Diocese of Covington - Religious Education at 402 E. 21st St., Covington, KY 41015 US - Yesterday's News
Yesterday's News
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Minutes of January 18, 2012
Call to order – Vicki Klocke Opening Prayer – Vicki
Review of Minutes from November 16, 2011 * Minutes approved without revisions.
Follow up from November meeting
Vicki presented the list of parish RCIA leaders with the remaining uncontacted leaders highlighted. Isaak took the list and stated his office will call the remaining parish leaders and have the completed list ready for our next meeting.
Goals and objectives reviewed:
- Isaak left messages for Sr. Juana Mendez of Cristo Rey, asking that she call him regarding representing Spanish ministries on our RCIA Advisory Committee. Sister has not returned Isaak’s call yet. He will continue to try to reach her.
- Deacon Tom suggested that a list of catechetical sessions be posted on the diocesan website in addition to the parish RCIA session dates. Isaak noted this and stated that he is linking the RCIA Advisory Committee minutes to the diocesan website under the news section.
- The committee mentioned that Fr. Barth needs to be asked to investigate the possibility of moving RCIA people with annulment issues more quickly through the Tribunal process. (Fr. Barth was not at the meeting yet at this point.)
Discussion of work of subcommittees
Evangelization (Fr. Ruschman, Fr. Von Lehman, Terri Babey) – Terri presented the committee’s Check List of Ideas to Attract and Invite New Members and to Teach the Parish to Be Evangelistic. The Advisory Committee did a brief review of the ideas and suggested the committee continue their work by organizing the ideas in an outline format that will assist the pastor/DRE in more clearly knowing where to start the Evangelizing process. Also suggested was that the committee further discuss ways to teach parishioners how to be inviting and how to invite people to the RCIA. Terri asked that Advisory Committee members email her with any further ideas after they more closely review the list.
Implementation (Fr. Barth, Isaak Isaak, Deacon Tom Dushney, Vicki Klocke, Paula Fritz) - Vicki reported that this committee decided to organize their work in the form of an outline that could be the format for the RCIA manual. The introduction would include a letter from Bishop Foys to the pastors, one letter from the RCIA Advisory Committee to the pastors and one to the RCIA parish directors, a section with a brief history of the RCIA, and definitions of the RCIA process and the Liturgical, Catechetical, and Pastoral aspects of the RCIA. Next, the committee suggested the manual would discuss the timeframe for the RCIA. The Advisory Committee discussed this issue, agreeing that the Church is clear that the process needs to be year round, with the precatechumenate and catechumenate being ongoing, in order to properly serve people as soon as they inquire and according to their needs throughout the process. This could be facilitated by parishes working together (e.g., having parish RCIA dates and topic schedules on the Diocesan website).
Fr. Barth stated that we need a mindset change in our diocese in regard to the RCIA timeframe. The manual needs to emphasize that the RCIA is a process with no set time for completion, stressing the role of conversion, formation, “maturity in faith,” and co-discerning (pastor, catechumen/candidate, sponsor, RCIA director) the readiness for celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation. Fr. Barth suggested that the theology of the RCIA needs to be better explained to pastors and RCIA directors. A suggestion was made that the Bishop use one of his priest study days to focus on the RCIA process and the theology of RCIA. We all agreed that catechesis is more than teaching the truth. It is teaching the truth in a pastoral manner that enables people to embrace and live the truth. Some areas of the RCIA that most immediately need to be clarified and better understood include: distinguishing unbaptized from baptized (catechized/uncatechized) inquirers, discussing marriage issues at the inquirer’s first interview, recognizing that RCIA is a process with no set timetable for precatechumenate and catechumenate periods, and co-discerning readiness to receive the Sacraments of Initiation. Isaak will discuss this with Bishop Foys. The Advisory Committee is hopeful that this day of study can happen before the manual is distributed to the pastors. The Implementation Committee will meet again on Feb. 2 at 10:30 a.m. at the Diocesan Office Library.
Mystagogy (Fr. Davy, Sr. Barbara, Margaret Hamblin, Sarah Dirr) - Sarah reviewed the highlights of this committee’s first draft outline of the Mystagogia section of the RCIA Diocesan Handbook. She emphasized the main ideas as: mystagogia defined as the continuing process of conversion, of living a sacramental life for the rest of life; the role of the sponsor in the neophyte year in including the new Catholic in many Catholic prayer traditions and service and learning opportunities; and ways to bring the new Catholics to the attention of the parish community so as to remind the parishioners of their continuing role in welcoming the new Catholics and to include the new Catholics in parish/diocesan life. The following added suggestions were made for this section: that the priest could refer to the neophytes from the pulpit on occasion, that the neophytes could be invited to extra question and answer sessions during the neophyte year to address any issues that arise during the first year of living the Catholic life, and that the parishioners could be reminded that we are all in Mystagogia, called to continuing conversion. This committee will meet again on February 7th at 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral Rectory to continue to “flesh out” this section in an organized outline form appropriate for the handbook.
Follow-up assignments and Next Meeting
Each subcommittee agreed to meet at least two times before our next Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 21 at 4:00 p.m. at Mary Queen of Heaven library.
Closing Prayer Fr. Davy led us in a closing prayer and blessed us.
Prepared by Paula Fritz Reviewed by Sarah Dirr
Present Absent
Father Michael Barth Vicki Klocke Father Al Ruschman
Terri Babey Paula Fritz Father Jeff Von Lehman
Father Davy Kavunga Sarah Dirr
Deacon Tom Dushney Margaret Hamblin
Sister Barbara Woeste, OSB
Isaak A. Isaak
Minutes of November 16, 2011 Meeting
Call to Order – Vicki Klocke Opening Prayer – Vicki
Review of Minutes from October 19 Meeting
Isaak Isaak requested that the minutes state that this Committee is under the Department of Catechesis and Formation, not the Office of Worship.
The Minutes were approved with Isaak’s correction.
Building List of RCIA Leaders
· Vicki requested committee members who had not yet handed in information from their calls to parish RCIA leaders do so at their earliest opportunity so the completed list can be prepared and distributed to the entire Committee.
Goals and Objectives
· The Committee reviewed a draft of goals and objectives.
· The language of the revised goal is: “To increase the number of people received into the Roman Catholic Church each year through the RCIA process in the Diocese of Covington.”
· Deacon Tom Dushney read a mission statement that will be distributed electronically to the Committee. Vicki suggested that it be used in the first section of the outline. Terri Babey suggested adding “baptized, uncatechized Catholics who have not received the other sacraments” to the statement.
· Fr. Michael Barth sent his concerns in writing about the Committee doing work that has already been done elsewhere. The Committee agreed and discussion followed of possible models to emulate.
· Fr. Kavungal Davy recommended that Committee recommendations to the Bishop include training for Hispanic people of the Diocese. To assure that other concerns of Hispanic people are part addressed, Isaak will invite Sr. Juana Mendez, Pastoral Administrator of Christo Rey Parish, to join this Committee.
· Fr. Jeff Von Lehman mentioned that RCIA people not receiving first attention at the Tribunal can cause delays and frustrations in their process. Fr. will ask Fr. Barth if first attention for RCIA people is a possible issue to mention to the Bishop.
· Deacon Tom suggested putting a list of instruction meetings on the Diocesan website with the time and place of each catechetical session.
Discuss RCIA Manual Outline and Review/discuss Timetable for Manual
· Because of the change of focus determined during the goals and objectives discussion, discussion of the
original timetable and outline were not needed.
Follow-up/assignments for next meeting
· Three subcommittees for specialized work were assigned as follows:
o Section 1 – Evangelization and Conversion:
§ Terri (lead)
§ Fr. Al Ruschman
§ Fr. Von Lehman
o Section 2 – Implementation (Inquiry through Easter):
§ Vicki (lead)
§ Fr. Barth
§ Deacon Tom
§ Paula Fritz
o Section 3 – Mystogogy:
§ Sr. Barbara Woeste (lead)
§ Fr. Davy
§ Margaret Hamblin
§ Sarah Dirr
· Each subcommittee will meet separately and report on their progress at the next committee meeting.
Closing Prayer – Fr. Al Ruschman
Next meeting
· The Committee canceled the December 21 meeting.
· The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 4:00 to 5:30 pm, MQH library.
Addendum -- On November 21, Vicki sent an email to the committee entitled” November Meeting Follow-up” in which she encouraged the committee to review the website of the Association for Catechumenal Ministry in preparation for the January meeting. A copy of that email is attached.
Prepared by Sarah Dirr NOT reviewed by Paula Fritz Distributed January 16, 2012
Present Absent
Terri Babey Margaret Hamblin Fr. Michael Barth
Father Kavungal Davy Vicki Klocke Isaak Isaak
Sarah Dirr Father Al Ruschman
Deacon Tom Dushney Father Jeff Von Lehman
Paula Fritz Sister Barbara Woeste, OSB
Addendum to minutes_________________________________________________________
From: Vicki Klocke <dvklocke@fuse.net>
Subject : November Meeting Follow-up
To : Babey Terri <tbabey333@gmail.com>, Fr. Kavungal Davy <davykavu@yahoo.com>, Dirr Sarah <sarahdirr@insightbb.com>, Dushney Tom <tdushney@mqhparish.com>, Fr. Michael Barth <mbarth@covingtondiocese.org>, Fritz Paula <paulafritz@zoomtown.com>, Hamblin Margaret <mmh1804@gmail.com>, Isaak Isaak <IIsaak@covingtondiocese.org>, 'Klocke Vicki' <dvklocke@fuse.net>, Profitt Dave <dprofitt@insightbb.com>, Ruschman Fr. Al <albert.ruschman@gmail.com>, Von Lehman, Fr. Jeff <padrejeff@mac.com>, Woeste Sr. Barbara <srwoeste@covcathedral.com>
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 10:56 AM
Dear Committee members:
As a follow-up to our meeting last week, I am forwarding this link to the website of the Association for Catechumenal Ministry. I would encourage all of you to spend some time looking at what is available just on this website (without even purchasing the many other resources which I had for you to view at our meeting). I especially would like those who volunteered for the Implementation section to review this so we can discuss this when we meet before our next full committee meeting.
http://www.acmrcia.org/index2.html
The more we discussed the concept of "not reinventing the wheel" and not wasting a lot of our time and talents producing a big manual that simply re-states the RCIA Ritual book and other existing resources, the more I keep thinking that we don't really need to write anything on the implementation of the RCIA process. It is already done for us. The ACM materials are 100% faithful to and constantly make reference the RCIA Ritual, as well as other important Church documents such as the Code of Canon Law, Catechesi Tradendae, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, The General Directory for Catechesis, the documents of Vatican II and others.
I kept saying at our last meeting that our Diocesan Guideline should make simple statements and then point our RCIA Leaders to these other resources. The more I reflect on this, the more I think our Diocesan Guideline should look like this:
1. Guidelines and Ideas for Evangelization (use outline as approved at our November meeting to develop this section)
2. Implementation of the RCIA at the Parish Level
a. Refer to the RCIA Ritual Book and the ACM website and publications as the primary sources for specific guidance
b. Offer Diocesan workshops and training in conjunction with the ACM to introduce parish leaders to these resources and how to use them
c. Foster a network among parish leaders for sharing ideas and resources for RCIA Implementation
3. Guidelines for Beyond the Mystagogy (ideas for keeping the neophytes active in the faith after the reception of the sacraments).
4. Resources Guide (list all the available resources that we know of and what each would be used for. This would include other resources beyond those available from ACM. Do not limit ourselves or those in our parishes only to the ACM resources, but guidelines would advise use of the ACM as our PRIMARY resource for the Diocese)
I may be wrong, but I think in order to accomplish what Bishop Foys wants, we simply need to assist parishes in how to draw people to the Church and then make sure they have the knowledge and tools to guide them on their RCIA journey when they get there. That does not mean that we have to create the tools - we just need to show them what is available and provide opportunities to learn how to use those tools and to share ideas and resources across parishes within our Diocese. Someone made the comment last week that they thought we were making this more complicated than it needs to be. After more thought, I agree completely. I think we need to simplify the scope of our project as outlined above.
I certainly cannot speak for the entire group, but this would be my "professional" opinion as someone who has been involved in RCIA for 12+ years and has completed three of my five years of coursework for RCIA Certification at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in cooperation with the Association for Catechumenal Ministry. I simply ask that you all take the time to review the website above and be prepared to discuss what I am proposing when we meet again in January. I will be in touch with those on the "Implementation" subcommittee to schedule a meeting for us prior to the January full committee meeting.
Respectfully,
Vicki Klocke
Coordinator of Adult Faith Formation and RCIA
St. Joseph Church, Cold Spring
dvklocke@fuse.net
859.927.2291 (office)
859.802.9333 (cell)
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Minutes of October 19, 2011
Opening Prayer - Fr. Barth
Introductions of those not present at first meeting
* Dave Profitt will not be able to continue on this committee due to his business obligations (per
Dave’s email to the committee). He is willing to act as a marketing advisor as needed.
Minutes of September 27, 2011 Meeting Approved
Business at Hand
Building RCIA Leader Lists
Vicki emailed us the list of parishes in our diocese with the RCIA leaders’ contact information and our assigned parishes to contact. She asked that we email her the parish RCIA leaders updated information so she can complete the spread sheet and email it back to us all. Since Dave is no longer with us the following team members agreed to contact his assigned parishes: Sr. Barbara – St. Therese, Sarah – St. Rose of Lima, Margaret – St. Timothy, and Vicki – St. William.
Committee name, goals, objectives
The committee agreed to the name Diocese of Covington RCIA Advisory Committee. Isaak clarified that this committee is under the Dept. of Catechesis and Formation.
We discussed that all communication to parish RCIA leaders should be sent to parish pastors, DREs, and RCIA leaders. It was suggested that each parish be contacted yearly to update the RCIA leaders list.
Vicki submitted the following ideas for the committee goal and objectives:
Goal: To increase the number of souls brought to Christ each year through the RCIA process in the Diocese of
Covington.
Objectives: * Evaluate the status of the RCIA in all parishes in the Diocese of Covington
* Identify the needs of the RCIA leaders/teams in the parishes.
* Make recommendations to Bishop Foys regarding ways to provide
support and consistency to strengthen RCIA programs across the Diocese.
* Educate the local Church at both the diocesan and parish levels about the RCIA process and the role
each member of the body of Christ has in evangelizing the community and bringing individuals to the Church (to the RCIA).
* Produce an RCIA handbook which will provide diocesan guidelines for RCIA leaders and direct
them to available (existing) resourcesto help them implement RCIA at the parish level.
Committee discussion of goals and objectives centered on keeping our focus on creating the RCIA manual, remaining faithful to the RCIA promulgated by the Pope and approved by the USCCB.
Further discussion included our various RCIA process experiences. This led to an agreement that the manual should guide parishes in how to evangelize their parishioners and how to implement the RCIA process, including the need to properly catechize the RCIA leaders and team members.
Vicki will revise the committee goals and objectives before our next meeting.
Survey (see survey from column on right)
The committee reviewed the 2009 parish RCIA survey that Isaak sent out. We agreed that we do not need to repeat this survey, but may need to gather information on what parishes need to better evangelize and implement the RCIA in their parishes. We discussed a phone survey or in-person interviews asking what would be helpful to the parishes in implementing the RCIA, what they have found brings people to the RCIA, and what happens during the process in the various parishes of our diocese. Discussion of using another survey was tabled for now.
Bishop Foys/Creation of RCIA Manual
The committee discussed the follow points in regard to creating an RCIA manual:
* Fr. Jeff suggested that we look at an RCIA manual from another diocese since others have already
been guided by the Holy Spirit in this work.
* Isaak has a manual from Lansing, Michigan which he brought to our first meeting and has reviewed.
The ACM also has an excellent manual.
* Committee suggested that we get copies of one or two of these manuals, compare them, and
customize our manual for our diocese based on these manuals instead of starting from scratch.
* Concerns were expressed about the manual being another book left to gather dust on parish book
shelves. So suggestions were made to keep the manual concise and have it be a tool that directs
parishes to the many resources available to guide them in the process. The manual could be a short
document to point parish RCIA leaders to resources on evangelizing and implementing the RCIA.
Next Steps for RCIA Advisory Committee
Isaak and Vicki will meet in the next couple of weeks to review this meeting’s discussion and decide on how to start working on the RCIA manual. Suggestions on how we could proceed included:
* reviewing other manuals/models section by section taking one section at each of our meetings,
* breaking it down into periods: Evangelizing/Recruiting/Marketing, The Process, Ceremonies/Rites, Mystogogia .
Vicki asked the committee to email her ideas on how we should proceed with our committee’s work. Then she and Isaak will meet to review our ideas and our goals and objectives based on Bishop Foys’ expectations for our committee. They will develop a structure/plan for our committee and we will review it at our next meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 4- 5:30PM at MQH’s library.
Prepared by Paula Fritz
Reviewed by Sarah Dirr
Distributed October 27, 2011
Present Absent
Father Michael Barth Vicki Klocke Father Al Ruschman
Father Jeff Von Lehman Terri Babey
Father Davy Kavunga Sarah Dirr
Deacon Tom Dushney Margaret Hamblin
Sister Barbara Woeste, OSB Paula Fritz
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