“A People Adrift”

I just finished reading, “A People Adrift” by Peter Steinfels (Find it here). I would suggest this as a must read for anyone involved in ministry. I felt both challenged and encouraged as I read this book. Steinfels' reflections on catechesis are insightful. In the Afterword he says, “Two other top priorities must be effective catechizing of children and the involvement of Catholics in their twenties and thirties in adult faith formation programs.”

Steinfels continues saying, “"I wish I had more specific recommendations about how to do this. I only know that for younger children, family-based instruction and practices, the home environment, summer day camps, integration of catechetics with adult parish activities—anything and everything beyond the one-hour-a-week classroom format—need to be tried.”" (Page 380)

It seems to me it is our job to come up with more specific recommendations about how to effectively catechise children and promote the involvement of Catholics in adult faith formation programs. I wonder what it will take for us to name and publish our recommendations? And then to act on those recommendations.

Don

Information on the South East Asia Earthquake & Tsunami

If you are looking for a place to find information about the South East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami here is a good site to visit. SEA-EAT (South East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami). I'm sure over the next few weeks and months many of our parish DREs will be asking for resources for information about becoming involved in the relief effort. Here is a start. I know I'm remembering the people of South East Asia and all the victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in my prayers. What sites are you referring people to?

Don

Retired Bishop Lawrence McNamara

Retired Bishop Lawrence McNamara died today, Friday, December 17, 2004. The Omaha World-Herald said in part, "Retired Bishop Lawrence McNamara, who attended the installation of his successor in the Diocese of Grand Island Monday, died Friday afternoon." Click here for the story.The story from the Grand Island Independent. I was hired by Bishop McNamara as the Director of Religious Education in 1985. He was a good bishop, truly a Disciple of Jesus. We believe that the funeral will be on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 in Grand Island. Please remember Bishop McNamara, his family and the people of the Grand Island Diocese in your prayers. We will miss him and his stories.

Don Kurre

Survey Results

39 Diocesan Directors Responded

1. Do you think Diocesan Directors and Diocesan Staff Forums should meet separately at the Annual Meetings? Yes-27; No-7; No opinion-4
2. At the Forum gathering during the Annual Meeting, do you prefer more interaction with other diocesan directors in order to network or do you prefer brining someone in as a resource as we did with Bill Huebsch? Yes-19; No Opinion-2; Both 18
3. Would you like the Forum gathering to be a time to discuss specific issues planned in advance or more an open, free flowing conversation? Specific Issues-22; Free Flowing-4; Both-12
4. Would you like to be in touch with other directors throughout the year via the internet through a listserv or bulletin board? Yes-36; No-2; No Opinion-1
5. What are some ways that we can get to know one another better either at the annual meeting or during the rest of the year?

• Regional and Province Meetings
• Symposiums
• Ice Breakers
• Mentoring new diocesan directors
• Different colored nametags for diocesan directors
• A hospitality room at the conference or at other meetings
• Send a one page intro of a new director via email to directors
• Introduce directors in a column in Catechetical Leadership
• Meals together or gatherings at various conferences around the country
• Encourage committee membership
• Have an inservice for directors connected to the Rep Council Meeting since a number of directors will already be there and since there is usually a speaker invited to present to the Rep Council.
• Form mutually beneficial groupings within the Forum
• Roundtable Presentation Designed for Diocesan Directors and presented by Diocesan Directors
• A follow-up to the new diocesan director’s workshop

1. Would you like to see events planned for diocesan directors outside of the Annual Meeting? Yes-18; No Because of Budget/Schedules-11; Nor sure-3
2. Are you going to the NDC Symposium in Washington in January? Would you like to take the opportunity to gather with other directors at that event? Yes-21; No-12; Undecided-5
3. Some directors have surfaced some issues that they feel would be of interest. Which of the following would you like to discuss at the forum?

• NCD - 18
• Whole Community Catechesis – 16
• Formation of Parish Catechetical Leaders- 16
• The Critical Issues of NCCL – 11
• Recruitment and Retention of Catechetical Leaders - 10
• Assessing Competence via the Standards - 11
• Strategic Planning - 7
• Multicultural Perspective – 7
• Permanent Catechesis - 5
• Dwindling Staff - 5

Other Issues or needs:

• Adolescent Catechesis
• Adult Faith Formation – 5 yr. Review of Our Hearts …2
• Consolidation of NCCL & NCEA. 1
• Planning for the future – 1
• Adult Confirmation (not RCIA) – 1
• Evangelization
• New diocesan and parish models for catechesis
• Renewing partnerships with families, liturgy, youth, etc.
• Spirit linking leadership in a healing Church
• Catechetical implications of a divided nation: red states/ blue states
• Just wages and benefits
• AFF programs and strategies
• Religious moral values
• Relationship of NCCL with bishops
• The future of NCCL
• Safe environment issues
• The future of parish catechesis: need for new models
• Catechesis and the RCIA

Please share your comments.

Technological Tool

Neil just sent an email with the link to the Blog included to Diocesan Directors. I sincerely hope that folks will take advantage of this form of communication. It is available to all of us at our desk tops and requires a few minutes of getting acquainted with the site, but beyond that, I see this as an opportunity for us to build the Forum.

Directors' Forum Subcommittee

The Directors' Forum Subcommittee held a very lively conference call Monday afternoon. Among the items discussed during the conference call were:

• The Role of the Diocesan Directors' Forum
• Conducting a symposium for Diocesan Directors
  
• Possible symposium topics including
  
• Lay Ecclesial Ministry
• The National Directory
  
• Diocesan Directors as Lay Ecclesial Ministers
  
• Topics of the Diocesan Directors' Forum gathering during NCCL's Annual Meeting. Members of the Animating Team are waiting to review the responses they receive from the Survey that was sent to all Diocesan Directors.
  
• Members of the Subcommittee seemed to agree that Diocesan Directors need to be pro-active in naming and addressing needs and issues faced by Diocesan Directors. This conference call was a step in that direction.
  

We agreed to hold another Subcommittee conference call sometime in January. If you have not returned the survey you received from Jim, please take some time soon to respond. The subject of the email you received was: "Future Gatherings and Activities of the Forum".

Don

Happy Thanksgiving

The phones aren’t ringing and the inbox is mostly empty. It’s the day before a big holiday and DREs and Parishes have taken from us all they need. So a hush falls on the office and we wait for the final bell to ring before heading home. This time of year the fragrance of a baking turkey that fills the house is one of my favorite things. Two of our children will be home, briefly for the holiday — they have jobs and games to get back to –“Eat and Run,” I might say. Any time with them is a gift to treasure and I will, even as they eat and run.

I pray that your holiday is filled with your favorite things and treasured moments.

Don

Thanks for the memories

The last issue of The Living Light arrived on my desk this week. The passing of “The Living Light” must be one of those mile markers in the growth of Catechesis. As Berard Marthaler said, the theme of this last issue “Memory, Memorization, and Remembrance” is appropriate. “A review of articles that span the past four decades—in the journal’s forty volumes, 160 issues—evoke memories of people . . .and places . . .that are inseparable from the history of catechesis and pastoral ministry in the United States in the post-Vatican II years.” We also owe a debt of gratitude to Berard Marthaler for his dedication to catechesis and pastoral ministry and his work with The Living Light. The Living Light will be missed. I wonder what the passing of The Living Light says about our profession/ministry?

Don Kurre

Why a DDRE Forum Blog?

During the October 2004 Representative Council meeting several Diocesan Directors discussed the possibility of establishing a method for direct communication among the Diocesan Directors. I (Don Kurre) suggested that we set up a Blog (Web Journal) to communicate with and among the Directors. A Blog has a number of distinct advantages over a traditional web site, list serve or an email list like Yahoo Groups. Unlike most traditional web sites you can subscribe to a feed from the DDRE Forum Blog. An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) news feed allows the DDRE Forum to publish information in a way that is convenient and accessible for you. As a result, there is no email sent to your inbox, no Spam, you control your access to the content, and the content is stored on another computer. If you would like help subscribing to the Blog, leave a comment and I will get back to you about subscribing. For a short course on Blogs follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog. If you would like more information on RSS follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Really_Simple_Syndication

Past efforts to facilitate electronic discussion and communication between DDRE struggled because, in large part, they did not respect the time constraints and working styles of Diocesan Directors. We hope that by establishing a Blog we will over come those constraints. If you have any questions about the Forum’s Blog leave us a comment and we will get back to you.

Subcommittee meeting scheduled

The Subcommittee of the Directors' Forum will meet by conference call on Monday, November 29, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. ET. The Subcommittee was established during the October 2004 Representative Council meeting. The purpose of the Subcommittee is to jump start the Directors' Forum. During the Rep Council meeting we discussed The possibility of sponsoring a symposium for Directors. This conference call will follow up on the discussions began at the Fall Rep Council meeting. Watch this blog for more information.

DDRE Blog opens

At the Representative Council meeting held October 21 through October 23, 2004 members of the Diocesan Directors Forum felt that Diocesan Directors needed a method of communication that would allow the Forum to be active. This Blog is the result of that meeting.

The Blog Opens

We are going to beging with this page and see what happens.