Minutes from Conference Call on Dialogue within the Church
Date: Thursday, June 28th, 2007
Time: 7PM PDT
Present on Call:
Eileen Brown
Carol Fleitz
Mary Garvin
Kathy Herrington
Mary Ellen Holohan
We missed:
Norman Bengel
Jeannenne Weis
We began by reviewing the minutes of our last conference call and affirming our continuing focus on church though Education, specially adult education and articulating signs of hope.
Topics of Conversation:
1. We are drawn to pursue the question:”What are people asking about church?”and shared various experiences.
- growing interest in the history of the U.S. Church and the story of lay involvement
We made reference to Paul Lakeland's “Ten Steps Toward a More Adult Church” in Catholicism at the Crossroads where # 3 states: “The laity and the clergy need to become better educated in the history of the Catholic tradition”. (109)
- identifying American Church as a culture
- reference to the successful Lay Convocation in San Francisco where the Bishop listened to the joys and blessings, the desert areas and sorrows of the people (Kathy forwarded the notes to us - thank you Kathy)
- role of the laity to “speak up”and take more responsibility
- need for spirituality
- need for communication skills and conflict management skills
- identifying the importance of the resources of the Inter-Community Peace and Justice Center known by many for the Women's Convocations but also a regular source of information for issues of church and social justice
2. We identified shifting understanding of parish and ministry
- continuing numbers of priests retiring in our various areas
- parish life directors and other lay ministers more numerous and active
- new models of leadership with the visibility of the pastor's role extending to others
-specific examples of growing lay leadership in Lay Synods, Pastoral Councils, Stewardship Councils, Finance Councils
- noting when decisions are being made by consensus in parish situations
- support groups growing that cross parish boundaries and suggest a new type of growth and faith community formation
- concern for those being ordained who espouse the Tridentine Mass and reflect a comment made by a newly ordained priest: “I walked into the church a sheep and walked out a shepherd.”
- news of some of the sisters from the schismatic community of Mount St. Michaels in north Spokane(who believe that the chair of Peter has been vacant since Pius XII) coming into communion with the Catholic Church and are now living at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center
3. We identified specific issues of diversity:
- dealing with diversity in expressions of faith, specially noting the multiple languages of liturgies in our various areas (example of Los Angeles - Mass said on any given Sunday in 42 different languages)
- specific mention of Tekawitha Conference for Native Americans
4. We identified signs of hope:
- Catholic Adult Summer Camp
- Individuals and groups getting together to talk about church
- Cross generational groups of faith education
5. We asked “what if”?
- we initiated a survey about questions and experiences of church
- we initiated inter-faith collaboration
- we initiated grants for professional development for lay theologians
We set our agenda for our next conference call:
To continue exploring the area of education and church as well as signs of hope.
To give special attention to the question raised by our Chapter Acts 2001 (p10):
What is our experience of trying to live in right relationship in the Church?
We discussed the possibility of bringing this question and our responses to the Provincial Chapter -08.
Our next Conference Call: Thursday, July 26th, 7p.m. (PDT)
Additional Resources that may be of interest from Mary's shelf and perspective:
DVD “Sisters of Selma” -PBS returned to the sisters who had marched in Selma to reflect on the experience from their retirement years. You know, there are some among us now who don't know what “Selma” is.
Dolan, Jay P. In Search of an American Catholicism - A History of Religion and Culture in Tension
Dolan has written a lot on American Catholicism and this gives a cultural perspective. Check out the index if you want to see the topics he covers - extensive. We used this in our American Catholicism Honors class and it provided a good basis for discussion.
Fialka, John J. Sisters - Catholic Nuns and the Making of America
Very informative and inspiring. Called “the first major history of the pivotal role played by nuns in the building of American Society.” A nice alternative to the “Nuns Having Fun” Calendars or the Sister Mary Merlot cocktail napkins.
Morris, Charles R. American Catholic - The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church. The title tells it all. Dense and comprehensive but fascinating reading. A quote from the Introduction - “the roots of the modern American Catholic Church are found not in Rome, or in the early Spanish missions, but in 19th century Ireland.” See why I was interested.
McGreevy, John T. Catholics and American Freedom - a History.
Notre Dame history professor brings to our attention the largely untold story of American Catholics intertwined with issues of American History
And check this out - click Catholics and education
http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/packets.html
Mary Garvin, snjm
Religious Studies Department
Gonzaga University
Spokane Washington
509-323-6798
garvinm@calvin.gonzaga.edu