From Getting Started to Running Smoothly Goals To provide the members St Michael Parish Waialua with the foundation for Parish Social Ministry and models of organizing social ministry in their parishes ID: 360531
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Slide1
Parish Social Ministry
From Getting Started to Running SmoothlySlide2
Goals
To provide the members St. Michael Parish – Waialua with the foundation for Parish Social Ministry and models of organizing social ministry in their parishes.
To provide helps in developing, expanding parish social ministry in their parishes.
To provide the opportunity for parish sharing Slide3
What is Parish Social Ministry?
Definition
Parish social ministry is an
organized effort
of the
entire
parish to
serve those in need, to advocate for justice
and
to work at changing societal structures
that perpetuate injustices.Slide4
Parish Social Ministry: Strategies for Success
by Tom Ulrich
Provides a complete definition:
“In summary, the full mission of parish social ministry is to help parishioners
understand and act
on Catholic Social Teaching. It does that by
organizing teams of leaders
in (at least) four ministry areas of
direct service,
legislative advocacy,
global solidarity/global justice and peace,
and
community organizing.
Those leaders, in turn, invite and recruit the rest of the parish to participate. Finally, all the activity is reinforced through
formation and education in Catholic Social Teaching.”Slide5
What is Catholic Social Teaching?
Simply put, the teachings of the Church known as Catholic Social Teaching, are a body of doctrine that the church has developed, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, to
apply the gospel of Jesus
to our life together as members of one human family. It has three aspects:
1. It gives us principles for reflection
2. It provides criteria for judgment.
3. It gives guidelines for action
.Slide6
Pope Benedict XVI
First encyclical in 2005,
Deus Caritas Est (God is Love),
Pope Benedict states that “social charity” is one of the three
essential
responsibilities of the Catholic ChurchSlide7
Deus Caritas Est.
“The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility:
of proclaiming the word of God,
celebrating the sacraments
,
and
exercising the ministry of charity.
Theses duties presuppose each other and
are inseparable.
For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being…”Slide8
Deus Caritas Est (continued)
“
The direct duty to work for a just ordering in society…is proper to the lay faithful. As citizens of the State, they are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation “in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote the … the common good.”Slide9
Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish
US Bishops’ 1994 Document emphasizes the critical need for parishes to be sources of Christ’s love in the world:
“
At a time when the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, we insist on the moral test of our society is how we treat and care for the weakest among us. In these challenging days, we believe that the Catholic community needs to be more than ever a source of clear moral vision and effective action…The pursuit of justice and peace is an
essential
part of what makes a parish Catholic.”Slide10
A Responsibility for the
ENTIRE
Parish Community
Again, as the US Bishops stated:
“
We need to build local communities of faith where our
social teaching is central, not fringe; where social ministry is integral, not optional
; where it is
the work of every believer,
not just the mission of a few committed people and committees.Slide11
One Model, Not the
Only
Model
There are many models that a parish can create to:
Ensure that “organizing” and “doing” social ministry happens
Ensure that our social mission is woven throughout parish life
Ensure that social ministry includes a variety of opportunities for parishioners to act through service and through advocacy or working for justice and peace
Experimentation is encouraged because the structure must meet the
unique qualities and challenges of each parish
Most important point is to make sure that
a core group of people are specifically responsible
for helping the parish act on each of the elements of effective parish social ministry.Slide12
Social Ministry in a Parish
Can take on a variety of forms and organization (structure)
They are incredible signs of Christ alive in our world, working through the faithful to bring love to those who need it the most and to transform the world’s social structures to better reflect God’s Kingdom of peace and justice.
Our Catholic doctrine
insists
that these tasks are constitutive (essential) dimensions of living out the Gospel and are necessary responsibilities of our parishes.Slide13
The Two Feet of Christian Service
Charity Justice
Direct Service Social Change
It takes two feet to walk. Otherwise we lose balance.
If we use
only
the first foot (direct service), we can make matters worse by fostering dependency.
If we use
only
the second foot (social change) we run the risk of becoming too far removed from the reality of the problem
A true Christian faith requires
both stepsSlide14Slide15
One Model, Not the Only ModelThe Coordination TeamSlide16
Parish Social Ministry
Coordination Team
Usually made up of leaders or
representatives from each of the social
ministry sub-areas
They meet regularly (monthly) to keep ach other informed about parish social ministry activities.
A chair person or co-chairpersons convenes and runs the meetings.Slide17
Setting the Stage*Slide18
Communities of Salt and Light Basic Structure for Parish TeamsSlide19
How to organize a team of leaders?
Step 3:
Organize and execute parish analysis
.
Step 5
:
Recruit and train people on CST.
Step 6
:
Act from original plan and create evaluation process.
Step 4
:
Clarify committee structure and purpose.
Step 1
: Find 3-5 allies who want to start a
ministry.
Step 2
:
Meet and discuss what you want to do & why.Slide20
The PSM Coordination Team
Primary Oversight and Support Functions
1. Coordinating social ministry activities to ensure a smooth, well functioning operation.
2. Providing oversight of the integration of the parish social ministry effort into the overall life of the parish.
3. Providing oversight (and coordination) of the planning for t he different social ministry activities.
4. Developing an effective and comprehensive system of communication with special emphasis on communication with the pastor and pastoral council.
5. Identifying emerging parish and community social ministry needs and potential leaders.
6. Providing social ministry skills training opportunities for parishioners.
7. Maintaining communication with diocesan offices (OSM) that can deliver professional skills training and support for social ministry leaders.
8. Emphasizing the seven touchstones described in
Communities of Salt and Light.Slide21
Differences – Organizers and
Doers
WE NEED BOTH!
Organizers
tend to do the following activities:
Planning
Being strategic
Recruiting leaders and participants
Bringing people together
Organizing training sessions on Catholic Social Teaching and social ministry skills
Facilitating problem solving discussions and meetings
Visioning
Listening and communicating
Doers
of social ministry are busy with:
Putting the solutions into action
Being energetic and dedicated to completing tasks
Learning ministry skills
Deepening their baptismal call to serve through participation in on-going formation
Providing input, ideas, data, that shapes the planning processSlide22
“Doers” versus “Organizers or Leaders”
As distinguished from the leaders of social ministry who are the “organizers”
Make sure specific tasks get done
Are the people who make the home visits to the elderly, who collect/distribute the food, write the letters to the legislators, attend the rally sponsored by a community organization, make a trip to with fellow parishioners to a homeless shelter.
They
do not organize
the effort, they
perform the service
.
Of course,
organizers can be doers and vice versa.
However, the critical thing is to know the difference and to make sure the parish has a structure or system that includes leaders or organizers, who make sure
many parishioners
have opportunities to become
“doers.”Slide23
Important Purpose for Meetings
They provide a setting for creating and maintaining an
effective system of communication
about PSM activities, making sure that the various leaders and activities are not “bumping into each other” due to duplication, poor communication, unplanned recruitment, or other reasons.
They ensure that each social ministry leader or team produces some type of
annual plan
so that the efforts are well thought out and the tasks identified can be accomplished.
They provide opportunities to
identify situations where two or more leaders or teams might work together.
For example, the global solidarity leader and the legislative advocacy leader might work together to help the parish respond to a crisis somewhere in the world. Part of the response might involve a collection of money or goods. Another might involve lobbying on U.S. policy related to the crisis or related to poverty in the U.S. and abroad.Slide24
They allow the leaders or teams that relate to other ministries in the parish (e.g., prayer/worship and education)/formation) to keep abreast of what other social ministry leaders are planning so they can
identify opportunities to make connections among parish ministries
. For example, the education/formation leader might learn from the advocacy leader about plans for a pro-life rally on island and might work with the DRE to arrange for Confirmation candidates to participate.
They provide a forum for proposing and discussing major
new social ministry initiatives
in the parish. For example, they might provide a forum on faith-based organizing and what it means for the parish and community.
They provide for
accountability
. If a leader or team doesn’t have anything to report, they may not be doing their job!Slide25
A few more general concepts…
Decide on a model that will work best for your parish
Pull together a good team…no lone rangers…even Lone Ranger had Tonto
Create vision, mission, objectives/action plans and goals
Official connection to pastoral council
Intentional communication with other appropriate parish ministries
Pastor and staff support –
A Must!
CCHD, CRS, Catholic Charities, Respect Life are social justice connections that are important to recognize.Slide26
Key Elements for Success
Not “my” ministry. It is “our” parish’s ministry.
Focused, and addresses the full mission of social ministry.
Thought and planning goes into organizing and developing leadership teams.
PSM efforts are known, integrated into, and supported by the ENTIRE parish.
Explore the deeper social, political, and institutional causes of problems and issues being addressed by the parish.
Be an active part of the Diocesan social ministry network.
Dedicated and committed leaders…not wearing too many hats.Slide27
Have Fun!
No one wants a grim and grumpy do-gooder
OSM is only a phone call away – reinforcements on the waySlide28
Questions, comments…