ARARAT\u2019s Catholic Priest Father Andrew Hayes is preparing to bid farewell to the Gariwerd Parish after ten years of dedicated service and community.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his tenure, Father Andrew said after a decade in Ararat it was time for a change.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen years is enough. People benefit from having a range of priests teaching them. It\u2019s good to have new ideas and new places, the people here get to hear from someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having also served in Swan Hill for nine years and Casterton for another nine before arriving in Ararat, Father Andrew feels it\u2019s the right moment for a change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve absolutely loved it. I\u2019ve grown a lot, and people have been good to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The past few years have been particularly transformative as he took on a wider area, adding to his responsibilities and creating a dynamic period marked by the merging of multiple Catholic communities, including Landsborough, Lake Bolac, Ararat, and Stawell.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging mixed reactions to his departure, Father Andrew said his imminent departure has taken many by surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people were surprised. Many understand that priests move and come and go, but reactions ranged from sadness and disappointment to quite pleased. That\u2019s part of the joy of moving, it shuffles the deck a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Father Andrew said an important part of being a priest is being a part of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the work a priest does, but you live here, put down roots, and develop friendships. Moving is part of this life. I\u2019ve especially enjoyed working with ministers from other churches, they bring friendship, support, and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
A particularly poignant memory for Father Andrew is the construction of the Islamic mosque, which began around the time he first arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat began the month that I arrived, and they are hoping to have it open in the next couple months, so that will be a nice bookend of my time here. That project has been a great cooperation of faith communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was evident to me that we needed to be supportive, both on a faith level, but also on a cultural level, people just want to have what we\u2019ve got,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Beyond the parish, Father Andrew\u2019s presence has been appreciated by local organisations like the Ararat Eisteddfod and the Ararat Embroiderers Guild, despite his admission, \u201cI can\u2019t embroider or sew,\u201d he still proudly maintained his membership.<\/p>\n
Father Andrew is preparing to leave for Colac, where he will oversee the parishes of Colac, Apollo Bay, and Cororooke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe priest currently in Colac is retiring, and it seemed like the right time for me to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
His final day in Ararat will be in early January, although a new priest to succeed him has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ARARAT\u2019s Catholic Priest Father Andrew Hayes is preparing to bid farewell to the Gariwerd Parish after ten years of dedicated service and community.
\nReflecting on his tenure, Father Andrew said after a decade in Ararat it was time for a change.
\n\u201cTen years is enough. People benefit from having a range of priests teaching them. It\u2019s good to have new ideas and new places, the people here get to hear from someone else.\u201d
\nHaving also served in Swan Hill for nine years and Casterton for another nine before arriving in Ararat, Father Andrew feels it\u2019s the right moment for a change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"class_list":["post-2811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/IMG_6361-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-Jl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2811"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}