Monday, November 29, 2004

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

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

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

Thursday, November 18, 2004

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

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

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.

Monday, November 15, 2004

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.

Saturday, November 13, 2004

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.

Friday, November 12, 2004

The Blog Opens

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