By Julie A. Miller
Catholic Herald
Lay ministers benefit from outreach program
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John Hansen, a member of Holy Assumption Parish in Superior, recently completed the Lay Ministry Outreach program. "What drew me to this training program was the opportunity to understand more what I was doing in the parish community," said Hansen. (Photo by Sam M. Lucero) |
SUPERIOR -- Lay people throughout the diocese are engaged in many different ministries. Since 1993 there has been a Lay Ministry Outreach program available to provide training and support for these ministers. To date, 162 people have completed the two-year program of study and been commissioned as lay ministers.
The Office of the Permanent Diaconate/Lay Ministry Formation will begin the next program on May 5. Deacon Tim Kuehn, program director, said the goal of the program is to give lay ministers the confidence and competence to use their ministerial gifts on behalf of their parish. He added that participation in the program will enable the laity to identify more clearly their own call. It will also provide basic theological background, personal and spiritual formation, and skills development which will prepare them for fuller involvement in ministry.
The program consists of four six-hour classes each year plus an annual weekend retreat. The instructor for each session is an expert with at least a master's degree in the subject.
Barbara Reynolds, a member of Our Lady Queen of the Universe Parish in Woodruff, was commissioned as a lay minister in January 2001. She is already putting that training to good use. When she moved to Wisconsin Reynolds said she prayed that she would be able to share her faith on her next job. The training has helped her know more so she can talk about her faith and pray with some coworkers at the eye care office where she works.
Another newly commissioned minister is John Hansen. Like many lay ministers, Hansen, a member of Holy Assumption Parish in Superior, is involved in a number of ministries. "My primary focus is catechetical. I've spend most of the last 14 or 15 years in evangelization and catechetics." He is also a eucharistic minister and a lector.
Hanson said, "What drew me to this training program was the opportunity to understand more what I was doing in the parish community. When you are involved in a few different things you feel kind of disjointed. I learned that whatever hat I was wearing I was really in the same role."
Hansen added that he particularly appreciated the sessions on moral theology. He said, "There are a lot of moral issues that face us today that, if folks really understood why the teaching is the way it is, they would be embracing the faith very actively. The truth is that Catholic moral teaching is in fact very liberating and not restricting."
Over the years Zola Geisler, a member of St. Mary Parish in Bruce, has also been involved in different ministries. She is currently president of the parish CCW and is a eucharistic minister. In the past she has taken Communion to the sick, been a lector and taught religious education classes. Last year she served as the sponsor for an RCIA candidate.
The lay ministry training program gave Geisler an opportunity to meet people from other parishes. She said, "You meet some energetic people --people that are going the same way that you are. You try to do things that are faith community involved."
For some people their everyday job is also a ministry. That's how Mary Jane Wahl, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Dobie, looks upon her work as secretary for the Dobie-Haugen-Birchwood cluster. She has also been teaching religious education at over eight years and was on her parish Jubilee 2000 Committee.
Gaining certification gave Wahl a sense of validation of her efforts and of the importance of the laity in the church. "It's validating to know that your volunteer work is a ministry," she said.
Mary Ann Levra also finds that her job and her ministries are intermingled, since she works part time as a secretary at the Hurley-Pence-Montreal-Saxon cluster. She is a member of Holy Redeemer Parish in Pence where her ministries include lector, eucharistic minister and teaching the eighth grade religious education class.
Levra said she learned a lot in the training program and it gave her more confidence in performing her ministries. She added, "I really enjoyed being with the group and learning that our (parish) isn't the only one with problems."
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2001