Safeguarding Committee of the Diocese of Sandhurst; Chaplain to the Bendigo Serra Club and Bendigo Apostolate of Our Lady of Fatima; a member of the Parish Visitation Program Working Group; and, of course, a member of the Sandhurst Mission and Pastoral Council (SMPC).
Fr Stephen is on the SMPC ‘Formation of the Faithful’ focus group with fellow members Stephen McKinley, Christine Sebire and Fr Joe Taylor. “Formation of the faithful is not so much about content; it’s more about finding ways to promote engagement and be responsive and proactive so that people who are seeking opportunities to grow in their faith; are equipped to come forward,” says Fr Stephen.
All the members of this focus group share a passion for seeing people engaged in their faith, they have breadth and depth of experience and bring a range of ideas to the meetings.
“The SMPC engages in a way which is well-thought-out, strategic, with a long-term vision and real sense of purpose for what we are trying to achieve,” says Fr Stephen.
“It’s very good to hear everyone’s different perspectives and to become familiar with each other so we can work together as a team. It’s quite a process to work out how we will function, the process of developing our patterns … we are a council forming a new vision. It is understandable that it will take time to settle in to how we are going to operate.”
Fr Stephen says the work of the SMPC is complicated and what sounds good in theory must also work in practice.
“What can we do to help people in an age where there are so many ways to communicate and make things accessible? We can use all kinds of tools, but young people are looking for a challenge; they are looking for faith that will challenge them. We need to find ways to create opportunities for growth which are accessible and can compete with the noise of today, but are demanding enough to enrich us; it’s a real challenge.”
"Strategies can only support what happens on the ground. It comes down to personable relationship in a local community, supported by strategies. For example, we could write the best Religious Education Curriculum but, if the teacher doesn’t have conviction, it will come across differently. We can’t have a policy enforcing personal conviction, so we have to create environments and provide support for growth.”
Fr Stephen says his experience at University played a role in the path he has taken, so he understands how important it is to create environments which nurture faith life.
“There was a strong ‘Catholics on Campus’ group, a chaplaincy, and weekday Mass which I attended regularly. I was always committed to my faith in terms of the believing what is truth, but that community was probably the place where, as a young adult, I truly experienced the community dimension of faith. It’s hard to say what would have happened had I not had that community.”
Thinking about this experience in relation to his work as a priest and role on the Sandhurst Mission and Pastoral Council (SMPC), Fr Stephen says,
“Reaching out to people who appreciate the truths of the faith but don’t yet feel a sense of belonging is important. The idea of the faith is that it does manifest in community life and community belief.”
“However, the glue that holds community together must be Jesus Christ – truth, teachings and sacramental life are the foundations of a parish. It’s very important to make sure that any strategies or works have Christ at the centre, and then the community will grow around that.”
Fr Stephen reflects on his childhood environment to understand how the SMPC can work to create environments which nourish faith. Fr Stephen believes all of his experiences must have influenced him in some way, although he isn’t exactly sure how. “When I was growing up, the idea that I would have a vocation where I would regularly get up and speak in public seemed ridiculous,” he said. “The priesthood is not a path I would have picked for myself,” said Fr Stephen, who remembers when he was about 15 praying on a calling to the priesthood: “I was aware the church needed priests but I was, in a sense, afraid that I would be called.” “I was anticipating a career in something technical, so I studied for a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Computer Science. It was a big shift in direction to consider the priesthood,” said Fr Bolling who says he attributes his calling to Grace.
“My vocation can demonstrate that God can have plans for us which are very different from the plans we have for ourselves,” he explained. “I’m very grateful he has chosen me for this path; it’s a blessing. Through God’s grace I find myself very happy having been called to this vocation.”
In essence, the words said at the Homily at Fr Stephen’s ordination in 2015 perhaps hold an answer for the SMPC, and for all of us:
“You must put your whole life at the service of the Church and make the unveiling of the face of the Christ the driving force of everything you do. He must be the treasure which you hold close to your heart, contemplate often and deeply, come to appreciate each day more fully, and share generously, without counting the cost, with all those people to whom the Lord will send you.”
