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Catechetics News & Updates
September 2024
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Dear Friends,
Happy Fall! It was so good to see so many of you at the Catechetical Conference a couple weeks ago. We hope each of you had a restful summer and are ready to dive into another catechetical year. 🙂
It's a time of new beginnings in our office, too! We hired three new staff, revamped several policies and guidelines, and added new formation events and systems - each designed to support you as you seek to proclaim Christ and make disciples through your work in your parishes. We'll outline as many of those below to keep you up to speed; thanks in advance for reading a much longer email than usual.
With our new additions, we have slightly reshuffled our communications to serve you better. Starting today, you can expect a monthly email directed to all Parish Catechetical Leaders - anyone who makes decisions and coordinates catechetical programs at a parish for children, teens, and/or adults. Expect to receive it on the first Thursday of every month, and please read it! We will put any important communications and announcements in these emails, as well as highlight new resources, events, and opportunities to grow and develop.
Depending on your role, you may receive more specific updates from other parts of our office, like Parish Renewal, Marriage & Family, and BrewCity Catholic. Our aim with this email, though, is to provide a dependable, regular form of communication to help you lead others to Christ through your catechetical programs.
Know that we're often praying and fasting for you, and that we are here for any needs you have. Don't hesitate to reach out to us. With that, let's get to those updates!
~ Doug, Meg, Anh, and Steffany
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New Hires!
This summer, we were blessed to hire three new members in the Office of Evangelization & Catechesis. Lydia LoCoco joined us in May as our new Interim Director of the Office of Evangelization & Catechesis. In August, she was joined by Anh Clausen, our new Associate Director of Child Formation and Steffany Garcia, our new Program and Events Coordinator. Here's a little more about Anh:
Anh Clausen is our new Associate Director of Evangelization & Catechesis - Child Formation (grades K-5). Anh has worked at the Family of Five Parishes (Cathedral of St. John the Evangelization, Old St. Mary, Three Holy Women, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Our Lady of Divine Providence) in Milwaukee since 2016. Anh's parish experience includes directing a Family Model of Catechesis in English and Spanish, beginning a Level 1 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium, supporting a Special Religious Development Program (SPRED) for people with disabilities, leading VBS camps, mom's and dad's ministry, and children's Liturgy of the Word. Most importantly, Anh is excited to serve and support you as a coworker in the vineyard, leading others to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For a full recap of our team and their areas of responsibility, check out our 2024-2025 Calendar & Contact Info.
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New Tools & Resources to Help YOU!
And Other Updates
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Last year, we did a lot of listening to what our parish leaders need to do their work well. Our mission here at the Pastoral Center is to do everything we can to help parishes and schools accomplish their mission to proclaim Christ and make disciples through the sacramental life of the Church. The things we heard most often from you were a need for clarity on policy/procedures, formation for you to grow as a leader and catechist, and resources to help you serve underserved populations in your parish.
After listening and digesting, we spent the summer coordinating several projects to respond to those needs. A few that we want to highlight this month include:
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A new Policy Manual designed specifically for Parish Catechetical Leaders. We combed through every word of our 200-page parish & school version and pulled out the policies that you need to know about and use most often. Find it here.
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A printed Field Manual for Catechetical Leaders that combines the most-used policies and guidelines you need to do your work well. We gave these out at the Catechetical Conference to all staff who attended. If you did not get a copy, please reach out to Steffany and we'll get one to you! Our goal is to get one in your hands this Fall so you have a physical copy of these important documents to reference when questions arise.
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We invested in a new training platform, Franciscan at Home, which gives you, your catechists, and every individual in your parish access to hundreds of workshops on a variety of catechetical topics. Because there is so much to share about this great opportunity, we are planning a separate email to give you full details on Franciscan at Home later this month!
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Finally, we revamped our webpages to make things easier to find. In particular, we organized most of our efforts around a new Parish Catechetical Leader webpage, which houses all the above, the events we host, and more. Check it out here. We'll be adding more throughout the Fall, too, so keep checking it for updates!
And we're not done yet, either! A couple more projects are high on our Fall agenda, including updated Sacramental Preparation guidelines and new Catechetical Certification processes and programs. We will start communicating about those at Staff Mission Days in February, with changes taking effect in the 2025-2026 school year (read: we're not asking you to change course this year!).
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Safe Environment Zoom Call
September 10 | 9:00AM - 11:00AM
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Equip Day: Raising Saints in the Modern World
With the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia
Mary Mother of the Church Pastoral Center | September 18
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In a world and age where faith is not supported or exercised at home, what are we to do? How do we fulfill our mission to make disciples of our students, and perhaps help parents deepen their faith as well? These topics and more will be the focal point of our day together.
In addition to our Equip Day, we will be hosting 2 evening presentations for parents and grandparents! The Sisters will share practical ways on how to start or deepen a family prayer habit at home. Find the parish resources to promote the evening programs here. Please share these dates with your families (or add them to your RE Calendar!)
- Monday, September 16 | 6:30-8:30pm | St. Mary's, Hales Corners | No cost
- Thursday, September 19 | 6:30-8:30pm | Lumen Christi, Mequon | No cost
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Essentials for Catechetical Ministry
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If you're new(er) to this line of work or new to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, we'd love to have you join us for our onboarding course, Essentials for Catechetical Ministry, which began today! There are still 6 more sessions, so please sign up today and join us to learn the ins-and-outs of catechetical work, meet other new leaders, and grow in the craft of catechesis.
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Join us for some coffee and conversation around the Archdiocese! Every few weeks we pack up and head out to a different city in our 10 counties and work for a morning. Stop by to ask questions, work on some things with us, or just hang out. And if you show up, we'll buy your coffee! Here are our upcoming stops:
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September 17 | 9am-Noon | West Bend, at The Hub
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See you there!
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Upcoming Events & Other News
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Our offices sponsor many events for you to receive deeper training and support to help you and your parishioners encounter Christ and be formed in ways your parish might not be able to do alone. Learn more about them below, and help us share the word to your parishioners (or come yourself!):
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Events & News From the Archdiocese
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Old St. Mary, Milwaukee | Thursdays | August 22-Oct 24
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St. Francis Borgia Parish North, Cedarburg | Thursdays | September 26 - November 21
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Called & Gifted Workshop | October 26 at St. John the Baptist in Plymouth and November 9 at St. Dominic in Brookfield
- Emmaus 90 | We plan to offer Emmaus 90 again in 2025! Registration will open in October. Stay Tuned for more details, and check out last year's content!
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Position Changes: If your parish has changes to your catechetical staff (DREs, YMs, Adult formation, etc.), please let us know! We want to make sure they get added to the correct email lists, and we often only know if you tell us
More Updates from Us and Our Friends
- Catechist Certification Opportunity - Forming the Catechetical Spirit | Begins September 21 in Wilmot
- John Bosco Youth Day (Arise MKE) | September 28 | Holy Hill
- The Catechetical Institute at Franciscan University is offering several FREE webinars to support catechists, teachers, and leaders! Here's a few to add to your calendar:
- Tuesday, Sep 10 at 1:00pm – Kerygma-First: Placing the Initial Proclamation of the Gospel at the Center of Pastoral Planning – Dr. Eric Westby, Professor of Catechetics, Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH
- Tuesday, Sep 17 at 1:00pm – The “Ask”: Successes and Failures in Catholic Evangelization, and How to Get it Right – Dr. Mark Ginter of the Catechetical Institute, Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH
- Tuesday, Sep 24 at 1:00pm – In Spanish: Cómo enseñarles las virtudes a los niños // Teaching Virtues to Your Children – Fr. Juan Puigbo, STL, Pastor of St. Leo Parish, Diocese of Arlington, VA
- Tuesday, Oct 1 at 1:00pm – Evangelizing Teachers Can Evangelize Families: How Catholic School Teachers Can Grow In (and Share) Their Faith with Students and Families – Dcn. Matt Halbach, PhD, Senior National Catechetical Consultant for William H. Sadlier, Inc.
- Tuesday, Oct 8 at 1:00pm – Pragmatic Steps Towards Implementing a Marriage Catechumenate: A Diocesan Perspective – Richard Budd, Diocese of Lansing, MI
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Know someone who should be getting these emails? Email Steffany at garcias@archmil.org and we'll add you to our list!
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