Name: Sue Wittenoom
Born: (and raised) in Perth. Moved to Sydney in 1985.
Lives: In Redfern with husband Mark and daughters Andie and Jules who are now both at Uni after Loreto Kirribilli.
Snapshot of daily life: I’m an architect now working in strategic planning and organisational change – follow me on twitter @soft_build or instagram (thesoftbuild) to keep track of how space can support new ways of working and learning.
Part of Canices since: We moved into a flat near Rushcutters in Evans Road in 1988. The girls were baptised by Steve Sinn at St Canices and started school at St Francis Primary in Paddington. I liked the less formal quality of life at Canices and we stayed on in the parish when we moved to live in Redfern.
Where will we find you in the Parish? I’ve been in the kitchen (the first Saturday of the first month roster slot) for around 25 years now. I started out as a very junior helper with Terry and Shirley Villa’s team, and now coordinate a group of friends to serve up pies. Also part of the team reading at 6.30pm Saturday mass.
This is my second time on the pastoral council. For the past two years I have been a part of the Common Home renewal group which is exploring a possible redevelopment of the buildings around the church. In the next two years my hope is that the parish can agree a masterplan, and source the capital to fund design and construction.
But before we can do that, we need to be clear about what kind of parish we want to become and how we organise to make it happen. All the Jesuit parishes in Australia have been asked to develop their own five- year pastoral plans. I’ve stepped into the role of the Chair of the pastoral council this year to begin that planning process. I would love to hear from people who are interested in joining this work, and welcome your feedback any time in the parish, or you can email me at swittenoom@gmail.com.
What keeps you coming to St Canices? My involvement with the parish started out as extended family for our daughters, now I realise its actually extended family for me. Ignatian spirituality has been a powerful way to deepen my faith and threads my own Loreto experience (as student and parent) back to St Canices. After thinking for many years that I’d be out of my depth at the parish retreats, I now look forward to Caroline Coggins’ wonderful weekends at Peter Canisius House in Pymble for some quiet time away to focus on a relationship with God.
I love the altar in the middle of the church at Canices – a witness to the powerful changes triggered by Vatican II as well as proof that space shapes behaviour! Place matters too in our Easter rituals – how all the churches of Kings Cross come together to walk the Way of the Cross on Good Friday. The highlight of my church year is listening to Genesis in the dark at the Saturday Easter vigil.
April 2018
