Embracing the Change in Changing Times

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Embracing the Change in Changing Times

• Moving from Fear
• to Trust

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AGENDA

• Welcome and Introductions
• Prayer
• Presentation
• Discussion
• Reporting
• Closing Prayer

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Welcome
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Prayer
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Moving from Fear to Trust

• Consider Blessed Pope John XXIIIs words
  Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your
  dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but
  about your unfulfilled potential. Concern
  yourself not with what you tried and failed in,
  but with what is possible for you to do.

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Moving from Fear to Trust

• Share a story with the person next to you
  about when you consulted your hopes and dreams
  and acted on them. What was it like to take this
  leap of faith? How did it work out?

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Once we face the realities

• we can begin to envision the possibilities

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PresentationSocietal Realities

• Suburban Sprawl
• movement from the city to suburban rural areas
• city churches schools, rich in history and
  built to hold hundreds, are now aging buildings,
  many with low attendance
• suburban churches and schools with growing
  Catholic populations need larger
  buildings, programs and more staff

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PresentationSocietal Realities

• Mass Attendance
• The Church teaches that the liturgy is
• the source and summit toward which the
• activity of the Church is directed at the
• same time it is the fountain from which all
• her power flows
• (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 10)

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PresentationSocietal Realities

• Mass Attendance
• over the last 45 years Catholic Mass attendance
  has consistently declined
• today only 29 of registered Catholics attend
  Sunday Mass in our Diocese
• there is a marked generational difference in Mass
  attendance
• far fewer people in the Vatican II and Post
  Vatican II generations believe in a serious
  obligation to attend Mass

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Responding to These Changes

• In light of these changes all
• parish communities now have
• to work hard to create and
• sustain a faith life that is
• Catholic and vibrant.

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Envisioning the Possibilities

• The principles of
• Communio
• Subsidiarity
• Collaboration
• can help us create such a vibrant parish
• life for all our communities

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PresentationCommunio

• Communio is the Latin word for communion, to
  be in union with one another
• To act in communio means to act in ways that
  deepen our relationships and sense of community

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PresentationCommunio

• Evidence of communio
• growing sense of being the Body of Christ, many
  parts, many gifts, but one body
• deeper appreciation and sense of being one with
  others other people, other parishes, our whole
  diocesan church
• sense of growing closer together as a group, with
  deepening relationships and a spirit of love
  and fellowship

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Discussion

• Talk about an example in your life of being in
  communio
• or
• Talk about a time you moved from not being in
  communio to being in communio. What helped
  the change come about?

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PresentationSubsidiarity

• subsidiarity comes from the Latin word subsidium,
  which means support
• subsidiarity is a term from the social justice
  teaching of the church
• subsidiarity refers to the proper working of a
  community, in which each part accepts its own
  abilities, responsibilities and authority and
  offers support to every other part of the
  community

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PresentationSubsidiarity

• Subsidiarity teaches
• local issues should be addressed locally whenever
  possible there is a right and responsibility to
  do so
• the role of the larger community
• to support the local community
• to do what a local community cannot do

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PresentationSubsidiarity

• The principle of subsidiarity
• assumes parishes and local communities know their
  gifts and needs best
• calls for parish leaders to take initiative and
  responsibility for change and action
• calls the diocese to give direction parameters,
  but parish leaders to decide how to implement
  them
• calls the diocese and diocesan offices to provide
  support and resources to local parishes and
  clusters, so their ministry can be effective

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Discussion

• How do you see the principle of subsidiarity
  operating in family life, between parents and
  children?
• Subsidiarity has been described as a risky and
  deeply Christian approach to leadership which
  allows for authentic Church life. Why is it
  risky? What makes it deeply Christian?

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PresentationCollaboration

• collaboration comes from the Latin word
  collaboratus, which means to work together
• collaboration is that form of ministry which
  identifies, releases and unites all the gifts in
  the Christian community to further the mission of
  Jesus Christ, the coming of the reign of God
• (definition by Loughlan Soefield)

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PresentationCollaboration

• For parishes, collaboration means working
  together to carry out the mission of Christ!

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PresentationCollaboration

• Working in collaboration, parishes can
• appreciate utilize the unique gifts of each
  parish
• offer more services by sharing resources
  workload with other parishes lessening the
  burden on each
• better serve important needs and more people than
  could otherwise beserved by parishes separately

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Discussion

• Collaboration is hard work. When it succeeds
  its wonderful when it fails it can be
  frustrating. Give an example of one or both of
  these situations. How did YOU feel?

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Discussion

• How can communio, subsidiarity, and
  collaboration help move us from fear to trust?

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Discussion

• Imagine parishes totally free of fear no
  financial fear, no fear of loss, no fear of
  failure no fear whatsoever how would you work
  together?

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Reporting

• Summarize Table Discussions,
• sharing the most significant insights

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Take Home!

• Take home the Educational Documents that are part
  of the Vibrant Parish Life Values Series.
• Use the Going Deeper Questions to help you
  reflect on the learning in each one.
• Share one or two things you learned with someone
  you talk with in the next few days.

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Closing PrayerGracious God,We are your people,
embraced by your love throughout all time.As a
community of faith, joined together in the
Catholic Diocese of Cleveland,We ask you to fill
us with new life.Liberate us from all that keeps
us from you. Heal us from every form of sin
and violence.Reconcile us so that enemies become
friends.Transform us to live your Word more
profoundly. Open us to appreciate your presence
in all ages, faiths and cultures.Awaken us to
the sacred nurture our relationships.Enliven
our parishes in the celebration and sharing of
gifts.Enable us to recreate our world and
restore justice. Fill us with joy to celebrate
the fullness of life. Empower us to be a
community of love, growing in your likeness.
Amen!