May 2004 - CL Magazine

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C AT E C H E T I C A L LEADER

CATECHETICAL UPDATE: Mentoring June 2004 | Volume 15, Number 2

A PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR CATECHETICAL LEADERSHIP (NCCL)

C AT E C H E T I C A L L E A D E R

Table of Contents

June 2004

In Every Issue 2 From the President

Anne Comeaux

Putting First Things First

3 From the Executive Director

Neil Parent

Leadership: Dancing to the Right Tune

13 Books in the News

Reviewed by David M. Thomas Learning to Fall:The Blessings of an Imperfect Life

17 CL Insights

Christopher Weber

Don’t Forget the Crowd!

23 People in the News 24 Classified Advertising 24 Crossword Puzzle

Megan Anechiarico

Mentors

Features Advancing Excellence in Catechetical Ministry 4 Catechesis 25 Years Ago–Catechesis Today Robert J. Hater 6 Cultivating Rich Soil: Forming a Gerard F. Baumbach New Generation of Catechetical Leaders

8 Pursuing Personal Excellence:

Anne D. Roat

Now Is a Good Time

10 Celebrating the “Spirit of Life in the Desert”

Focus on Leadership 14 Developing Leaders to Meet

Cultivating Rich Soil page 6

Jim Tucker Karen Dietz and Maribeth Mancini

Our Challenges

Catechetical Update Mentoring Pursuing Personal Excellence page 8

u1 Mentoring: A Model for Adult Learning Sue Grenough on why it works

Mary Kay Schoen

u2 Mentor/Protégé: What Makes It Work?

JoAnn B. Paradise

u4 Mentoring Lessons Learned A practical model

Harry J. Dudley and Joseph E. Fey

U P D AT E

Mentoring: A Model for Adult Learning page U1 NCCL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ms. Anne Comeaux President Diocese of Galveston-Houston Rev. Anthony J. Salim Vice President Maronite Eparchy of Los Angeles Ms. Mary Ann Ronan Treasurer St. Paul Parish, Phoenix, AZ

Mr. David J. Florian Secretary Diocese of Kalamazoo Most Rev. Richard Malone Episcopal Advisor Diocese of Portland, ME Mr. Neil A. Parent Executive Director Washington, DC

C AT E C H E T I C A L L E A D E R

Ms. Carol Augustine At-large Archdiocese of Baltimore Dr. Harry Dudley At-large Archdiocese of Indianapolis Ms. Maribeth Mancini At-large Diocese of Rochester

Ms. Cathy Shannon At-large Archdiocese of Portland, OR Mr. James E. Tucker At-large Diocese of Helena, MT Dr. Michael Steier Ex-officio USCCB Department of Education

NCCL STAFF Mr. Neil A. Parent Executive Director Ms. Joyce A. Crider Sr. Katherine J. Kandefer, BVM Associate Directors Ms. Carla Riga Administrative Assistant

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FROM THE PRESIDENT ❚

Putting first

things first

One of the great gifts that came out of the three-year process to redefine NCCL as an organization was the development of the Strategic Directions. For those of us intimately involved in drafting, editing and rewriting (a number of times), those Strategic Directions have become a part of us. For others the Directions are guideposts showing the way the organization needs to spend its resources of time, money, and energy. Each of the directives is a broad-stroked statement that we hope will be applied to every project we undertake, every committee we form, every meeting we attend.

In this issue of Catechetical Leader the emphasis is on the first strategic directive: “Advancing excellence in catechetical leadership.” At first reading it seems to be very straightforward and unambiguous. But as we begin to delve into this directive, we see much more than first meets the eye.

ADVANCING...

When my children were in elementary school and high school, they loved to visit the Civil War battleground at Gettysburg. I vividly remember the day I realized that this place commemorated an event deeply important to my two younger sons. As we stood at the site of Pickett’s Charge, Patrick said, with much excitement and fervor in his voice, “Mom, can’t you just hear the footsteps, the tramping of the soldiers advancing across this field? Can’t you just feel them coming toward you?” Hearing a ten-year-old use the word “advancing” in this way made me realize that, in his mind, there was definite direction implied...these men were moving forward, no doubt about it. As we consider the advancing that we must do for excellence, we need to have fervor and energy, moving forward without taking time to rest on what we have already done.

EXCELLENCE...

Excellence is that quality which signifies the ultimate in a particular field. As catechetical leaders, most of us strive for excellence, but in the past it has seemed to be a somewhat subjective goal. However, the new National Certification Standards give us specific understandings and abilities against which to measure ourselves and/or those for whom we are responsible in the catechetical ministry. A number of diocesan offices have taken the standards as the basis for the creation of programs to instruct and train parish catechetical leaders.

Ultimately, many dioceses will be able to certify their catechetical leaders so that credentials are portable from diocese to diocese. The standards for certification are rigorous and

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this is as it should be. The people in our parishes, from adults down to very young children deserve to have the best catechetical efforts we can put forward. Expectations should be high; and formation programs should be of a quality to help the individuals reach that height.

THE

CHALLENGE...

Stephen Covey, in his groundbreaking book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, discusses the elements necessary to make something a habit: knowledge, skills and desire. It occurs to me that catechetical leaders and those of us charged with formation programs can use this formula. Excellent catechetical leaders have a broad as well as deep knowledge of theology, scripture, resources, culture, spirituality, systems, and many other disciplines. They must also have talents and skills, whether innate or learned, in teaching, listening, mediation, financial basics, liturgy preparation, group dynamics, community building, and other fields. The final element— desire—is what brings people to realize they must advance in order to be excellent in this important ministry.

I offer you, in whatever your current catechetical position, a set of challenges: 1. Promise yourself that you will examine honestly your current state of excellence.

2. Evaluate your own ministry in light of an excellent catechetical leader you know or with a copy of the National Certification Standards in hand.

3. Create a set of goals for yourself and your ministry with a timeline for completion or re-evaluation.

4. Keep in mind the two operative words of the first NCCL strategic directive: advancing and excellence.

5. Select another person (another catechetical leader, a spiritual director, a professor, etc.) with whom you can share your journey and “check in” at least quarterly.

6. Re-evaluate and restructure your goals annually.

7. Realize that you will never be finished with formation...in this world.

8. Remain open to the Spirit!

This will not be an easy undertaking but advancing always means going toward the goal, and as catechetical leaders we should never be satisfied with anything short of excellence. ❙

From the cl

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ❚

Leadership:

dancing to the right tune Neil A. Parent

Recent events both in the church and society show the disastrous consequences of failed leadership. In these instances, crises arose that called for intelligent, caring, and, at the same time, bold leadership. When leaders fail, they often hurt not just themselves but also—and often to a far greater extent—those who are in their charge.

Whether you are a diocesan director heading up a large office or one that works virtually alone, whether you are a parish catechetical leader or a professor teaching a graduate class in religious education, or whether you are responsible for producing quality catechetical materials, you are about the business of being a leader. To the extent that you have the leadership skills demanded by your unique situation, you will be successful. And to the extent that you don’t, you and those you lead will struggle.

HONING

IN ON LEADERSHIP

It’s no wonder, then, that “Advancing Excellence in Catechetical Leadership” is one NCCL’s six strategic directions and holds a preeminent place in NCCL’s identifying statement. And it is no wonder that we have taken it as the theme of this issue of Catechetical Leader. As a strategic direction, “Advancing Excellence in Catechetical Leadership” encompasses 50% of NCCL’s major activities. Some of the better known ones are the annual conference, certification standards, professional resources, and this very magazine. As an association dedicated to issues of leadership, we will examine on an almost continuous basis in these pages and on our web site ways you can become a more effective leader.

The feature articles in this issue of Catechetical Leader are about what makes for good catechetical leadership: direction, formation, personal growth. This issue’s Catechetical Update section explores mentoring as a way to enhance catechetical leadership. Increasingly, mentoring is becoming an important, if not essential, component in developing competent pastoral leaders.

PRESIDENTIAL

what separates them from other presidents who behaved more selfishly in times of crisis to protect their own political interests.”

For most of us, a major crisis that puts all of our abilities to the test will probably not—thankfully—come our way. Our professional lives, however, are instead made up of countless little crises. Ordinary circumstances of ministry call for us to lead in many different kinds of situations. It is often our ability to adapt within this ever changing, sometimes whirling environment that proves to be our most valuable asset as pastoral leaders.

DANCING

TO THE MUSIC

Again, from his studies of great presidents, Genovese stresses that “presidential greatness requires the ability to act boldly, but the courage of conviction does not guarantee a great leader. Political savvy, managerial skills, charisma, and character are all important qualities. And adaptability is the most important skill of all.”

“In Aristotelian terms,” he concludes, “a great president has to be a wholly human being with a wide repertoire of skills. You have to be able to judge what skill should be applied to what situation. Effective leaders fit their dance to the music being played—it’s called style flexing.”

In a large diocese with a big staff, a diocesan director is going to need good managerial skills. The situation demands it. By contract, a lone diocesan director in a small office—much like George Washington, who had virtually no one around him—will need the ability both to think issues through clearly without the benefit of at-hand consultation, and the courage to act alone. Again, the situation demands it. In either case, lots of other skills also will be needed in order to successfully navigate the many challenges that will arise.

Our task and our commitment at NCCL is to help our members cultivate the skills they need and the ability to apply them to different situations so that they can be successful catechetical leaders. ❙

MODELS

We can look not only to our colleagues for mentor figures, but to some of our nation’s great leaders. Writing in Loyola Marymount University’s Vistas magazine, political science professor Michael Genovese cites the ability to successfully handle crisis as the defining variable in determining presidential greatness. That is why, he says, Washington, Lincoln and FDR are the three presidents who frequently end up at the top of the list for greatness. “What characterizes their success was that they employed their skills and talents in the service of a bigger cause. That’s

From the Executiv

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Advancing Excellence in Catechetical Ministry

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Catechesis 25 Years Ago

catechesis today

By Robert J. Hater

Twenty-five years ago, the National Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education–CCD commissioned me to do a research paper to clarify the notion of total religious education, which was the commonly used language for catechesis. It soon became clear that it was important to shift from the language of religious education to that of catechesis. I came to this conclusion because all church documents, especially the General Catechetical Directory (1971), Pope Paul II’s Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), and Pope John Paul II’s Catechesi Tradendae (1979) used catechetical language. Catechesis was changing. It had a formational tone, whereas religious education had an informational one. The NCDD published my research findings in a small book, Religious Education and Catechesis: A Shift in Focus (1981). The language of catechesis became normative for catechetical ministry in the ensuing years.

With the publication of the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) in 1997, catechesis took another turn somewhat reminiscent of the shifts that occurred in the change from religious education to catechesis. This time, however, the changes centered on the GDC approach, which situates catechesis within the evangelization process.

As catechetical leaders appreciate catechesis as an aspect or moment in the evangelization process, new models are refocusing catechetical ministry. The catechetical process is a fluid process, not confined to any one method, even though current catechetical trends emphasize liturgical catechesis and whole community catechesis.

Recalling developments during the past twenty-five years will help us address the future. Religious Education and Catechesis: A Shift in Focus and The Role of a Diocesan Religious Education/Catechetical Office (Hater, 1981) made twelve suggestions for future catechesis. With some modifications coming from the GDC, these offer perspectives to analyze parish catechesis, catechetical models, textbooks, and other catechetical materials.

1. CATECHESIS

TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE CULTURAL CONTEXT IN DOING ITS MINISTRY.

If someone asks what is the greatest challenge to catechesis today, how do catechetical leaders answer? Many respond, “The present culture in which we live.” It is vitally important for catechetical ministers to take seriously the cultural context where catechesis happens. Catechists have to accommodate their catechesis to life’s fast pace and society’s materialism, cultural relativism, and rampant immorality. In its introduction

the GDC addresses the world situation from a faith perspective (Nos.15–21). Catechesis must be sensitive also to diverse family situations, pressures on adults, and the various ethnic cultures in every parish.

With regard to these, adult catechesis has to account for problematic issues, spiritual opportunities, and changing cultural contexts (No. 174).

When addressing cultural issues, catechists keep in mind the Catholic belief that the world is basically good, but wounded, and that God is present at the heart of culture before the church comes along. Church ministers employ all modern technological tools at their disposal to further the cause of the Gospel (GDC, 20).

2. CATECHESIS TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE WHOLE OF A PERSON’S EXPERIENCE AND LIFE SITUATIONS, ESPECIALLY THE FAMILY AND WORK. Catechesis needs to be sensitive to the challenges it faces. The GDC considers the spirit of the Gospel, which is sensitive to people’s actual conditions. Jesus’ audiences were on all levels of faith and morals. He reached out to psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and physically poor people. So must today’s catechists.

God is present with catechists today as they evangelize in the spirit of the Lord. The GDC calls this a “catechesis of evangelization” (No. 194).

Such catechesis must be adapted to the hearer’s vocabulary, times, and culture (No. 194).

The family is the most important aspect of one’s life. The home can provide a groundwork of faith or a source of untold pressure and tension. No catechist or catechetical community can control the home situation of those catechized, even though catechesis is significantly affected by the situation of the domestic church, where those being catechized find themselves.

The GDC reiterates that parents are the primary educators of their children (GDC, 226). Often one parent, grandparent, or guardian nurtures and teaches a child. The values assimilated from the home environment affect the child’s participation in parish catechetical activities. The degree to which a catechist appreciates a child’s home environment influences the catechist’s success in helping a child appreciate God’s word.

Divorce, job loss, terrorist threats, and sickness affect families.

Children, youth, and adults often suffer the consequences. The results for catechesis cannot be ignored. Catechesis needs to account for them and adapt the catechetical message to people’s lives.

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345 Because of work pressures, lack of time, business responsibilities, travel, distances separating intergenerational family members in different cities, and the difficulty of getting people together on a regular basis, catechesis needs flexibility while striving for stability. Catechetical methods, programs, and teaching need to address divergent factors that keep people apart. If this is not done, interested people are not able to participate in children’s, intergenerational, or adult formational processes.

IS AN ASPECT OR MOMENT IN THE EVANGELIZATION PROCESS.

As a person grows, new challenges arise and secular forces challenge Christian values. Vibrant faith formation can help counter the obstacles to Christian vocation (GDC, 171). Ongoing faith formation is sensitive to people’s conditions, including the environment in which they live. Catechesis often differs in urban, country, and ethnic populations.

When environments change, catechesis needs to develop a new focus, as catechists look to the church for stability, support, and authentic Catholic belief.

3. CATECHESIS

Seeing catechesis as an aspect of evangelization has profound consequences (CT, 18; GDC, 63). Even though Pope Paul II set the direction for rooting catechesis in the evangelization process in the early 1970s, it was not until after the publication of the GDC that the implications of this approach became clear to many catechetical leaders.

Evangelization is the driving force or the heart of all ministries, including catechesis. Evangelization recognizes the depths of God’s love in the paschal mystery and sees the kingdom of God as its final goal.

The church’s mission is closely related to its task of evangelization. The latter motivates Christian disciples to reach out to those who do not know Christ or to those whose faith has become weak (missionary activity). In the Christian community itself, catechists introduce neophytes into the mystery of Christ and help them complete their initiation (initiatory catechesis). Finally, catechists continue to initiate the Christian faithful into the mystery of Christ in the midst of the community (pastoral activity) (GDC, 49).

For effective initiation, evangelization needs to take into account where people are. Sometimes catechists present a message that does not connect with people’s needs or cultural situations. This can happen when the catechist fails to recognize that evangelization motivates catechetical ministry. The GDC stresses that evangelization and catechesis lose their influence over people’s lives when they do not connect with their life situations (No. 112).

4. CATECHESIS CONCENTRATES ON LIFELONG FAITH FORMATION, BEGINNING AT BIRTH AND LASTING UNTIL DEATH. Catechesis establishes a necessary foundation for growth in the Christian life. The GDC stresses the right of every baptized person to receive solid catechesis (No. 167). This applies equally to young children, youth, active adults, and elderly people. It is true for children in Catholic schools and public schools. It applies to physically, emotionally, and mentally challenged persons.

The responsibility of the Christian community to provide adequate catechesis extends to people from their birth to death. Continuing catechesis gives them hope as they move through life and recognize God’s presence. Since conversion is ongoing, so is effective catechesis. It continually invites people to see the wonders of God’s love in the midst of the Christian community.

5. CATECHESIS

PLACES TOP PRIORITY ON ADULT FAITH FORMATION, WHILE NOT NEGLECTING CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH CATECHESIS.

All Church documents since Vatican II give priority to adult faith formation. Such formation is modeled in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), which implies that this factor must be taken into account in catechesis, since adults are at different faith levels, Some adults manifest deep faith, others have never been fully catechized, and still others have left the practice of their faith. In addition, some people have never been baptized. In each situation, the person is at a different point of faith. A faith community is the best forum in which to respond to various needs. In it, inquiring adults can witness a diversity of faith expression with which they can identify (GDC, 172).

Effective adult catechesis listens to people’s stories and identifies key places where God has accompanied them on their faith journey.

Catechists need to be sensitive to ordinary life experiences that elicit a faith response. This is true especially at baptism, marriage, funerals, or other significant times in people’s lives. These are opportunities to open up adults to better appreciate God’s presence (GDC, 176).

Catechesis also keeps in mind the spiritual need of older adults, especially frail and dying people. Old age is God’s gift, not a punishment. Society marginalizes and isolates many older adults. The Christian community can use the wisdom of the elderly to enhance the catechetical enterprise.

In so doing, the community invites them to participate in its faith life (GDC, 186).

While stressing adult faith formation, the GDC reiterates the importance of excellent children’s and youth catechesis (Nos. 177–184).

Young people need family and parish support to appreciate the Christian message. Youth are targets of our secular culture. They may be influenced by political and media expressions of religion, some of which are not consistent with Catholic belief and practice. Youth can easily lose hope for a meaningful future when they witness greed, violence and immorality on television, on the Internet, and among adults and friends. They need role models that a committed Christian community can provide (GDC, 181).

When referring to challenges facing youth catechesis, the GDC implies that youth catechesis has to be significantly refocused, changed, and revitalized (No. 181). The same dynamics need to be employed in

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Cultivating

rich soil Forming a New Generation of Catechetical Leaders

W

hen leaders of catechetical ministry gather periodically in mutual support, among the many topics I hear discussed is that of forming a new generation of catechetical leaders. What might we do to support young people who are coming forward to serve in this essential ministry?

By Gerard F. Baumbach

“...a renewal of fundamental commitments from all quarters of the church is essential for this ministry to flourish and for a new generation of leaders to blossom.”

First, a reality check: NCCL’s 2003 survey of diocesan directors of religious education identified “recruiting younger people into the catechetical ministry” as a “most pressing professional concern” of 48 percent of directors surveyed, compared to 35 percent in 1998.

The most frequently identified weakness of catechetical ministry, noted by 62 of 157 respondents, was the “lack of trained/qualified catechetical leaders/catechists.” A report in 2000 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) on a study of catechetical ministry points out that, “According to diocesan DREs, only 60 percent of parishes have paid DREs. One in four parish DREs are parttime.” How might we reverse these trends, particularly when there exists documentation describing both the need for and responsibilities of catechetical leaders?

Cultural factors also affect the growing needs in the field of catechetical leadership. For example, the USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs reports that according to a 2002 survey commissioned by The Latino Coalition “72.6 percent of Hispanics living in the United States—close to 26 million—are Catholic. Sixty-four percent of all Hispanics attend church services regularly.”

Who will direct new and exciting opportunities for cross-cultural catechetical immersion? Who will direct the formation necessary for faithful embrace of a diversity of cultures? More young committed bilingual leaders of various cultural backgrounds constitute one great hope for the future.

Having returned in a new way during the last year to questions that I thought would have been resolved since my own tenure as a parish

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DRE twenty-six years ago, I am convinced that a renewal of fundamental commitments from all quarters of the church is essential for this ministry to flourish and for a new generation of leaders to blossom.

TILLING THE SOIL While affirming existing efforts, I would propose that those of us who form new catechetical leaders sink our hands more deeply into the soil of faith to cultivate the ground with even more confidence for a future harvest. We must do new spade work. We must do more seeding and fresh watering. We must do more care-driven, nurturing mentoring.

As we dig deeper, however, we may experience the erosion of financial or other support. Once again sounding our familiar laments, we may even be tempted to abandon self-definition (i.e., who we are). How might we move beyond our groanings (see, for example, Exodus 2:24 and Romans 8:22–27) and reach more deeply, in an enduring spirit of hope, into the soil of faith?

The Introduction to the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) begins, “Behold! A sower went out to sow” (Mark 4:3). A well-nurtured and fruitful catechesis is rooted in good soil and is sustained by evangelization, Scripture and tradition, liturgy and sacrament, community, mission, moral formation, doctrine, theology, and a renewed and lively pedagogy. It also draws life from the baptismal catechumenate, prayerful reflection, spirituality, discipleship, justice, Catholic social teaching, stewardship, peace-filled witness, and more.

No wonder that the GDC (80), quoting Catechesi Tradendae (5), reminds us that “‘the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but also in communion and intimacy, with Jesus Christ.’” Well-formed catechetical leaders embrace this aim aware that catechesis is not limited to selected constituencies and that Jesus “made himself a catechist of the Kingdom of God for all categories of

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persons...”(GDC, 163). Some might link this inclusive approach to “total parish catechesis” or “whole community catechesis,” including cross-cultural catechesis. Whatever the nomenclature, renewed catechetical efforts will demand more of leaders as this injured century unfolds.

If future catechetical leaders are to be animators of faith and cultivators of catechesis within a rich ecclesial context, they need formation that enriches them personally, communally, spiritually, theologically, methodologically, liturgically, and catechetically. [See, for example, the GDC (Nos. 233ff ) and the new National Certification Standards for Lay Ecclesial Ministers.] A catechetical leader so formed resourcefully integrates various but not variant aspects of faith formation within his or her own life, enriched by a developing distinctive spirituality. The balanced leader is able “to link the dimension of truth and meaning of the faith, orthodoxy and orthopraxis, ecclesial and social meaning” (GDC, 237). The GDC goes on to describe the importance of “being, knowing, and savoir-faire” (No. 238) in the formation of catechists. Balance yields balance.

Our reenergized efforts to become more effective tillers of the soil of faith recognize that Jesus Christ is the ground of that faith. He is the foundation (see 1 Cor 3:11). Catechetical leaders must be rooted in good soil. I would suggest that our task is to help a new generation of catechetical leaders delve deep within that good soil: the soil of wisdom, the soil of the Word, and the soil of witness.

THE SOIL

OF

Young leaders, wise in ways of their own generation, are sources of renewal that offer us hope. Pope John XXIII’s opening remarks of the Second Vatican Council noted the need for “...moderation in proposals, dignity in discussion, and wisdom of deliberation.”

Wise leaders—including those in formation— deliberate prudently, trusting that sources of wisdom sometimes lie in the least expected places. Over time they demonstrate that wisdom of which we read in the letter of James: “The wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace” (James 3:17–18).

THE SOIL

WORD

Catechesis places one in communication with the Word of God. A new generation of catechetical leaders (as faithful communicators) needs to be well equipped to profess faithfully the fundamental beauty and foundational understanding that is at the heart of the mystery of faith. Authentic witness to Scripture and Catholic teaching, including prayerful commitment to creed and community, is essential for professing faith. Indeed, sustaining others is almost impossible unless the leader in formation is growing into a sustained maturity in dynamic witness to the Word who lives among us and whose Spirit animates the community of faith. As the International Synod of Bishops reminded us in 1977, “Catechesis begins in the profession of faith and leads to a profession of faith” (Message to the People of God, 8).

All who are responsible for catechesis must take bold and decisive steps to ensure that the next generation will be well equipped to train their own successors. Some opportunities: ■

promote an enlivened ecclesial spirituality that breathes through lungs of both East and West

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witness by example to a passion for leadership formation

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ensure periodic and permanent formation opportunities within and across dioceses

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embrace even more vigorously cultural diversity as a gift to catechetical ministry

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rely more intently on sources that include Scripture, the GDC, and the Catechism

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develop more just financial commitments and solidify existing ones

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work for greater collaboration among offices and between organizations

WISDOM

To be fruitful in this ministry, catechetical leaders need wisdom, for “she knows the things of old, and infers those yet to come” (Wisdom 8:8). Although many rely on a lifetime of experiences for wisdom, the experiences of younger leaders can provide fresh water for the soil of wisdom in this new century.

OF THE

“The Word of God, incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the Word of the Father who speaks to the world through his Spirit” (GDC, 99). Catechetical

leaders know that, without the Word of God, there is neither catechesis nor communion and intimacy with Jesus who is “at the heart of catechesis” (Catechesi Tradendae, 5).

■

implement approaches that demonstrate potential for sound catechesis for all, consciously embracing new constituencies

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ statement In Support of Catechetical Ministry reviews the broad sweep of responsibility for this ministry.

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Pursuing Personal Excellence:

NOW is a good time

When we speak about excellence in catechesis, we cannot ignore our need as catechetical leaders to pursue personal excellence. We may choose to focus on developing personal excellence when our parish program has been running successfully for the past five years: with a full complement of trained and certified catechists; happy and contented parents; a satisfied pastor; and students who love to learn.

Or we may choose to focus on developing personal excellence when our parish program is floundering: with openings for catechists in five grades; complaining and non-supportive parents; a pastor who thinks collaboration means giving you a key to the building; and students who would rather be anywhere than in a religious education class. The point is that whatever our situations, we need to spend some time concentrating on being the best catechetical leaders possible.

HOW

DO WE STRETCH AND CHALLENGE OURSELVES TO REACH FOR PERSONAL EXCELLENCE? The recently approved National Certification Standards for Lay Ecclesial Ministers provide a resource. This work was a joint effort by the National Association for Lay Ministry (NALM), the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL), and the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) to develop a common set of competency-based certification standards. The section for parish catechetical leaders contains a list of specialized competencies developed by NCCL as a tool to assist those in the field who continue to strive for personal excellence.

The Standards call for parish catechetical leaders to seriously pay attention to their own ongoing professional development: “Continue personal and spiritual formation, as well as professional growth, through reading, peer associations, institutes, study days, and diocesan meetings.”

Pope John Paul II noted in Catechesi Tradendae that the parish community is the prime mover and the pre-eminent place for catechesis. If this is to be a reality in our parishes, the individual who oversees catechesis in the parish must be one who is dedicated to life-long faith formation. Any parish program can only be as good or effective as the individual who directs it.

How do parish catechetical leaders get started on the road to personal excellence? We can examine our foundations in three areas: theological and academic coursework, pastoral and professional skills development, and spiritual formation.

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THEOLOGICAL TRAINING A lay ecclesial minister integrates knowledge of Catholic faith within ministry (Standard 3).

We can begin by looking at the state of our theological/academic training. While the deposit of faith has not changed for thousands of years, if the last time you were enrolled in a theology class or seminar was over five years ago it is time to do some serious updating. The Standards list the areas of theology in which the competent parish catechetical leader should have knowledge.

Theology is what we do in catechesis, so this is one area we need to be especially attentive to when we examine our need for ongoing formation.

How can you get information about the theological formation that is appropriate and available in your region of the country? The national Catholic newspapers often have information on theology courses offered in the United States. Some even publish a section each year on theology programs. For more information a call to the diocesan office of formation or religious education can prove helpful. Tell your diocesan director what you are doing and ask for recommendations in the area of theological formation. Or, better yet, ask what courses, seminars, or institutes he or she has attended recently. (Directors who haven’t done so will, hopefully, realize that they too need to be striving for personal excellence.)

You can also ask for information on sessions at local colleges or universities. Finally, ask what programs are being offered at the major universities during the summer.

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Oftentimes these summer programs provide an ideal way to take a theology class. Not only are they geared toward the adult learner, but in many cases the tuition is much less than what it would be during the regular school year. The theology course offerings might also be different from those normally offered during the academic year. For example, courses on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the theology of lay ministry, catechesis, and spiritual classics are among those being offered this summer at a prominent Midwest university. Summer programs offer an opportunity to be in college again at a time when you can really appreciate being there! You can live in a dorm, eat dorm food, network with peers, do theology, and learn from some of the best faculty available. Doing theology during a summer session can be the best of all worlds—it’s like taking a vacation and going on a retreat at the same time.

PASTORAL AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS A lay ecclesial minister provides effective leadership, administration, and service, in the spirit of collaboration (Standard 5).

To assess our own needs for pastoral and professional skills we can spend some time reflecting on the skills we bring to our role in catechesis. Does the annual budget process give you nightmares? Do meetings with your staff and volunteers end with nothing accomplished? Are your catechists clueless about how to manage classroom discipline? Does the term ‘technologically challenged’ adequately describe your computer skills? If you answered yes to any of the preceding questions, take heart—because you can remedy your lack of competency in a particular pastoral or professional skill.

C AT E C H E T I C A L L E A D E R

Chances are that if you feel a need for further training in a particular professional skill— others do, too. Many dioceses offer skills workshops. If you don’t see what you need, why not ask your diocesan director to develop an in-service for the diocese that focuses on a pastoral/professional skill that parish catechetical leaders need. If your diocesan director wishes to have someone else run the in-service, NCCL offers one-day workshops to help the harried catechetical leader learn how to recruit, train, and retain volunteers or how to design parish programs. Summer institutes abound that focus on skills development.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION A lay ecclesial minister demonstrates personal and spiritual maturity in ministry with the people of God (Standard 1).

The last area that we need to examine on our mission for personal excellence is spiritual formation. One of the core competencies for Standard 1 even mentions the need to engage in life-long faith formation. In the book Lay Ministers and Their Spiritual Practices the authors (Davidson, et al.) note that full time lay ministers are more inclined to devote time to their spiritual lives. Those in ministry part time or as volunteers need to be encouraged to set aside time for their spiritual lives.

To determine the strength of your own spiritual pulse you can ask some of the following questions: What are you doing to feed yourself spiritually? When was your last retreat? Are you doing any spiritual reading? How is your personal prayer life? If you are dissatisfied with your answer to any of these questions, it is time to do something about it.

It may be time to find a spiritual director who can serve as a guide as you discern the call of the Spirit in your life. Or finding a spiritual companion—a trusted friend that listens to the voice of the Spirit with you—may prove helpful. If you need other ideas to help you in your spiritual life you can try asking your pastor for recommendations, contacting a local retreat center, or calling your diocese. Paying attention to our spiritual lives will have rewards for us both in our personal lives and in our ministry as catechetical leaders.

BEGIN! There is no time like the present to begin your journey to personal excellence as a parish catechetical leader. The journey will benefit your parish, your catechists, your students, your pastor, and most especially you. The General Directory for Catechesis notes: “Continuing formation in the faith is directed not only to the individual Christian, to accompany them in their journey towards holiness, but also to the Christian community as such so that it may mature also in its interior life of love of God and of the brethren as well as in its openness to the world as a missionary community” (No. 70). ❙ Dr. Anne D. Roat is the director of the Office of Ministry Formation in the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, a member of the Representative Council of NCCL, and a member of the board of the National Association for Lay Ministry (NALM). She can be contacted at aroat@dioceseoflafayette.org.

9 www.nccl.org

“See that you make everything according to the patterns shown you on the mountain.”

— Exodus 25:40, Heb 8:5

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or those who rise early in the morning to greet the dawning of day, or linger long in farewell to evening twilight, these age-old directives become more cogent in the pink and purple hues that shadow the Sandia mountains of central New Mexico.

To learn from these “patterns on the mountain” in the very place and presence of native people—“the People”—requires openness to far more than history past and present. And to gather in a locale that has witnessed endeavors both colonial and ecclesial—in service to empire and nation and Kingdom—over the past four centuries requires great sensitivity to the dignity and divine calling of all.

Thus did more than 750 colleagues come and gather, in openness and sensitivity, for NCCL’s 68th Annual Meeting and Exposition, April 25–29, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As the national association of professional catechetical leaders, NCCL drew deeply from its own diversity of cultures and unity of spirit to celebrate this weeklong experience of the desert Southwest.

The power of story...the power of memory...the power of relationships abounded throughout the days. Keynoters Adele Gonzalez and Joan Neal oriented the systemic and personal challenges of catechesis within the broader compass of ecclesial life and pastoral leadership. Mindful of the achievements for which they themselves were recognized, honorees Gabe Moran and Tom Walters gave poignant witness to their spouses as companions in ministry. State Chief Justice Petra Jimenez Maes instructed us to “listen judiciously.” Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez from Honduras directed us not to shirk responsibility for the world. In all we do, Archbishop Michael Sheehan reminded us, be “happily Catholic.”

Celebrating the “Spirit of Life in the Desert”

By Jim Tucker The “patterns on the mountain” took further shape in countless one-on-one visits of friends who had not seen one another since last year’s gathering in St. Paul, as well as in the many roundtables and breakout sessions, NCCL governance and committee meetings, and publisher and vendor exhibits that have come to mark the week and its purpose. Stories, memories, and relationships came to newness of life after what was, for many, a year of hardships both personal and professional. Conversations were peppered with talk of still more office closings, staff reductions, and directional changes at both the diocesan and parish levels...yet the overall energy was positive and the excitement contagious in the face of it all. From the self-deprecating wisdom of Fr. David Loftus in his homily of the “four tables” on Sunday, through the syncopated rhythms of prayerful song and Scripture in Spanish throughout the week, to the critical questions raised on Thursday by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM in his closing keynote, the shadows of the desert sun passed morning and evening across the face of the Sandia range.

The mountains remain...the patterns change. Whatever the domain of endeavor—organizational governance, diocesan or parish ministry, personal or professional challenges—the catechetical leader must know which is which, and not mistake the ephemeral for the enduring. In a land that honors the many emergence myths of its native peoples, NCCL found a fitting locale to advance its own continuing emergence as a voice for effective pastoral leadership in catechesis and faith formation. In a country and a world that value pluralism but do not always honor diversity, NCCL joined with the culture of the Southwest to do both.

It was a good week in Albuquerque. More than just a conference theme, we were presented with a paradox: “Spirit of Life in the desert.” In our endeavor we can take direction and take heart from the words of Isaiah with which Cardinal Rodriguez bade us farewell: “Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already— can’t you see it?”

The task remains: “See that you make everything according to the patterns shown you on the mountain.”

Jim Tucker is director of Catholic formation for the Diocese of Helena, Montana.

10 June 2004

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Volume 15, Number 2

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11 C AT E C H E T I C A L L E A D E R

www.nccl.org

NCCL 68th Annual Meeting April 25–29, 2004

Order Cassettes and CDs KEYNOTE ADDRESSES: ❏ Sunday–Listening Judiciously–Petra Jimenez Maes

❏ Wednesday–Challenges of Catechesis in a Global Perspective–Oscar Andres

❏ Monday–Fear is Useless...–Adele Gonzalez

Cardinal Rodriquez Maradiaga

❏ Tuesday–The Challenges of Pastoral Leadership in Today’s Church–Joan Neal

❏ Thursday–The Catechetical Challenge: Two Halves of Life–Richard Rohr

SPANISH TRANSLATED ❏ Wednesday–Challenges of Catechesis in a Global Perspective–Oscar Andres

❏ Thursday–The Catechetical Challenge: Two Halves of Life–Richard Rohr

Cardinal Rodriquez Maradiaga

PRESENTATIONS: ❏ M–2 Opening an Adult Formation Tool Box–Jane Pierron, David Riley

❏ W–3 Skills for the DRE–Dr. Jane Marie Osterholt

❏ M–5 Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Time for a Mid–Course Correction?

❏ W–4 Families Sharing Faith: An Eight Week Religious Education Experience

–Dr. Jerry Galipeau

–Edith Marie Schnell

❏ M–6 The Non–Violent Leader–Adele Gonzales

❏ W–5 Developing a Professional Portfolio–Barbara Campbell

❏ M–7 Adolescent Catechesis: The Pain and the Promise–Bob McCarty

❏ W–6 The Gospel of Peace, Justice, and Non–Violence–John Dear

❏ M–8 A Media Producer, a Desert Island, and an Electronic Bottle: Did You Ever

❏ W–7 Holiness Comes in Many Colors–Robert Lentz

Get My Message?–Fr. Greg Friedman

❏ W–8 Pastoral Lay Leadership–Jean Marie Hiesberger

❏ M–9 The Small Community as “Formational Headquarters”–Fr. Bernard Lee ❏ M–10 Echoes of Faith–New Uses for a Tried and True Catechetical Resource –Jo Rotunno

❏ W–10 Adult Faith Formation: The Journey of a Lived, Fruitful and Explicit Faith–Mersi Esparza–Schorran ❏ W–11 Presentación de la serie de videos “Eos de Fe”

❏ M–12 Las Semillas de Esperanza en el Desierto–Don Conklin ❏ T–2 Certification and Accreditation–Jean Marie Webber

❏ TH–1 Helping Dioceses and Parishes Inculturate Their Liturgies–Dolly Sokol, Deacon Joseph Herrera, Jr.

❏ T–3 Can God Spread a Table in the Desert–Jim Tucker

❏ TH–2 DRE Standards–Kathy Gallo, Sue Grenough

❏ T–4 Helping Catechists Deal with Attention and Behavioral Issues–Joe White

❏ TH–2A Surfacing and Developing Leaders–Meribeth Mancini, Sr. Karen Detiz

❏ T–5 Catechesis for Enchantment–Trisha Hoyt

❏ TH–3 Contemplation: Prayer of the Desert–Christiana Spahn

❏ T–6 I Hope You Dance–Maureen Sullivan

❏ TH–5 The National Directory of Catechesis–Guidelines for the Journey–Jeanne

❏ T–7 Skills for Empowering Adolescent Spirituality–Sandy Rigsby, Steve Mason

Schremph, Joyce Solimini

❏ T–8 Catechists Ministers of Grace–Barbara Murray

❏ TH–6 Some Words Are More Important...–Joanne Dupont Sandoval

❏ T–9 Inculturation and Catechesis–Dr. Joseph Henry Suina

❏ TH–6A The Wings of Ministry: A Program for Family Members of Prisoners

❏ T–11 Habilidades para el liderazgo del catequista parroquial–Mary Lou Barba

–Ann Edenfield

❏ W–1 Where Are We and Where Do We Go–Daniel Mulhall

❏ TH–7 Access Parish–New Approach in Disability Ministry–Charleen Iannucci

❏ W–2 Faith and Emotion: The Heart of Religious Education–Mark Markuly

❏ TH–9 Se hace camino al andar–Maruja Sedano

❏ W–2A Prophets of Faith–Rev. Robert Hater

❏ TH–10 Tambien los Hispanos quieren aprender–Diacono Juan Barajas

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SEND THE ITEMS MARKED ABOVE TO:

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12 June 2004

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Volume 15, Number 2

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Mentoring | Volume 15, June 04

CATECHETICAL UPDATE A publication of the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership

MENTORING: A MODEL FOR ADULT LEARNING It is becoming a commonplace that catechesis needs to move beyond a classroom model in order to affect children—or adults—in a profound and lasting way. If this shoe fits, shouldn’t catechetical leaders be wearing it themselves?

Diocesan director Sue Grenough thinks so. She has been promoting another adult learning model for years in the Diocese of Louisville. DREs new to the diocese or receiving a new assignment are offered the option of formation in their position through a mentoring program pairing them with more experienced colleagues. “Mentoring is the most effective form of adult learning we can have,” says Grenough, who did her doctoral work on adult learning. “It is more appropriate for adults than classroom models.”

ELEMENTS OF ADULT LEARNING Grenough can outline the ways a mentoring model is supported by research findings about the characteristics of effective adult learning.

Effective adult learning is self-directed. Adults choose goals significant to them, thus taking a hand in the direction of the learning. “They will choose what they need,” says Grenough. “Adult goals often arise out of disequilibrium—things are not as they ought to be and they want to change that.” Mentoring provides an opportunity to tackle pressing concerns as well as long-term goals.

Adults respond best when application is immediate. After traditional instruction there is often a long gap before learning can be applied; but in a mentoring program, she points out, ideas can be tried out right away. Mentoring also provides time for development and practice. “If learning is to be transformative—if it is to affect change in confidence, skills, knowledge, understanding—it happens best when it develops over time,” says Grenough.

“To change behavior is not easy. Studies on the brain show that patterns are changed by repetitious effort. The elements in mentoring are those shown to be most effective in producing changed behavior.”

Adults, like children, thrive in a safe environment and learn best in relationship with significant others. Mentorship programs are designed to be holistic and to foster fruitful relationships, thus creating a climate in which mistakes can become learning opportunities.

“At the heart of mentoring is relationship...an environment where the adult is free to learn and able to come back and say “it bombed” or “it worked—I want to push this a little further.”

FORMAL PROGRAMS Grenough has found “sponsored mentoring,” a formal arrangement in which boundaries and time frames are clear, to be generally more effective than informal arrangements. Her program is sponsored by the diocese, but could equally well be sponsored by a DRE organization. Participants first meet in a group for orientation, and then partners meet together at least once a month. The director matches the pairs in a way that respects their adult status, seeking input and approval for pairings and renegotiating as necessary.

Grenough does not usually pair up friends because “sometimes a friend is the last person to tell you what you need to hear.” She says she tries to match up people with similar life situations: for example, women with young children at home. There is an agreed upon start and finish for the program. That ending point is important, says Grenough. “The protégé and the mentor will typically stay in contact, but afterwards their relationship will be different.”

continued on page U7 Printed courtesy of

C AT E C H E T I C A L U P D A T E

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MENTOR/PROTÉGÉ

W H AT M A K E S I T WO R K ?

By JoAnn B. Paradise

A newly graduated education major filled with idealism and zeal, I was on my first interview for a position in a Catholic grade school. They were searching for a second grade teacher. I was seated across the desk from the school principal, a vowed religious woman with many years experience.

During the interview she remarked, “I just love to hire first year teachers. I can mold them into teachers just like me.”

Because I was young and inexperienced I did not go running into the night. It was clear that the principal saw herself as a mentor, but her words should have been fair warning. We did not see a mentor relationship in quite the same light. We both discovered I was not easily moldable. I only lasted a year in that position.

Mentoring is a practice that has been followed in a myriad of ways for thousands of years. The word mentor itself comes from the Greek myth in which Odysseus entrusts his son’s journey to maturity into the hands of a teacher, Mentor. Virtually everyone has experienced informal mentoring at some point along life’s course. Take a moment to recall some of your mentors. Did you have an older sibling who would impart his/her wisdom concerning the “handling” of your parents? Was there someone in your first ministerial position who helped you to understand “how this staff works?” When you were newly married, was there someone in your spouse’s family who helped you to understand the order in the chaos? Certainly we have all had informal mentors along the way who have shared insights with us so that our road would not be as rough as it could be.

The value and merits of a formal mentoring process have been championed in our time by business managers, professional organizations, volunteer groups and school personnel. In the area of religious formation this process is currently being pursued with vigor for a variety of reasons. One notable reason is the growing concern surrounding the shortage of people seeking positions in ministry. Some would suggest that those already employed in religious formation positions should be more consciously encouraging and mentoring others who indicate some interest in this area. Others would suggest that the burnout rate among ministers could be dramatically reduced by positive mentoring relationships. All ministers who have experienced a valuable mentoring relationship would surely witness to the significant difference it made in their spiritual, professional, and personal lives.

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Mentoring | Volume 15, June 04

passion Passion is the first word that I think of when I hear the word mentor.

To identify a would-be mentor in ministry, a person should seek someone whose passion for God is not only discernable but vibrant.

This passionate relationship with the Divine is the root of all ministry and must therefore be the most visible quality of a mentor. It is from this relationship that all ministry draws its meaning. How else could someone make sense out of a calling requiring relentless paperwork, janitorial duties, preparation of countless pots of coffee and repeated responses to the question “What do you do all day?” The passion to share the good news must find its source in the passion of God’s love and our passionate response.

While a mentor needs to be someone who emanates the fragrance of Christ, the person who is being mentored—the novice or protégé— needs to maintain a realistic perspective. Mentors also have their strengths and weaknesses. An inexperienced minister working up-close and personal with an admired seasoned professional may become disillusioned if the protégé has idealistically placed that person on a pedestal. The mutuality of this partnership provides an opportunity for each party to grow, but both mentor and protégé place themselves in a vulnerable situation. Therefore, initial conversations that include reasonable expectations in an atmosphere of respect and acceptance are vital to this process. Writing these expectations is often helpful.

nurture Second only to passion is a mentor’s ability to name, affirm and support the talents and gifts of the novice—which may not be the same talents and gifts possessed by the mentor. A mentor cannot and should not feel the need to “mold” someone into his or her own image and likeness. In a real sense a mentor is like an artist who discovers within the medium that which is already present and needs expression. God has already created and called this unique embodiment of gifts and talents. A mentor companions that person along a journey of self-discovery. That self-discovery

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passion nurture questioning discernment listening openness boundaries mutuality imagination also includes the weaknesses a novice will be helped to uncover. Even this process is a gift in the context of a supportive relationship. In this life we seem to learn more from our mistakes than from our successes.

As a novice teacher in a Catholic high school I was asked to plan the school’s Ash Wednesday liturgy with some students. I knew two things going into the planning: my students were very visual; and in order to enter into the spirit of Lent we needed to reflect on the reality of sin. So it seemed like a creative and powerful idea to design a visual penitential rite that chronicled the “sin” one might have to face as an adolescent in our culture.

Students posed for slides that included scenes of smoking, drinking, vandalizing school property, wasting food, etc. Faces were not visible so that students could place themselves in the scenes.

If you are already gasping, “Oh, no...” you know why I so desperately needed a mentor. Instead of being moved to confront their sin the students were moved to discussion and laughter as they tried to guess the identity of the students in the canned photos. “Lord, save us” would have been a much more appropriate response than the “Lord, have mercy” indicated in the worship aid. All day long, I received sympathetic looks from the faculty that said, “She’s new. She’ll learn.” I would have been spared embarrassment and the school community would have been spared the consequence of my naiveté if I had been offered a mentor in my first year.

questioning Another key characteristic of a mentor is the ability to listen effectively and ask critical questions. A good mentor does not presume to have all the answers but is able to lead the apprentice on a journey of self-reflection. The mentors in my life who by their questions led me to the truth are those I valued the most. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw is so popular. He often asks the question, “How’s that working for you?” For many people that question is the doorway into an understanding that leads them to different choices.

How different might the early years of my ministry have looked if someone had asked me that question? Instead of trying to force people into programs, I might have looked for alternative ways to respond to needs. At the very least I may not have had to spend the first half of my ministry learning to cope with unnecessary frustration!

discernment While all these characteristics are important to the role of mentor what might be the qualities necessary for the person being mentored?

Prayerful discernment is key to choosing a mentor in ministry. The ability to share hope and expectations for this process is also vital for the success of this relationship. Remembering that every mentor also struggles with his/her own weaknesses and bad days is also important.

listening The protégé must be a good listener as well. One of my earliest mentors offered me a pearl of wisdom when I was just sixteen. He said, “JoAnn, you can relax. Jesus was already here.” That truth is still unfolding as the years go by. A good listener will not only recognize the value of intentional direction but will be able to glean the wisdom being offered in the stories that are shared. Most of life’s most valuable lessons are taught in story. Isn’t that the mentoring technique that Jesus most often used?

openness One of the most difficult challenges to a novice’s listening skills is to be open to constructive feedback, both the positive and the negative. As with all direction, it takes a disposition of openness to listen to another’s perception without becoming defensive. It helps if one trusts that what is said is offered in love.

boundaries Finally, it is important that both parties respect the boundaries of the relationship. There are limits to the time, energy and resources of the mentor. A mentor cannot be expected to provide a response for every emotional, spiritual or professional dilemma.

mutuality It is easy to see how a novice can benefit from such a relationship. It is no less true that the mentor benefits from this partnership. In this mutual exchange of faith, ideas, and dreams both parties are given new life. What mentor is not touched by a novice’s idealism and dedication?

What a gift to be able to see once again through eyes that are not yet blinded by disillusionment or disappointment! For a mentor, a novice brings a fresh perspective to things that have become standard and perhaps routine. To see one’s ministry from another’s perspective can be challenging, affirming and rewarding.

imagination Mentoring is above all a relationship based on imagining. It is not an opportunity to mold someone into one’s own image, as my first principal believed. It is a grace-filled partnership that supports, empowers, and nurtures an apprentice’s ability to imagine what formation ministry can be. It is a relationship that offers both parties an opportunity to grow professionally, personally, and spiritually.

Imagine the possibility of becoming a mentor, or seeking a mentor, and together imagining the kingdom come in your diocese. ❙ JoAnn B. Paradise, D. Min., director of parish ministerial life and spiritual formation at St. Sebastian Church in Pittsburgh, has been a DRE for 27 years. She provides retreats and spiritual direction and lectures nationally to educators and catechists.

C AT E C H E T I C A L U P D A T E

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MENTORING

LESSONS LEARNED

By Harry J. Dudley and Joseph E. Fey

Mentoring is a powerful and popular way for anyone new to a job to learn a variety of personal and professional skills from a colleague. Most adults can identify a person who, at some time in their lives, acted as a mentor and had a significant and positive impact on them.

How can one set up a mentoring program for parish administrators of religious education? What is the best way to be sure that new administrators will have someone who will help them get through that first year? Our mentoring program in the Harry J. Dudley

Joseph E. Fey

Archdiocese of Indianapolis encourages experienced catechetical leaders to help those new to the ministry and the archdiocese to become oriented to the job, familiar with the tools available, and connected to colleagues who can help them with problem solving, coaching, and support.

Our program has developed as a partnership between the Faith Formation Department of the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education (OCE) and our independent professional organization, the Association of Parish Administrators of Religious Education (APARE). We have learned that a mentoring program works best as a partnership between the diocesan office and the professional organization with clearly defined roles and timelines for everyone involved, regular communication and annual evaluations and regular revisions. We meet to revise the program each year because we consider it to be “work in progress.”

“We have learned that a mentoring program works best as a partnership between the diocesan office and the professional organization with clearly defined roles and timelines for everyone involved.

What follows is an outline of our experience along with elements adapted from our handbook for mentors and protégés.

We have learned that we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. We would like to share what we have learned from them so that you, too, can adapt it and make it your own. If you would like to discuss any of these ideas or clarify any points please feel free to contact the authors, who collaborate in revising and implementing the program.

Harry J. Dudley (hdudley@archindy.org) has been associate executive director of faith formation for the Office of Catholic Education (OCE) of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis since 1999. The mentoring program he inherited was developed in light of over thirty years of experience with DREs and a DRE association in the archdiocese.

Joseph E. Fey (jfey1025@otherside.com) is the current chairperson of the mentoring committee of the Association of Professional Administrators of Religious Education (APARE) and DRE for the Catholic community from Harrison County, Indiana.

You Can Purchase Copies of Catechetical Update As in the past you can order additional copies of Catechetical Update. Many of our membership find it a valuable resource for use in their ministry. To order call the NCCL office (202-636-3826) or email Sr. Kathy Kandefer, BVM at kkandefer@nccl.org. Catechetical Update reprint costs: 1–49 copies $1.29 each, 50 or more $0.79 each (plus shipping).

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Mentoring | Volume 15, June 04

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PRACTICE MODEL FOR SETTING UP A MENTORING PROGRAM IN YOUR DIOCESE

MENTORS/SPONSORS We have learned to distinguish between mentors and sponsors. Mentors guide administrators new to the ministry. Sponsors help experienced administrators who have moved from other dioceses to understand the policies and guidelines of the Archdiocese.

APARE requested that mentors and sponsors be professional members of their association with significant experience as administrators. OCE requested that they be administrators who generally cooperate with archdiocesan policies and guidelines and be good role models. Both OCE and APARE want to choose mentors and sponsors who are from the same deanery and have similar parishes (size of program, rural or city, etc.).

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Prepare an inviting and hospitable environment. Be attentive. Put all other concerns aside when you are together.

Be open about your life when it is appropriate.

Set limits and boundaries with your protégé. Talk about availability.

For example, determine if your protégé needs to have your home phone.

Assure your protégé of confidentiality. Create an environment where the protégé feels comfortable to be honest with you.

Clarify your role as mentor/sponsor. You are a friend; however, the friendship is within the context of a formal program.

Stay aware of your personal issues. Watch out if your own agenda always surfaces at meeting times.

Pay attention to your own spirituality.

Invite the protégé to experience your parish ministry by coming to one of your programs.

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Contact and introduce yourself prior to the first business meeting of the year.

Meet at least seven times with protégé during the program year.

Plan, initiate, and schedule visits to each other’s site at least once.

Discuss topics suggested in the monthly calendar.

Communicate by phone on a monthly basis.

Attend and accompany protégé at APARE and OCE events.

Clarify the role of APARE and the archdiocesan office.

Work through the details of program planning and administration.

Share insights and information on new issues, policies, and events as needed.

Care and pray for the protégé.

Notify OCE if you have any concerns regarding your protégé.

Contact the APARE officer-at-large if at any time you are unable to fulfill your role as mentor.

Submit an evaluation in May.

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sense that their call springs from spiritual/prayer life remain open and flexible are personally secure and self-confident

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practice presence, listening and compassion are hospitable and welcoming keep a sense of humor maintain confidentiality and are non-judgmental lead others to resources share responsibility stay accessible are creative and innovative

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share in the responsibility for the mentoring relationship maintain mutual respect for each other challenge each other’s preconceived ideas be involved in diocesan and deanery activities meet at least seven times during the year visit each other’s parishes by taking turns hosting the meetings seek advice and information from one another as needed submit an evaluation in May

PROTÉGÉS Protégés are those new administrators who are under the care and guidance of a mentor or sponsor.

Protégés are encouraged to ■

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be prayerful desire to learn and have a sense of openness have an interest in people have an orientation toward a goal and a sense of priorities take a proactive stance be introspective be assertive in clarifying questions and needs

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LESSONS LEARNED... continued from previous page

ORGANIZATION AND TIMELINES A good mentoring program has clearly defined roles and timelines. APARE has a mentoring committee. The “at-large” officer of the executive committee of the organization chairs this committee. OCE’s associate executive director of faith formation is an ex-officio member of the mentoring committee and works with the chairperson.

THE CHAIRPERSON ■

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is discerned in a meeting of APARE each spring is the liaison between OCE and APARE works with the associate executive director of faith formation of OCE in July or August to review and revise the existing Handbook For Mentors And Sponsors, based upon recommendations of the mentors and protégés in the evaluations of the previous year directs the committee members to survey all mentors to see how things are going in January (If there are any issues that need to be addressed, OCE is notified.) reminds protégés and mentors each April to submit their evaluation forms by mid-May reviews the evaluations in June with the committee to determine what improvements may be made works in July/August with the associate executive director to determine who would be the best mentors or sponsors for the new administrators

OCE’S REPRESENTATIVE ■

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sees that the recommended revisions are made in the handbooks and that enough handbooks are printed. informs APARE when a new administrator has been hired and begins a process of consultation. meets with the chairperson of the mentoring committee to consult with the association’s deanery representatives and determine who might be the best match for the new person calls the mentors to see if they are willing to serve sends a copy of the revised handbook with a letter to: a. the mentor (with contact information on the protégé) b. the protégé (with contact information on the mentor) c. the protégé’s pastor (to clarify why we do this, to encourage the pastor to understand the reasons for the program, and to explain the strengths the particular mentor brings to the relationship)

THE HANDBOOK The handbook was developed to help mentors, sponsors, and protégés to understand their relationship and what they need to do during this first program year. It is filled with practical information such as that included in this article: qualities of mentors and sponsors; various roles of mentors; practical tips for mentoring and sponsoring; expectations of mentors and sponsors; qualities and expectations of protégés; a schedule for yearly contacts; a model for each meeting and evaluation forms.

SCHEDULE FOR YEARLY CONTACTS It is very important that the protégé and mentor or sponsor communicate on a monthly basis. They need to meet in person at least four times during the program year other than the three OCE business meetings.

They should attend APARE and OCE meetings and events together.

SUGGESTED SCHEDULE OF MONTHLY

The guide provides a month-by-month list of topics to discuss. Here is a list of the August topics as a sample: Catechetical Sunday ■

■

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the need for deanery support commission issues (who is on it and how it operates, responsibilities and reports, priorities of the commission/board, policies and procedures, administrative officer’s responsibilities) administrator’s annual goals for the program year using the Archdiocesan Religion Curriculum Guide working collaboratively as a pastoral team rather than working competitively

MODEL FOR MENTOR/SPONSOR AND PROTÉGÉ MEETINGS ■

■

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Note: The APARE mentoring committee and the welcoming committee chairpersons receive copies of these letters.

TOPICS

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Share what is happening in your lives.

Ask about where protégé is in ministry. Successes? What has not succeeded and why?

Discuss monthly topics as needed (see above) and other concerns raised by the protégé.

Find out what support the protégé might want or need over the next few months.

Pray.

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LESSONS LEARNED.. continued from previous page

END OF YEAR EVALUATION QUESTIONS For mentor/sponsor: Note the strengths and weaknesses of the mentoring process for you.

What topics were most helpful for you?

Are there additional topics that need to be included in the future?

What are they?

Would you consider this role again? Why or why not?

If you were not involved with your protégé, what happened?

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For protégé: How was the mentor/sponsor helpful?

Are there additional topics/areas you would like to see included? If so, name them.

(If applicable) I chose not to use the mentoring/sponsoring process because…

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Note: Both mentor and protégé evaluation forms are returned to the chairperson of the APARE mentoring committee by the third week in May. We have found that the simpler the forms were, the more likely that they would be returned. ❙

ADULT LEARNING.. continued from page U1

WHY IT WORKS

GROUP MENTORING

In the Louisville program, the goals set by the partners are framed in terms of professional competencies, but they have freedom within those competencies to choose priorities. Together they assess needs, set new goals and decide on a plan of action. When the partners meet they share and reflect on results and then reassess. “This reassessment,” says Grenough, “is the growth point for adult learners. At the heart of mentoring is relationship...an environment where the adult is free to learn and able to come back and say “it bombed” or “it worked—I want to push this a little further.”

A group mentoring program in a university setting is Grenough’s new venture. This program brings together novices with experienced practitioners in several related ministry professions: hospice, DRE, and volunteer catechist. Members present their goals to the group and then keep mentoring journals as they work. When they come together, the members reflect on notes in their journals and seek feedback from the group. In the group setting, it takes longer for trust to develop, Grenough observes, but there are other opportunities: each participant acts as both mentor and protégé.

Research supports the common-sense supposition that the mentor must have respect for the protégé. There must be a relationship that allows give and take—not an attitude on the part of the mentor that “I’m going to tell you what to do,” explains Grenough. “If the mentor goes in thinking ‘I’m going to learn as well,’ that leads to success.”

She sees the benefits to both protégé and mentor in terms of the stages of psychosocial development identified by famed psychologist Erik Erikson. “The process is dynamic. The protégé grows in autonomy— from dependence to independence to interdependence. The protégé also grows in identity and intimacy. The mentor is able to give back to the profession and thus grows in generativity.”

On a more practical level, the mentor is able to help the protégé network with colleagues. The sponsoring organization also benefits from the bonding and networking fostered by a formal mentoring program.

“At the heart of mentoring is relationship... an environment where the adult is free to learn and able to come back and say ‘it bombed’ or ‘it worked—I want to push this a little further.’”

“We don’t always change because of what we know,” Grenough reminds us, “It the way of knowing that’s most important—-a way that involves the whole person. We have to touch hearts.” ❙ —Mary Kay Schoen Sue Grenough, Ed.D., is director of catechesis for the Archdiocese of Louisville.

C AT E C H E T I C A L U P D A T E

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Copyright Š by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

The future is in your hands.

an all-new, comprehensive K–6 religion program for school and parish The heart of lifelong catechesis U8 Catechesis | |Volume U8 Rural Rural Catechesis Volume 15,March/April March/April0404 Mentoring | Volume 15, June15, 04

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BOOKS IN THE NEWS ❚

Rescuing

joy from heartache Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life

by Philip Simmons. New York: Bantam Books, 2000. 157 Reviewed by David M. Thomas pp, $12.95.

L

earning to Fall carries a sub-title that captures the heart of this powerful guide to the spiritual life: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life. In this masterful work, the idea of imperfect has its own nuances. The good life, as Philip Simmons sees it, is not characterized by the absence of problems or difficulties, but is directly connected with how we understand and deal with difficulties.

Simmons was a young scholar who taught literature and creative writing at the university level when he learned that he had ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). He stood at the beginning of a promising career as teacher and a gifted writer. He and his wife had two small children. The world was awaiting his promising arrival. Then, he learned that he would have to get off the train at the first stop. Like all of us, he had hoped for a longer journey. The book contains his incredibly profound reflections on a mundane question: “Now what?”

This is not an account of dealing with grief along the lines of resignation and acceptance.

It is much richer than that. It is about how the bad news we receive about the condition of the world and ourselves can become rich soil in which to find a deeper, more fulfilling, more enjoyable, more grateful life. Instead of turning the news of his impending death into some form of depression, Simmons turns it all upside-down and finds for himself and for us a way of proceeding that is both elegant and challenging.

His background is Catholic and a sense of the sacramentality suffuses his view of life. He enriches his Catholicism with strong elements of Asian religion, which is evident when he describes how to gain fuller consciousness of life during each passing moment. What’s

most telling, I believe, is his use of what traditionally is called the via negativa as a stepping-stone to a fuller life. He sees a profound paradox at the center of human life and calls it an entrance into deeper living. The logic of his life has forced him to step outside our perfectionist culture into a world where what seems unimportant becomes the opposite and where tragedy is transformed into gift.

In the book’s foreword, he sets the tone for his presentation by acknowledging his dependence on the value of traditional religions and spiritualities. He sees them as having “consistently, rigorously, and powerfully explored the harrowing business of rescuing joy from heartache.” His knowledge of this area is impressive, as is his capacity for drawing from contemporary literature—especially poetry— thoughts that make a lot of surprising sense.

He invites the reader to stop and think about the biting negatives of life in a new way. By the time this book was published he had died, but his role as teacher has continued.

We all experience falling, whether it be from a relationship, a project, our job or ministry, personal health or the knowledge that soon our life will be ended. Each instance of limitation can feel like a tempest in our face, a walk through thick mud, a taste of bitterness when we had hoped for sweetness. Welcome to the fuller life. Not a perfect life, Simmons would add, but one laced with beauty and bounty. In the midst of travails, we are opened or emptied of our own imagining of personal competency and greatness. This purging of what we once judged as really important will allow us to acquire a deeper richness of living, a density of experience that seemed beyond us.

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FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP ❚

Developing Leaders

to Meet Our Challenges

By Karen Dietz and Maribeth Mancini

T

oday we are faced with a need to seek out and develop leaders for the church of the twenty-first century.

We must identify, invite, form, mentor and support people who will follow us into ministry as parish and diocesan catechetical leaders.

Effective leaders must be mission driven: people who know what it is they are about.

Everything we do in catechetical ministry must be measured against our mission: to help to build the kingdom of God by forming disciples and bringing people into more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Catechetical leaders are never concerned with just getting the job done; we are always concerned about how that job relates to mission and ministry.

Among the many challenges all pastoral leaders face today, four seem particularly critical in terms of surfacing and developing potential catechetical leaders. These same four challenges can make leadership difficult for those of us already engaged in ministry.

Naming our challenges is an important step in exercising leadership because it is only through understanding them that we can move forward.

CHANGING

DYNAMIC OF PARISHES

Today parishes are being merged, clustered and blended. Parish identity is shifting and leadership is changing. In the past, each parish had at least one priest in residence. Today, some parishes are led by deacons, religious men or women, or lay ecclesial ministers. Different understandings of roles and leadership responsibilities are still evolving and the whole parish is searching together to understand how to proceed.

Karen Dietz

Maribeth Mancini

The parish in which our parents grew up was often homogeneous and the locus of family activity. Today the parish is one of many communities to which people belong. Many ecclesiologies, theologies, cultures and lifestyles are represented in the pews. One size doesn’t fit all. Our role as leaders is to respect the differences in our communities and the demands that these people face and to build relationships among the people of God. Tensions emerge when our expectations collide with the expectations of the community.

That tension challenges not only our patience and creativity but also our prejudices.

MISTRUST OF INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH The sexual abuse scandal continues to haunt us, even as we work to fully implement the bishops’ commitment to creating a safe environment.

There are many who feel that they are paying the price of increased responsibility because of the sins of a few. The crisis leads some to question how the financial resources and treasures of the church are being used. For some the moral compass that has been the church seems off kilter, and that leads to mistrust of the institution.

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WHERE DO WE FIND POTENTIAL LEADERS? They are in our parishes and our schools.

They are volunteer catechists, Catholic school teachers and principals, and other pastoral leaders.

While all may share a sense of mission and a desire to respond to a call to use their gifts for the sake of the kingdom, what separates leaders from others are certain qualities critical for inspiring others to mission: ■

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Focus: Potential leaders are deeply committed to the mission we share.

Relationships: Leaders are able to build bridges to people rather than erecting walls to separate people.

CONFUSION ABOUT CATHOLIC IDENTITY Among many Catholics there exists confusion about exactly what it is that we believe and how that differs from what other Christians believe. Many are unable to articulate what it means to be baptized and what the rights and responsibilities of the baptized are. Many have lost a sense of belonging, and lost somehow an understanding that we Catholics must be part of a believing, celebrating community. This loss of Catholic identity leads to questions and misunderstandings around sacramental celebrations, certain beliefs, and church participation.

Ability to articulate who we are and what we believe is central to our identity as Catholic Christians.

Vision: Leaders have the ability to imagine and articulate a preferred future that brings us closer to our mission.

Some of the most important qualities of leadership derive from the challenges we have identified.

Values: leaders operate out of a set of standards and principles that reflect our traditions and beliefs.

AN

These leadership qualities were identified

by Joan Neil in her keynote address at NCCL’s Conference 2004.

ABILITY TO ARTICULATE A VISION

Vision is an elusive concept. Here vision refers to the ability to imagine how to accomplish the mission we hold in common. Vision allows one to look beyond today’s experience to build the church of the future. Ability to share that vision with others invites broad ownership of the vision. Leaders’ vision must include an understanding of today’s church and of the place of catechetical ministry in it. A grasp of the General Directory for Catechesis and the plan it lays out for formation for all the people of God, a formation rooted in evangelization, must be incorporated into the vision. Vision helps us develop our preferred future.

AN UNDERSTANDING OF CATHOLIC IDENTITY In today’s world, catechetical leaders and all pastoral leaders need to be able to articulate what Catholics believe and why we believe it. To be effective, catechetical leaders need to be secure in their own faith and in their knowledge of Scripture and tradition. Well-prepared catechetical leaders will have appropriate theological degrees or certification for their ministry meeting national standards. While it may seem that faithfulness is enough, today’s catechetical leaders may in fact serve as a primary resource for theological and ecclesial questions and interpretation of Scripture. Effective leaders will have the background to deal with the questions with which they are faced.

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A CAPACITY TO CELEBRATE DIVERSITY One of the greatest gifts we possess is the diversity of the people in our parishes. There are cultures to celebrate and honor, lifestyles that enrich the experience of our communities, and theologies and ecclesiologies that challenge our own theology. The church is a broad umbrella that can shelter us all.

Willingness and ability to foster inclusion into the community and build bridges of understanding among different people are important for leadership.

A

WILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE COLLABORATION

Many ministries in the church have a catechetical dimension; that is, they have as part of their goal the formation of the people who will participate. Recognizing the catechetical dimension of various ministries, bringing it to the attention of those who have primary responsibility for that ministry and collaborating to intentionally enhance the formation of participants is part of the vision of the General Directory for Catechesis.

Catechetical leaders cannot presume formation only takes place in the experiences for which they have responsibility. A catechetical leader must be willing to collaborate across ministry areas for the sake of the Gospel.

AN

EVANGELIZING HEART

Effective catechetical leadership demands that we know that we are always inviting the people we meet to know the Gospel and to come to Christ. An evangelizing heart requires compassionate listening, concerned response, and outreach to bring the Gospel to others through our ministry. An evangelizing heart calls us to balance the fine line between the integrity of church teaching and a welcoming spirit.

AN

ABILITY TO STEP OUTSIDE ONE’S OWN EXPERIENCE

A basic tenet of catechetical methodology is that to honor one’s journey of faith, we must begin with personal experience. But it is important that leaders be able to step out of their own particular experience and look at the “big picture.” Effective catechetical leaders must consider new perspectives, new ideas, new ways of doing things. A pioneering spirit is risky; there are always problems not anticipated, issues not raised, and financial implications that weren’t clear. Nonetheless, stepping beyond our comfort zone, examining the rules that have “always” governed our ministry, and trusting in new models or paradigms are the marks of an effective catechetical leader.

AND

MORE

Catechetical leaders need to demonstrate faithfulness, prayerfulness and a grounded spirituality. Ministry is easier if catechetical leaders possess some organizational ability and a certain flexibility. Catechetical leaders benefit from a healthy respect for the institution.

Catechetical leaders need a deep respect for all touched by their ministry: families, pastoral staffs and diocesan leadership. And finally catechetical leaders need to possess profound gratitude for the gifts of the church and for the opportunity to share their gifts for the building of the kingdom of God. Surfacing and developing leaders for the church of the present and the church of the future is the work of all of us presently in ministry. When a potential leader crosses our path, we need to offer encouragement, prayer and mentoring. Most of all, we need to share our own joy about the ministry in which we are engaged. How many can refuse an invitation that will enrich their lives and build the kingdom too?

So, examine your hearts. Be ready to speak about the great privilege you share as a catechetical minister. Become a beacon drawing others to this rich ministry. ❙ Maribeth Mancini is director of evangelization and catechesis for the Diocese of Rochester.

Sr. Karen Dietz, SSJ, is coordinator of sacramental catechesis for the Diocese of Rochester.

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CL INSIGHTS ❚

Don’t Forget the Crowds!

By Christopher Weber

I

have frequently referred to some of the ‘inactive’ Catholics in the pew every Sunday as “God’s frozen people.” This often elicits a laugh with other leaders. However, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that this label is terribly inappropriate.

TEACHING

AS JESUS

DID?

In the Gospels, Jesus recruited a band of disciples.

Beyond this inner circle were individuals whose lives were radically changed by their encounter with Jesus, like the Woman at the Well (John 4) and Jairus (Mark 5). Beyond both of these, Jesus spent a remarkable amount of time reaching out to total strangers, curiosity seekers, and people who listened for a few moments and then walked away.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36).

Does our ministry work the same way? Or do we spend so much energy on making disciples that we lose sight of “the crowds,” and do not see how God is already at work there?

Here are some questions that have been food for my thought: ■

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Do I complain about the Christmas and Easter Catholics I only see two times a year, or those who show up for the occasional sacrament?

Do I equate belonging in my community with monetary support or volunteering?

Where do I draw the line between being a disciplemaker and being a gate-keeper?

While it is good to challenge people to responsible faith, I wonder if we can take this too far.

Most of the time, Jesus didn’t call the crowds “in” to belong to his inner circle, but rather sent them “out” to live the Gospel in their homes, their jobs, their everyday lives. We will be successful spreading the Gospel if our message does the same.

“Jesus didn’t call the crowds ‘in’ to belong to his inner circle, but rather sent them ‘out’ to live the Gospel in...their everyday lives.”

THE JESUS ENCOUNTER Let’s never stop preaching to and teaching the crowds. There will always be a small core of deeply committed disciples...and large crowds of believers who are meeting Jesus at every conceivable point along the journey of faith. Can we meet the crowds with unconditional love and acceptance? Will that acceptance open hearts to look deeper, to follow the Way of Jesus?

It seemed to work pretty well for Jesus. ❙ Christopher Weber is director of the Catholic Education Ministries Center of Central Maryland.

He publishes regular columns online at http:// centralmdcatholic.org.

Have you had an “a-ha! moment” you’d like to share with your colleagues in catechesis? Send your INSIGHT (350 words or less) to jcrider@nccl.org to be considered for publication in this space.

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1234597 CATECHESIS TODAY... continued from page 5

678 youth catechesis as are employed with adults. Significant differences of faith exist among young people. What works in one place might fail in another. Common to all catechesis is the need for love, concern, trust, appreciation, welcome, and identity. When youth catechesis connects with the core of a young person’s concerns, the ground is provided to effectively catechize. With this connection established, the catechist can effectively prepare young people for their roles in the Christian community and the world by teaching them the content and beliefs of the Catholic faith.

6. CATECHESIS

ACKNOWLEDGES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BISHOP AND PASTOR IN CATECHETICAL MINISTRY.

In the late 1980s, the United States bishops took leadership in recommending to Pope John Paul II that the church develop a universal catechism. The bishops recognized an increasing need to acknowledge their role in effective catechesis. They also acknowledged the need for catechetical leaders, beginning with themselves, to get a better handle on the content and methodology of catechesis and religious instruction.

During the previous decade many changes had occurred in catechesis, especially in pedagogy and catechetical methods. In spite of these changes, the bishops knew that many Catholics had only a rudimentary knowledge of basic church teaching. The publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) was an important step. The General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) was another.

The GDC refocuses the bishop’s responsibilities for catechesis. In so doing, it refers to Vatican II documents, which describe the chief duties of the bishops. Among them is catechesis and oversight for the word of God in a diocese. It stresses that among those responsible for catechesis, the bishop is the most responsible. While calling on catechetical ministers to assist him, he alone has the final responsibility (GDC, 222). The GDC, citing CT, calls upon the bishop to give priority to catechetical ministry, be vigilant about it, stress catechist preparation, and oversee diocesan catechetical programs. The pastor is the bishop’s chief representative in the parish. He acts in the person of Christ as the leader of the parish faith community. The sacrament of orders calls priests to be instructors in the faith. Pastors are responsible for calling forth catechetical leaders and catechists, providing adequate formation for them and supervising the parish’s catechetical enterprise.

The pastor sets the tone for parish catechesis. He establishes its fundamental orientation, supports catechetical ministers, and promotes the catechist’s vocation. He needs to be closely involved in the integration of all catechetical ministry into the parish.

7. CATECHESIS

REQUIRES COMPETENT CATECHISTS, CATECHETICAL LEADERS, AND CATECHETICAL COMMUNITIES.

The person of the catechist is more important than the methods used.

Jesus continues his living presence through the community, not through abstract declaration of faith. The flesh and blood witness of

Christians keeps alive God’s word, revealed in Scripture. The GDC stresses this living witness of catechists to Christ’s presence and connects the catechist’s ministry with special charisms given to them (GDC, 156). The Holy Spirit, present in the catechist’s soul, moves the person to a deeper spirituality, which reaches expression in the living witness of faith. This is a more powerful testimony to the risen Lord than any catechetical book or method. This witness gives credence to the formal contents of the catechetical process. This formal content includes teaching the basic messages of Jesus and the church. It is absolutely essential that the content of the Catholic faith is taught in a clear and meaningful way. For this reason, catechists need solid preparation in what the church teaches and how to teach it effectively.

The cooperation of Christian community is needed to support the best efforts of a catechist. Those catechized see the living word actualized through the witness of loving parish members (GDC, 158). The RCIA implies that initiation into the Christian life takes place in the midst of the community. It invites catechetical leaders to inspire, motivate, and coordinate the parish’s ministries of the word.

8. CATECHISTS TEACH BASIC CATHOLIC BELIEFS (CONTENT) USING SOLID CATECHETICAL METHODS. While stressing the importance of teaching basic content in a systematic and comprehensive way, the GDC emphasizes that full formation in the faith includes the interrelationship between content and method.

The goal of catechesis is conversion, which involves living the whole Christian life, modeled on Christ (GDC, 149). To be comprehensive catechesis must include every aspect of educating the disciple into oneness with the Lord. In this effort, strong emphasis must be given to developing a love and knowledge of the Scriptures as the word of God. Information and formation are essential components of catechesis. To achieve its goal of ongoing faith formation, catechesis employs a variety of methods that connect the word of God with the cultural and personal experiences of those catechized (GDC, 148). When addressing the teaching of religion in Catholic schools, the GDC distinguishes between catechesis and religious instruction (No. 73). In Catholic schools, religious instruction sets the stage or prepares students for life by introducing them to dynamic Catholic beliefs and values. Such instruction has an evangelizing character because Christian disciples can use these values and beliefs to challenge many values of secular culture. Religious instruction must relate with other areas of knowledge.

Consequently, it is a scholastic discipline, pursued with rigor and professionalism (GDC, 73).

Religious instruction is a form of evangelization. It is not catechesis in itself, but the living seed of Christian learning that enters the psyche of the learner and bears fruit through catechesis.

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9 10 11 12

9. CATECHESIS USES DIFFERENT MODELS WHILE EMPHASIZING VARIOUS INITIATORY APPROACHES TO CATECHESIS

(GDC, 69–71).

Life is one long initiatory process leading to ultimate happiness in the eternal kingdom of God. This initiatory dynamic is built into creation and is reflected in the longings of the human heart. Catechesis rests on this dynamic in every aspect of its ministry. It looks to the baptismal catechumenate for inspiration. Here people come to explicit manifestation of their faith through accepting the Lord in the rites of Christian initiation (GDC, 59).

Since conversion is ongoing, different methods are necessary at various stages of faith formation or if circumstances of time and place change.

The word of God must be adapted to various personal and social contexts. The GDC refers to this gradual revelatory process as the “principle of the progressiveness of Revelation” (No. 143).

10. CATECHESIS IS CLOSELY MINISTRIES, ESPECIALLY

RELATED TO OTHER PASTORAL LITURGY.

As an aspect of evangelization, catechesis relates to other aspects of the evangelization process, especially to service ministries and liturgy.

Besides using a liturgical focus in catechetical activities, catechesis relates closely with more specific liturgical activities, such as the sacraments (GDC, 51).

The RCIA shows the intimate connection between catechesis and liturgy. In the past, these ministries sometimes competed with one another, especially for budgetary support. Today, these ministries need to set new directions to insure that unity of purpose exists between catechesis and liturgy in proclaiming and celebrating God’s word.

11. CATECHESIS

INCORPORATES THE JUSTICE DIMENSION OF THE GOSPEL INTO ITS MINISTRY.

Catechesis focuses on Jesus’ call to proclaim the kingdom of God, to work for justice, and to stir Christian hearts and minds to minister to hurting and poor people (GDC, 17). The GDC reiterates that when Jesus began his public ministry he proclaimed a message of hope for the poor and disenfranchised. In so doing, he established a kingdom for all people (No. 163).

The GDC emphasizes the ecumenical dimension of catechetical ministry (No. 197). It also calls for an ecumenical aspect of all catechesis as it encourages parishes to participate in ecumenical activities (No. 197).

Catechists need to know their faith, recognize similarities and differences among different faith traditions, and emphasize the unity of faith.

When catechizing, catechists must make clear the uniqueness of the Catholic faith.

Society is mobile and Catholics come into contact with an increasing number of non-believers and non-Catholics. Catechists need to help those catechized know their Catholic faith and teach them to respect and respond adequately to other faith traditions. If appropriate, bishops can develop ecumenical catechetical endeavors that maintain the distinctness of Catholic catechesis (GDC, 198).

MOVING FORWARD

The catechesis described in the GDC and reflected in the twelve suggestions above holds much promise. The Catholic community yearns for such catechesis. Solid catechetical tools are in place. Good catechetical materials and textbooks are available. More is required, however, than desire and adequate catechetical materials. Effective catechesis is a matter of the heart, requiring sacrifice and setting priorities on the part of parents, catechists, and parishes. Faith formation needs to be more important than soccer, dance lessons, parish building projects, or finances.

The Catholic community is invited to follow the Spirit’s lead and put its ministry under the patroness of Mary, the Mother of God. Just as she brought forth Jesus, now she will ask her son to bring forth life in the parish through dedicated catechetical ministers. ❙

Robert J. Hater, Ph.D., is a professor of systematic and pastoral theology at the Athenaeum of Ohio and an internationally known speaker. Father Hater’s most recent books are Catholic Evangelization: The Heart of Ministry (2002), Prophets of Faith (2004), and The Catholic Family in a Changing World (2004).

12. CATECHESIS INCLUDES ECUMENICAL

AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS.

Many of those catechized today come from interfaith or interreligious families. Catechesis must be sensitive to such families. With growing numbers of non-Christian peoples in our neighborhoods and workplaces, Catholic children and adults need to develop a better appreciation of their faith in an interreligious context.

Visit www.nccl.org for all your Catechetical Sunday needs.

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CULTIVATING RICH SOIL continued from page 7 The celebration of the Eucharist, itself formative for faith growth, is an anchor for catechetical development. Indeed, our “amen” to receiving the body and blood of the Lord propels us to witness to what we believe, cherish, and experience as a people nourished in word and sacrament.

THE SOIL

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WITNESS

the twenty-first century requires a commitment to welcome and foster the cultural identity of the many faces of the Church while building a profoundly Catholic and culturally diverse identity through an ongoing process of inculturation” (No. 36). Catechetical leaders are to be active in “discerning those seeds of the Gospel which may be present in culture” (GDC, 203).

The leader’s enlivened witness demonstrates a dynamic response to ongoing cultivation and exploration of the mysteries of faith. The witness of catechetical leaders must be rooted deep within soil already imbued with wisdom and the word shared and celebrated. Often the move to just living arises first from sacramental sharing in the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to experience the paschal mystery through personal tragedy? Moments of joy and hope? Parish challenges? Gospel witness? Painful crisis in the church? To affirm Scripture, tradition, and the magisterium when one might sense pressure to do otherwise?

Finally, the soil of witness offers a plentiful and rich foundation for rooting both hearts and souls of wise, compassionate catechetical leaders. A new generation seeks to serve as compassionate leaders marked by a spirit of understanding, selfless tenderness, and uncompromising outreach to others. In the account of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus sees Mary and the Jews who accompanied her weeping. Perturbed and troubled, Jesus goes to see where Lazarus had been laid. “And Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Sometimes we must weep together before we can reap together.

The soil of witness also is home for nurturing the gift of a diversity of cultures and cultural expressions. As the US bishops affirmed in Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry, “Ministry in

Compassionate faith leaders are risk-takers and searchers, visionaries and people of prayer. They view their own vulnerabilities as opportunities and the human spirit as a gift of God so loving that nothing less than the

incarnation could demonstrate the depth of such love. Of such is the soil of compassionate witness made.

THE SOIL HOLDS PROMISE We live in an age marked by uncertainty about fundamental human values and wounded by life-altering human events.

There is an urgent need for forgiveness and healing within the church. Formed in wisdom, the future catechetical leader can witness in hope and without apology to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Grounded in wisdom, word, and witness and watered by life-giving relationships in Jesus Christ, a new generation will reap what we are sowing. Indeed, as Jesus reminds us, “One sows and another reaps” (John 4:37). Those of us who measure service to catechesis in decades would be wise “to hold fast to the hope that lies before us” (Hebrews 6:18). ❙ Dr. Gerard F. Baumbach is director of the Center for Catechetical Initiatives at the Institute for Church Life and concurrent professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. The Center’s new Faith Formation Leadership Program begins its pilot phase this summer.

Baptism booksforparents, godparents & the entire Welcomed by Name (Para darle la bienvenida) Baptism Preparation and Keepsake Booklets in English and Spanish The Welcomed by Name Baptism booklets are beautiful- keep sakes that speak to today?s parents and godparents about the meaning of the sacrament.

Our Child?s Baptism: The parent booklet highlights key aspects of Baptism and its significance to the family. In it, parents can record important information to share with their child later in life.

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BOOKS IN THE NEWS continued from page 13

Christians will name this richness as the graced life, the more abundant life that we find in John’s Gospel. Some will be reminded of the connection between suffering and survival, death and life. But we’re not talking here about a logical sequence, where one thing leads to the other, but rather an affirmation arising right from the middle of the negative.

Simmons is challenging us to see that it is in the center of so-called imperfection we will find a real depth of living. The journey is the destination.

Willingness to embrace our humanity, blessed with limits, in this world, says Simmons, creates the condition for our fuller experience of life itself. A sample of his writing: “Choosing the world means choosing all of it: the tall maple and the severed stump. In my case, it means choosing a world that includes both black raspberry ice cream and my weakening arms, which will soon be unable to raise the ice cream to my lips. In choosing the world, we choose both pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, health and illness, rapture and rue.” Such comprehensive choosing positions us to see what those cannot see who run from or deny the value of imperfections.

It’s not surprising that eventually the notion of mystery enters the conversation. And the mystery of life for him is everywhere and it’s waiting to embrace us. Our “letting go” is a requirement. When we joyfully give up final control to the forces of life that surround us, we make room for holy mystery. Having let go of supports, we are held together by the hope that we will not, in the end, be dropped into oblivion.

Giving ourselves effectively over to the creative power of God will only make a difference in our lives when we honestly admit to a kind of sacred weakness. This frees us from having to do it all ourselves, from having to have all the answers, from being God. Choosing this kind of world delivers us “to discover in the end that the world has already chosen us.”

Many of us struggle with how to position ourselves in a world that we want to make better. We eventually realize that we cannot make it all better and we settle for a small part of it as the vineyard in which we will labor. But there’s one further attitude adjustment that might do us well. It has to do with our deepest view of ourselves.

We often hang on an exalted notion of our own power and possibilities, Simmons observes. We secretly hope that eventually there will be in us veritable perfection. We may not make perfection by midnight tonight, but perhaps by noon tomorrow. This is the last of the demons of perfection to be exorcized. In accepting our imperfection, we allow ourselves to fall from the clouds, to plunge into new depths of vitality and joyful existence. We finally fall in love with the one God created us to be, wrinkles, bulges and all. ❙ David M. Thomas is a consulting editor for Benziger Publishing Company and co-director of Bethany Family Institute. He resides in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

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YOU!

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE NCCL 2004 PRESIDENT’S APPEAL AS OF MAY 24, 2004: You can contribute online at www.nccl.org

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Sr. Celeste Arbuckle SSS Ms. Ernestina Bailey Sr. Mary Lou Barba MCDP Mrs. Patty Blair Sr. Alma Blume MPF Mrs. Jean Bruner Rev. Jerome Brzezinski Sr. Celia Ann Cavazos MCDP Sr. Caroline Cerveny SSJ, DMin Mr. Mark Ciesielski Sr. Virgena Clark RSM Ms. Anne Comeaux Mrs. Judy Corbellini Ms. Joyce A. Crider Ms. Sylvia DeVillers Ms. Susan Dobrzykowski Dr. Harry Dudley Mr. David Florian Sr. Esther Gerbermann IWBS Ed and Veronica Gordon Mr. Patrick Guentert Sr. Jeanne Marie Guerin SHCJ Sr. Esther Guerrero MCDP Ms. Kathy Hendricks Rev. John Hilbert Sr. Susanne Hofweber Dr. Michael Horan PhD Mr. William Huebsch Sr. Mary Emma Jochum OSB Sr. Katherine Kandefer BVM Mr. Jim Kemna Sr. Marilyn Kerber SNDdeN Ms. Leslie Krauledis Ms. Marilyn Peters Krawczy Ms. Kristina Krimm Mrs. Jeannine Leichner Mr. Brian Lemoi Mr. Richard Linneberger Ms. Doris Lundin Sr. Hilda Marotta OSF Sr. Elaine McCarron SCN Sr. Mary Michna OP Ms. Gail Milne Rev. Msgr. Michael Motta

Ms. Ana Munoz Mr. Leland Nagel Ms. Carol Nichols Very Rev. Gregory Noga Rev. Vincent Novak Sr. Julie O'Neill BVM Ms. Maureen O'Reilly Ms. Mary Alice O'Reilly Ms. Luz Ortiz Mr. Neil Parent Mrs. Fanny Pedraza Sr. Rosa Monique Pena OP Ms. Jeanne C. Pinard Ms. Marie Powers Mr. Thomas Quinlan Ms. Gloria Reinhardt Mr. Peter Ries Ms. Carla Riga Mr. Lawrence Rilla Dr. Anne D. Roat Ms. Mary Ann Ronan Mr. Scott Rutan Rev. Anthony Salim Sr. Frances Sanzo Sr. Janet Schaeffler OP Mrs. Jeanne Schrempf Ms. Maruja Sedano Mr. Daniel Shanahan Sr. Maureen Shaughnessy SC Sr. Anne Marie Smith Ms. Barbara Smith Msgr. David Sork Mr. Timothy Stokes Sr. Joan Supel OP Rev. Stanley Szczapa Ms. Jenny Thorn Jim and Lorraine Tucker Ms. Judith Ulbrich Rev. James Uppena Sr. Helen Vahling OSF Dr. Ronald Valenti Sr. Digna Vela IWBS Dr. Cris Villapando Dr. Thomas Walters PhD

Catechetical Leader (ISSN: 1547-7908) is published six times a year by the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL), 3021 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017-1102.

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Thank You for Your Generosity At our Annual Conference 2004 in Albuquerque, your offering to assist Native Americans in New Mexico totaled $3,377.

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PEOPLE IN THE NEWS ❚

Board Elects New Members Cathy Shannon NCCL EXPERIENCE...

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Diocesan Director–Portland, Oregon NCCL member for 5 years Member of the Membership Committee Served on the Representative Council for two years

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NCCL

FACES...

To remain strong as an organization that meets the needs of diocesan and parish leaders.

To prepare, recruit, and train future leaders in catechetical ministry on parish and diocesan level To be a resource to USCCB in catechetical ministry

Passion for catechesis for all ages and stages of life Openness to new approaches for catechesis Good listener—able to see the connections

Jim Tucker NCCL EXPERIENCE...

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Diocesan Director of Catholic Formation–Helena, Montana NCCL Member for 19 years Member of NCDD Goals and Objectives Committee Member of the Executive Committee for 5 years Member of Membership Committee Publications Committee NCCL 2000 By-laws Committee Editor for Catechetical Update Served on the Representative Council via his role on the Board Member of NCDD Board NCDD/NCCL Officer Diocesan Director Representative on NCCL Board

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Organized with attention to detail Critical thinker with a systemic perspective Good listener who seeks compromise in the face of conflicting and divergent views

CHALLENGES

HE FEELS

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FACES...

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CROSSWORD ❚

Mentors ACROSS 1 Parents’ mentors 11 Reverse of 2D? 12 Aromatic herb 13 Wise mentor to humanity 16 Saint Edith 18 Warmth 19 Women’s first mentor 21 “The Peach State”–abbr.

22 Appetizers 23 Origin 24 Mentor of John of the Cross, Teresa of ____ 26 Smallest U.S. state–abbr.

27 Francis of Assisi was her mentor 30 Tarzan’s human mentor 31 Expert 33 Vestment symbolizing baptism 36 Breakfast beverage–abbr.

37 “What we have ___ and seen with our own eyes.”

39 Savio’s mentor 40 Triumphed 42 Horse’s mentor, Mr. __ 43 Monopoly’s Reading or Short Line–abbr.

44 King David’s mentor 46 M.D.’s and Ph.D.’s 48 Source of Cleopatra’s demise 50 Type of acid 51 Thomas Aquinas’s mentor, Albert the ____ 53 Kept secret

54 56 57 60 61 62 63 64

by Megan Anechiarico

Greek letter Jazz great Fitzgerald Broadcasts Belonging to Samuel’s mentor God–Heb. Belonging to Day’s mentor Jesus to the Father “___ and you shall receive.”

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15 19

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DOWN 1 Joshua’s mentor 2 Beforehand 3 Tobias’ mentor 4 Pilot 5 Apostolic mentors 6 Light switch position 7 Spanish yes 8 19th Letter 9 Apostolic mentors 10 Francis Xavier’s mentor, ____ of Loyola 14 Not him 15 Consumed 17 Composer Stravinsky 20 Elisha’s mentor 25 Pathway 27 Dyes 28 Classified or personal 29 Old MacDonald’s letters minus “I” 32 Ebbing waters 33 Mentor for Jews, Christians, and Muslims

2

63

College degree–abbr.

Ninevah’s mentor Jane de Chantal’s mentor, Francis Belonging to Ruth’s mentor Pierre’s friend Sr. or Br.

49 52 55 58 59

1

64

Brazil’s neighbor Speak Bob Hope’s tour “Come be our guest” state–abbr.

Rel. woman

Visit www.nccl.org for solution.

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SCHOOL ¥ PARISH ¥ BILINGUAL

The parish and school texts and guides are judged to be in conformity Catechism with ofthe the Catholic Church by the U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism

Part of the We Believe program,Gather In My Name , is a series of even that gathers together people of all ages to learn about and share their faith within aSadlier liturgical season. has always involved the whole parish community in the catechetical process.