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| May 13, 2008 |
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National Ministry Summit issues pertinent to diocese VALETA ORLANDO | FC ORLANDO | In his welcome to the 1,200 participants at “A National Ministry Summit” here April 20-23, Bishop Thomas Wenski cited “Novo Milenio Inuente,” the apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, which “called us to put out into the deep.” Pastoral leaders and members from six national Catholic organizations met to look at today’s pastoral leadership and discuss the needs of tomorrow. Twelve bishops joined priests, deacons, religious and lay ecclesial ministers at the national gathering. Echoing his invitation of three years ago when he convoked a synod for the Diocese of Orlando, Bishop Wenski stated with confidence “that the Lord will provide us with an abundant catch,” as the work of the synod is already bearing much fruit. Many of the areas identified by the 18-month diocesan synod planning process – including diversity, inclusiveness and collaboration – were addressed through sessions developed by pastoral leaders and the six national organizations: National Association for Lay Ministry, Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development, National Association of Church Personnel Administrators, National Association of Diaconate Directors, National Catholic Adult Ministry Association and the National Federation of Priests’ Councils. The groups are partners in the “Emerging Models for Pastoral Leadership” project, begun in 2002 with a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. The summit’s liturgies reflected the cultural diversity of the Orlando Diocese. Martha Gravois, director of adult spiritual formation and ministry leadership development for Nativity Parish in Longwood, and a member of the steering committee for the summit, led the planning of the liturgies. “We have a wealth of cultures in our diocese,” Gravois explained. “There’s St. Philip Phan Van Minh Parish in Orlando which serves the Vietnamese community, St. James Cathedral Parish, also in Orlando, includes Haitian parishioners and Resurrection Parish in Winter Garden has a large Brazilian population. “Of course we also have the missions like St. Ignatius Kim in Orlando and Centro Guadalupano in Wahneta serving Korean and Spanish communities, respectively. I was able to draw from our vast resources for the summit liturgies to be diverse – racially, culturally, linguistically, as well as by gender. The Festival of Faith (at the Orange County Convention Center May 8-10) in itself will be a spectacular and unique event representing our diversity and our collaboration.” For one summit participant, the choir from the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando proved particularly memorable. Margarita Flores, a pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Parish in Compton, Calif., said she was touched and uplifted by the many cultures and languages represented. Flores referred to the summit as “a privileged community” to have experienced such celebration, but was also now challenged. “As a woman of color, I believe we need to do work in diversity and continue opening the doors for that representation to be visual,” she said. The summit also addressed the formation of lay pastoral leaders and the establishment of best pastoral business practices, areas of interest to the synod as well. Two key synod contributors, Marilyn Blanchette and Lois Locey, shared their expertise and experience in a pre-summit workshop. Blanchette, president of the newly formed Catholic Foundation of Central Florida, helped lead the workshop developed for parish business managers, administrators and pastors. “Parish planning and development as an essential first step in stewardship was a direct result of one of the synod commissions,” she shared. “We learned through the process of establishing parish planning and development for new parishes and for established parishes to be reorganized and revitalized that the goal was to instill a sense of mission that challenged the notion of ‘going to church’ and moved toward the model of how ‘to become church.’” Through the experiences of two new parishes – Most Precious Blood in Oviedo and St. Maximilian Kolbe in Avalon Park – and the participation of three existing parishes – Annunciation in Altamonte Springs, St. Peter in DeLand and St. James Cathedral in Orlando – a practical tool was developed that can be shared with other parishes. “These parishes saying ‘yes’ has helped us in becoming better in pastoral planning and development,” Blanchette continued. “The process develops parish leadership, giving them the infrastructure to carry the process forward. Good things are for sharing. These parishes have been open to sharing, thus allowing me to carry their work into the United States.” Locey, pastoral associate at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Altamonte Springs, also a synod participant, shared the experience of establishing parish policies and procedures to workshop participants. “We’ve been instituting and practicing sound business practices at our parish for the past few years. We have created a financial practices manual. Although all of the policies haven’t been developed yet, we can provide suggestions from our own experiences,” Locey said. Precious Blood Father Robert Schreiter, chairman of Vatican II theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the final speaker, summed up the three days. “This has been a time of collaboration and communion because we deeply love the church.”
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