Mercy Partners acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners, the Yuggera, Turrbal, Jagera and Ugarapul People, recognising Elders past and present, on whose land we walk, work and live.
Annually Mercy Partners will provide a 1.5 hour Catholic Identity Formation session to complement the formation your Board undertakes.
These Catholic Identity sessions are designed to be relevant, engaging, and supportive of your vital work as a Ministry Board. They intentionally provide a space to pause, realign, and ensure our governance contributes to the emergence of a world where the healing, liberating and life-giving mercy of God is experienced.
We look forward to this shared work together.
Download a handout version of our new Formation Offering – click here.
Workshop 1: Partners in Mission
– Rooted in God’s Mercy, Acting in Communion
Domain 1: Mission
What does it mean to be partners in mission? This foundational session invites Board Directors to re-member — to reconnect with — the special charism heard at the founding of Mercy Partners as a Public Juridic Person.
We begin where all mission begins: with God who is Love, Mercy, and Goodness. From this divine source flows Jesus’ example, our personal sense of purpose, our ministry’s mission, and Mercy Partners collective calling. Mission is not a corporate slogan — it is a response to Love that shapes how we live, lead, and serve.
Through interactive exploration of the Mercy Partners founding story and mission statements, and that of our own ministry, Directors will uncover what resonates, what surprises, and what calls them forward. The session unpacks ‘mission’ as more than strategy — it is communion, relationship, and interconnectedness lived out in governance.
Workshop 2: Mercy of God
Domain 1: Mission
What does it mean to carry the Mercy of God into a world that increasingly experiences mercilessness? This retreat-style Formation session invites Board Directors into contemplative encounter with mercy — not as an abstract concept, but as lived experience.
The Mercy Partners Mission Statement declares that we aim “to contribute to the emergence of a world where the healing, liberating and life-giving Mercy of God is experienced.” This is not merely aspirational language — it is an urgent imperative for our time.
Through scripture, poetry, and personal reflection, Directors will explore the rich biblical understanding of mercy as compassion — God’s own heart moved by human suffering. We will dispel common misconceptions that mercy is weak or implies “power over,” discovering instead that mercy is the posture of equals who recognise their shared frailty and vulnerability.
The session moves toward practical application: Where are the edges in need of mercy in your ministry? How do we practice mercy daily — in our boardrooms, in our relationships, in our decisions?
Workshop 3: Mission Drift
– Staying True to the Call
Domain 1: Mission
Every ministry inspired by mercy begins from the same source — God’s enduring mercy expressed through Jesus and embodied in our response to the needs of the world. Yet, over time, organisations can lose focus. Mission Drift happens not through malice but momentum — when good work, strategic priorities, or external pressures pull us subtly away from the founding spirit.
This workshop invites Board Directors to pause and realign. Rooted in scripture and your ministry’s charism, directors explore the difference between mission drift, mission agility, and mission stagnation. Through reflective dialogue, practical discernment frameworks, and shared stories from Church tradition, participants identify how governance decisions can remain faithful while adapting to changing contexts.
Workshop 4: Take Us to the Edge
– Widening the Tent
Domain 2: Spirituality and Theological Reflection
Domain 4: Leadership and Governance
Take Us to the Edge is an invitation to be courageous. It challenges boards and ministries to notice who stands at the margins of our mission — the people, stories, or ideas waiting to be heard. Every generation of the Church must widen its tent, discerning how to remain faithful to the Gospel while responding to new needs.
This session explores the prophetic dimension of Mercy Partners leadership. Participants will reflect on scripture — and examine what it means for governance to operate not only at the centre but at the edge, where vulnerability, encounter, and transformation happen. Together, you will identify where your board is being called to the edge and commit to practical steps that bring those on the margins into the ministry’s life and decision making.
Workshop 5: Leading in the Way of Jesus
Domain 2: Spirituality and Theological Reflection
Domain 4: Leadership and Governance
What does it mean to lead not just with professional excellence, but “in the way of Jesus”? This workshop invites Board Directors to move beyond secular models of governance to explore Christology in the boardroom. We grapple with the provocative question: How might Jesus take on the role of Board Director?
By reflecting on the leadership traits of Jesus—his prayer, friendship, service, and courage—Directors will explore how they are called to be the “hands and feet of Jesus” in their specific ministry context. Through scripture exploration and practical case studies, we will examine how Jesus responded to “tough times” and how that informs a Board’s response to contemporary challenges. This is an invitation to spiritual leadership, where governance becomes an act of “leading culture” and “washing feet,” ensuring the ministry remains rooted in its divine calling.
Workshop 6: Leading with Leo
– Leadership in a Fragile Church
Domain 3: Catholic Thought and Context
Domain 4: Leadership and Governance
Leading with Leo explores what it means to lead in the Church today – a Church that is fragile yet faithful; broken yet called. Inspired by the humble words of Pope Leo and the continuing spirit of Pope Francis, this session invites Board Directors to reflect on their own leadership within the mission of Mercy Partners.
Using Leo’s choice and name and his themes of dialogue, peace and co-responsibility, participants will consider what it means to exercise authority as service and to lead with both courage and humility. The session draws on St Peter’s experience as founder of the Church to affirm that leadership in the Church is never about perfection, but faithfulness in relationship with Christ. Guided reflection, small group discussion will help us examine how the values of synodality, integral ecology and accountable governance shape decision-making today, and our board leading with compassionate clarity and hope.
Workshop 7: Discernment
– How do we know?
Domain 2: Spirituality and Theological Reflection
Domain 4: Leadership and Governance
To govern and lead effectively, Board Directors must move beyond mere analytical data to “knowing well” and pursuing right understanding. This workshop invites Directors to engage with discernment, shifting from a linear “problem-solving” mindset to a spiritual “way of proceeding”.
We will explore the rich tradition of discernment within our Christian tradition to examine how Jesus acted as a “Disrupter” to break dualistic thinking in favour of mercy. We will also consider the contribution discernment processes can make to our decision-making processes and plan together how we can implement this wisdom in our way of proceeding together as a board.
Workshop 8: Listen
Domain 2: Spirituality and Theological Reflection
Domain 4: Leadership and Governance
Domain 6: Human Relations
What does it mean to truly listen with the “ear of the heart” in the context of board governance? This session invites Board Directors to move beyond mere strategy and enter into synodality—the practice of listening together.
Drawing on the Mercy Partners Theological Framework, we explore how lay leaders are called to creatively respond to the world’s need for mercy by reading the “signs of the times”. By reflecting on the specific charism of their ministry and the broader Mercy Partners mission, Directors will experience a “Conversation in the Spirit”. This process is not just a tool for engagement; it is a way of being community that creates a “silence into which another may speak,” allowing the gentle voice of God to guide the board’s discernment on current, complex issues.
Workshop 9: Everybody’s Business: Catholic Social Teaching
Domain 3: Catholic Thought and Context
Domain 6: Human Relations
Board Directors are invited to “Everybody’s Business,” an interactive workshop designed to explore Catholic Social Teaching (CST) as the essential moral compass for effective governance. Often called the Church’s “best-kept secret,” CST provides a robust framework of principles for reflection, criteria for judgment, and directives for action that move governance beyond technical compliance toward servant leadership.
Through the lens of integral human development, we will examine how core pillars—such as human dignity, subsidiarity, and the common good—inform high-level decision-making. This session challenges boards to adopt a “culture of encounter,” ensuring that strategic plans and financial oversight are grounded in a preferential option for the poor and a commitment to our common home.
Using a method of discernment, Directors will engage with real-world governance scenarios to see how a wisdom approach to learning can transform the board table into a place of Eucharistic living. Join us to discover how these timeless themes can help Mercy Partners foster a “civilisation of love,” ensuring our mission remains a tangible expression of justice and peace in a rapidly changing world.
Acknowledgement of Country
