Committee on Rural Ministry

Dorothy, on behalf of Region 12, asked the Board of Directors to consider establishing an NCCL Rural Ministry Committee. The Council engaged in a lively discussion about the proposal before turning the question over to the Board of Directors. One task of the committee would be to identify the many experiences of rural. Rural in one diocese may not describe the same experience as rural in another diocese. While no formal advice (no vote was taken) was given by the Rep Council to the Board it was clear to this participant that the Council favored establishing a rural ministry committee. We hope the Board will act quickly and establish the committee. Most members of the Council that I talked to recommended Sr Dorothy as chair.

Technology and the Conference

The success of the Omaha meeting came in part from the very effective use of several technological tools. The Officers made excellent use of Power Point in the orientation they conducted for the Council. Cheryl recorded notes for the Council during several presentations including Bishop Malone's report on the USCCB's strategic plan. Our table recorder tracked our discussion on his computer and emailed the notes from our discussion to NCCL's Secretary.

We need to be aggressive with our use of technology in our conference work and our ministry. The incorporation of technology into our work is no longer a luxury but an essential tool of communication. Our experience in Omaha taught us that internet access, computers and LCD projectors are valuable tools for our work. Affordable internet access needs to be available at all sites used by NCCL for meetings and workshops.

RE Omaha Rep Council Meeting

I planned to blog for the duration of the Council meeting however, for some reason I was not able to connect to Blogger. Oh the plans of mice and ... On the whole it was a very good meeting. Many of the new Council members found the orientation to and review of the purpose of the Council very helpful. I heard several council members say, "Now I understand our role." Be sure to ask your Province Rep for the minutes from the meeting. The officers made a big push for reps to be accountable to both the Council and to their constituents. I appreciated the emphasis given to accountability. If Council Reps take their responsibility seriously and hold themselves accountable both to the council and to their constituents I believe NCCL and the Catechetical ministry will benefit. We might want to establish a Hold Your Rep Accountable Day. We want to thank the Archdiocese of Omaha for the support they gave to the meeting. A special word of thanks goes out to Cathi Snyder for her help and support.

Report from USCCB

Members of the Rep Council had a very good dialogue with Mike Steier who answered questions with respect to the USCCB’s Report. Much of the discussion focused on the National Doctrinal Curriculum Framework for High Schools. For more information contact Mike at USCCB.

Comments from Bishop Malone

Bishop Malone opened our Saturday morning session with a survey of the reorganization and strategic plan for the USCCB. The proposal takes the Conference from 36 committees to 16. The Conference will set up a committee on Catechesis and Evangelization. The Rep Council is encourage that evangelization will be the primary focus of the mission of the Conference. As a result, all activities of the conference will be evaluated through the lens of evangelization. A key mission relationship for the Catechesis and Evangelization Committee will be with catechetical, stewardship and evangelization organizations. The plan is available on the USCCB web site. Bishop Malone reported that response to the US Adult Catechism has been very positive. When used well, Bishop Malone said, it will be a good resource.

Something to Remember

I especially appreciated being reminded of this comment from Jane Regan. She said, "Adults learn best when they are in conversation with other adults about things that matter." Great quote.

Echoes of Faith Plus

Ed Gordon and Jo Rotunno introduced the new Echoes of Faith Plus and the revision of Echoes of Faith modules. Jo said the revised modules will be available by December. By the end of 2007 14 modules will be revised and in parishes. After the revisions are made they hope to begin producing modes NCCL requested. Progress is being made. Jo 's asked the members of the Rep Council how the booklet, DVD and CD Rom fit together. The booklet drives the process of Echoes of Faith. Catechist formation needs to happen in a community of faith. This process is at the heart of Echoes of Faith. You will not be able to access less than half the content if you only turn on the DVD. The whole of the content and formation is the result of using the booklet,
DVD and CD. Ed reminded us that Echoes of Faith is the product of NCCL. It is our product and we need to talk about it and use Echoes of Faith as well. Let's get behind Echoes of Faith. By the way there will be a CD glued to the back of each booklet. The CD will augment Echoes of Faith process. This CD will be a resource and a support for the Echoes of Faith participant. For more information visit RCL's web site here.

Accountability

Mary Ann encouraged us to consider how we are accountable to our constituency and to other members of the Rep Council. I think it is a good idea for us to consider the issue of accountability. What insights do you have about accountability? I'd be interest in your reflections.

Don

Rural Catechesis Committee

The Rep Council will consider recommending to the Board that the Board establish a Rural Catechesis/Ministry Committee. The Council will discuss this for action during the Saturday Session.

Committee Chairs

David Loftus described NCCL's committees and their function. The NCCL Committees and their Chairs are:

Executive Committee	Mary Ann Ronan
Project Viability	Mary Ann Ronan
Strategic Oversight	Harry Dudley
Finance Committee	Lorraine DeLuca
Development Subcommittee	Sr. Jane Marie Osterholt, SP
Leadership Discernment	Joseph Swiss
Publication	Dave Galusha
Annual Meeting	Barbara Romanello-Whitman
Membership	Joan McKeown and Andrea Sabor
Communications	Ann Roat
Standards & Certification	Garole Gastelum and Carol Jadach
Technology	Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH
Adult Faith Formation	Jack McBride
Catechesis and Culture	Mary Jo Waggoner
Catechist Formation	Ken Ogorek
Theoretical Foundations for Catechesis	Maribeth Mancin
Catechist Formation (Echoes)	Ed Gordon
By-laws and Policy Review	Jim Tucker
Operation Catechesis	Jeanne Schremp
Executive Director Search	Maribeth Mancini & Carole Augustine

Powerful Challenge

Harry challenged members of the Rep Council to ask, “Who have I invited to Catechetical ministry?”

Coming to you from Omaha

The Rep Council opened in Omaha on Thursday, October 26, 2006 at the Hilton Garden Inn. Thursday night we began our work with several team building activities concluding in prayer. Friday morning we opnned with prayer titled “The Mustard Seed.” David, Mary Ann and Harry reviewed NCCL’s structure with the Rep Council. Questions about how people become members of the Rep Council were addressed.

Rep Council trivia: Since there are 32 provinces we have a potential of 32 Diocesan reps and 32 PCL reps with partner organization the Council could have 89 members. 53 people are participating in the Omaha Rep Council meeting. 29 of the 32 Provinces are represented by a Diocesan person. 9 Provinces are represented by PCLs. All the provinces who have named a PCL rep are in attendance.

The Council moved into table discussion around three questions:

• Who is represented at the table?
• Who is not represented at the table?
• What challenges might this reality pose to the Rep Council of the NCCL?

Key responses to these questions included:

• Outreach to diocese and other organizations
• Clarify the value of NCCL to possible members
• Enter into dialogue with diocesan offices regarding participation on the Rep Council
• There are financial issues to address
• Regions of the country are different and we need to address the differences.

Strengths of the Council:

• Flexibility
• The Chaos resulting from our commitment to to stay located in the Grass Roots
• Commitment to Cat Excellence
• Structure for local regional and national Catechetical Voice
• Structure for planning and visioning-Network to foster growth

Youth Ministry in a Culturally Diverse Church

The October 12, 2006 issue of Origins has the text of a recent talk given by Alejandro Aguilera-Titus from the USCCB entitled, "Youth Ministry in a Culturally Diverse Chruch." Alejandro Aguilera-Titus shared an overview of pastoral principles for youth ministry in culturally diverse parishes at the annual Connections Conference on Youth Ministry sponsored by the Catholic Youth Organization of the Archdiocese of Detroit. It is worth reading.

Don

Rep Council to Meet in Omaha

The Representative Council will meet in Omaha, NE October 26, 2006 through October 28, 2006. Talk with your Province Rep about the agenda. Mary Ann Ronan tells me they have a very positive training on the Rep Council planned for the meeting. Other agenda items include gathering nominations for the 2007 Catechetical Award and the Distinguished Service Award. During the meeting the Animators for the DDRE Forum will be planning for Forum sponsored in-services. If you have any suggestions please let the Animators know. The Animators are: Maribeth Mancini, Anne Roat and Sr. Pat McGinley. The Animators are planning to use technology to make Forum programs available to a larger audience. I’ll blog the Rep Council meeting so check back during the meeting and see what’s going on. E-mail questions to DDREForum@gmail.com

Don

Sr. Miriam Eble, SND

Sr. Miriam Eble, SND, Director of Religious Education in the Diocese of Toledo died on Oct. 10 at 6:00 P.M. from complications of a stroke that she suffered 10 days ago. Information about funeral arrangements can be found at http://sr-miriam-eble.blogspot.com/

It has been quiet

It has been over a month since I've posted to the DDRE Forum blog. I'm devoting my time to several new projects that make posting to this blog less of a priority. First, on a personal level, I'm running for the North Platte City Council(See picture). This is my first plunge into the world of politics. In North Platte the City Council is nonpartisan so I don't have to deal with the "party" stuff. Taxes and managing the City's growth are two issues facing the Council. I do see this as an opportunity to put my faith into practice in a new arena. So, some of my so-called free time is going to learning how to run a campaign.

Our diocese started a new catechist certification program. We began designing, what we are calling the Core Course, in February and launched the program this fall. To be sure we have been busy. We are using the Compendium as the text for the four week course. About 250 people participated in our first round of courses. Our goal is for all 1,500 of our catechists to have participated in the course by the fall of 2008. Starting in the fall of 2008 catechists and anyone teaching religion will be expected to be certified at the core level within their first year of ministry. Response to the Compendium as a text for this course has been mixed. However, course participants find the Compendium a positive entry into a deeper understanding of Catholic teaching. One question that produced some extended research and much discussion is, "How many and what are the precepts of the Church?" How would you answer this question?

We are also developing a database to keep records on people who've completed the course and are therefore certified at the core level. We want to make the database accessible to parishes so as people move around the diocese a DRE or pastor can confirm a persons certification. Developing a database accessible by the parishes is a challenging project. If anyone is already doing this in Access I'd like to hear from you. That's the long and short of it. I hope your program year is off to a great start. Let us know what's going on in your part of the world.
Peace,
Don