Memo
TO: / NCCL Board of Directors and Representative CouncilFROM: / Dennis Johnson, Jr.
RE: / Province of Miami Report – Fall 2014
DATE: / 14 November 2014
DATE AND LOCATION:
Meeting of Diocesan Catechetical Directors of the Province of Miami
Held in Orlando, Florida on October 1, 2014
MEMBERS:
Present: Archdiocese of Miami – Mr. Peter Ductram
Present: Diocese of Orlando – Mr. Dennis Johnson, Jr.
Present: Diocese of Palm Beach – Mr. Anthony Marchicha
Present: Diocese of Saint Augustine – Ms. Erin McGeever
Present: Diocese of Saint Petersburg – Mr. Brian Lemoi
Excused: Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee – Sr. Margaret Kuntz
Absent: Diocese of Venice – Position Vacant
SUMMARY:
The meeting began with a welcome and prayer and was followed by discussion of the following agenda items:
Diocesan Updates
Collectively, the arch/dioceses of Florida are detecting a notable decrease in professional ministry candidates and a growing deficit of competency among existing personnel; pastors increasingly hire unqualified personnel. Compensation, lack of education/formation or support for attaining it, and hiring practices which forego national standards are among the leading factors we observe. The province does not have standardized compensation scales. The Diocese of Saint Augustine has recommended compensation guidelines;the Diocese of Saint Petersburg also has compensation guidelines as well as a rubric for determining salary which is being updated. The Archdiocese of Miami has compensation guidelines for PCLs with a rubric which were revised and approved in 2013.
The Strong Catholic Families initiative is a major success in the Diocese of Palm Beach; it is also going well in Saint Petersburg. The impact has been far-reaching in terms of engagement and interest-building for the development of ministry leaders.
Budgets are tight everywhere; Saint Petersburg had administered particular cuts with restrictions on travel. Palm Beach also has restricted travel.
Bishop Estevez has mandated a Theology of the Body curriculum for 7th-grade-aged adolescents in the Diocese of Saint Augustine. The Diocese of Saint Augustine is preparing to celebrate its 450th year anniversary. The King and Queen of Spain have been invited and are expected to visit and Pope Francis has designated His Eminence Sean Cardinal O’Malley, OFM as his legate for the occasion.
Why Catholic?, from Renew International, has begun in the Archdiocese of Miami. The Diocese of Saint Augustine and the Diocese of Orlando have just tied-off their last year of the program.
The Archdiocese of Miami has completed its synod-process and begun restructuring the chancery. The Diocese of Orlando has been transitioning over the past year into a new chancery alignment.
In terms of observations on the state of the parish experience, the disparity of investment in evangelization is notable. Formed and competent parish professional staff is limited. The challenge of changing parish-demographics decreased Mass attendance, increased mobility and technology. The impact of this has established a new paradigm for catechesis -- not exclusively parish-centered, and more family, individual, and home-based.
ADDENDUM: Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee (post-meeting update submitted for inclusion in these minutes): Bishop Parkes has embarked on an envisioning process that will identify diocesan priorities and focus for the next 18-24 months (or perhaps up to the next 3-5 years); the priorities are expected to be announced early next year. The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee is hosting a Celebrate Faith 2015: Hearts on Fire family-event with catechetical programming for pre-K through eighth-grade; two-thousand participants are expected.
Regional Youth Ministry Meeting and Common Meeting
There was an extensive discussion around the state of young adult ministry. That our present models have fallen-short and that is must become more parish-centered to be effective. In addition, concerns over SEPI's service model and the national certification process (managed by the Alliance) were topics of conversation. The latter led to issues with the state of ministry competence among youth ministry leaders. An input process was also undertaken with regard to the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) and their restructuring. Although the meeting was regional, our province leadership discussed the value of meeting with the catechetical directors of Florida. We concur that this would be valuable and Dennis will work with Ryan Phelan (province YM lead) to schedule this. The proposed calendar from the catechetical group would be: professional leadership formation/certification/competency and strong Catholic families.
World Meeting of Families
Saint Petersburg is developing catechetical resources for the World Meeting of Families. It will include: 10 themes leading up and through the gathering. The catechesis will be web-based in Saint Petersburg. Brian will employ our input and assistance as able. We can share the information in our respective dioceses. It was reported that the Family Life Directors for the Province of Miami have determined that organizing diocesan (or shared) pilgrimages to the Philadelphia-gathering is not viable. We will encourage individual registration though the WMF website.
Report to Florida Bishops
We do not sense a necessity to provide a report or statement to the Bishops so will not pursue preparing a report at this time. We do recognize the value of our time being spent on breaking-open common concerns, trends in catechetics, and other matters of interest to us as diocesan catechetical professionals.
National Catholic Educational Association
NCEA is holding their 2015 Convocation in the Diocese of Orlando. A catechetical component has been added onto the end of the week. Thursday-Friday attendance is being offered for catechists for $75.00. In the lead-up to this, NCEA is providing a professional day on November 13, 2014 for catechetical professionals (clergy, LEM, PCL, PYML, etc.) which will also take place in Orlando. Province participation is encouraged at these events.
Professional Development and Catechist Formation
Orlando is schedule Father Michael Joncas for a professional day and for a catechist formation day on the topic of the theology of marriage in light of the new revised Rite of Marriage. Similarly, another series of professional and catechist events are being setup on StrengthsFinder. Palm Beach is establishing a professional series for next year. Saint Augustine is promoting its annual Eucharistic Congress. These events are open for province participation and marketing support.
National Conference for Catechetical Leadership
The search for a new executive director search continues as do the dynamics of an organization in transition amidst a shrinking membership. We agree to sponsor, from province funds, two scholarships from each arch/diocese of the province for attendance at the national convocation in Jacksonville in 2016. Looking forward to that gathering, we discussed candidates for the annual conference committee for the Jacksonville event (Denise Pressley, Brian Reising were mentioned as possibilities and Anthony Marchicha offered his availability).
NEXT MEETING:
The Diocese of Orlando will host the next meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2015 from 10am to 2pm at the chancery. Dennis will coordinate with the diocesan youth ministry directors through Ryan Phelan (Saint Petersburg).
50 E. Robinson Street, Orlando, FL 32801 • P.O. Box 1800, Orlando, FL 32802-1800
Phone 407.246.4910 • fax 407.246.4935 • www.orlandodiocese.org