Lay ecclesial ministers enter 4th year with pastoral projects
By Christine Young and Marie Mischel Intermountain Catholic
SALT LAKE CITY — The Lay Ecclesial Ministry Formation Programs in both English and Spanish are in their fourth year, preparing laypeople in the Diocese of Salt Lake City for positions in the Church such as spiritual directors and religious education directors.
The English-speaking program has 25 participants; the Spanish-speaking group numbers 65.
"This is the first time in the United States that this has been done" for the Spanish-speaking community, said Maria-Cruz Gray, the diocesan director of Hispanic Ministries, who is coordinating the Hispanic program, called Emmaus. "The eyes of many people are on this program and our success. If this works, then a lot of dioceses may take this step."
Participants in both programs are planning projects to work on in conjunction with their parish or on a supervised project outside the parish.
This type of project has been successful in other places, said Susan Northway, Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Religious Education director, who oversees the LEM program.
"The lay ministers will work on these projects for a semester or longer to gain practical experience," said Northway. "It prepares candidates for ministry because it puts into practice those things they have learned academically over the past three years. Each lay minister has structured his or her own program and each will be observed and evaluated."
A big part of this supervised pastoral project is theological reflection: discussing with peers and the supervisor how to put the faith into practice, Northway said.
The Spanish-speaking people will be assigned to various parishes "so they can find their call," Gray said. "They are going to do whatever they need to do, with the permission of the priest. Most of them are already leaders in their parishes."
The English-speaking participants have created individual projects. For example, Tino Valles, religious education director at Saint Patrick Parish, is putting together a whole-family catechesis program.
"Instead of the traditional classrooms for each grade level each week, he has set aside times where he brings the families together for activities or appropriate discussions," said Northway.
Deana Froerer and Mary Schuyler from Saint Florence Parish in Huntsville have used a national model to create a whole-community catechesis program.
"We are calling it community faith formation and our goal is to aid in the creation of households to empower them about their faith so they have a knowledge of the faith and become more comfortable in sharing the faith," said Froerer. "We also want them to be able to pray with each other and to feel a greater connection to the parish community. We want to do that by intergenerational gatherings, not by age groups. It will be question driven and linked to liturgy. We plan to use technology so the kids feel comfortable and can draw upon their faith."
Another example is Jeff Allen from Saint Vincent de Paul Parish, who is shadowing chaplains in various hospitals. He has been accepted into the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Saint Mark’s Hospital.
"The supervised-pastoral experience has been a wonderful addition to the formation program and what has been remarkable about the first group of Lay Ecclesial ministers who graduated in 2010 is that so many have continued their studies after their certification," said Northway.
Marcy Thaeler received a master’s degree in Catholic health care from Aquinas University and is the Catholic chaplain at Ogden Regional Medical Center; she is the only Catholic lay certified chaplain in the diocese.
Robert Calishaw recently received a National Arts Pastoral Studies degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He has been invited to be a facilitator of the online STEP program. The STEP program is offered through Notre Dame University and is the online course used by the Lay Ecclesial program.
Gerri Mackey also is slated to receive a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Creighton University in December. She was named the university’s Online Student of the Year (see story, below right.)
Mary Gesicki is completing a master’s degree in Christian spirituality for spiritual direction at Creighton University.
"Spiritual direction is an opportunity for someone to talk with someone else about their relationship with God," said Gesicki. "As a spiritual director, I simply companion someone, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the spiritual director through me and through the individual. This way you can train yourself to be more aware of God’s presence and to recognize how God works in you and speaks to you."
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