Brother Loughlan Sofield, ST to offer collaborative ministry workshop

Friday, Jan. 13, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY — Overcoming the obstacles that interfere with collaboration will be the focus of an all-day workshop presented by Trinitarian Brother Loughlan Sofield on Jan. 28.

Brother Loughlan, an author and consultant, has worked in more than 200 dioceses on five continents. He is the director of the Missionary Servant Center for Collaborative Ministry, the director of the Washington Archdiocesan Consultation and Counseling Center; and assistant director of the Center for Religion and Psychiatry in Washington. He is a recipient of the Gaudium et Spes Award from the National Association of Lay Ministry. 

Brother Loughlan “is known as one of the premier experts for human formation; he has presented all over the world in workshops,” said Susan Northway, director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Religious Education, which is sponsoring the workshop. “It’s one of the great opportunities to hear somebody who really knows what they’re talking about.”

Originally, Northway asked the Trinitarian to speak to the members of the lay ecclesial ministry formation program, but then decided to open the presentation to deacons, priests, lay ministers and anyone else who is interested in collaborative ministry, she said.

“As the Body of Christ, we are called to collaborate,” Northway said, adding that those who attend the workshop can expect to learn ways to identify obstacles to collaboration, as well as methods to overcome those obstacles.

Both Pope John Paul II and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have emphasized that collaboration with the laity in the Church is necessary, Brother Loughlan said. 

“Collaboration is completely based on the fact that 100 percent of the people created by God have been gifted and called, and everyone is called to ministry and service, and we’re all about the mission of Christ.” 

That mission is to bring the Good News into every segment of society, he added, and to do that, it’s necessary to help every person see what their gifts are, how their gifts are being called, what prevents them from using their gifts in God’s service, and how to put everyone’s gifts together, he said.

Those who attend the workshop should “come with a desire to try to follow where Christ is calling us … personally and as a church,” he said. They will be asked to become involved in small group discussions, he said. “It’s not just to listen to me talk.”

Common obstacles to collaboration include burn out and low self-esteem, he said.

“When people don’t have a high self-esteem, they don’t collaborate, they compete,” he said, and “too many people are burning out; they don’t have the energy to work with others and collaborate.”

Lack of forgiveness, and the tendency to not deal with issues of transition and loss are also obstacles, he said.

Participants will be encouraged to see themselves as leaders whose role is “to animate all of the gifts, to empower others to be getting involved in finding meaning, in finding their gifts in ministry,” he said.

WHAT: Workshop on Collaborative Ministry

WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 28, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

WHERE: Benvegnu Center, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 1375 E. Spring Lane, SLC

COST: $15, includes lunch

Register by Jan. 19 at https://www.dioslc.org/events/registration/step1?event=2326.

For information, contact Della Gardner, della.gardner@dioslc.org or 801-328-8641. Ext. 357.