1. S Ministry for Discipleship St. Michaels Staff Week July 15, 2014

2. Ministry is leadership of disciples through teaching, preaching leading worship, pastoral care, prophecy with social outreach, and administering organizations. 3. Ministry is leadership of disciples through teaching, preaching, leading worship, pastoral care, prophecy with social outreach, and administering organizations. Disciples are: followers worshipe rs witnesse s forgivers neighbor s prophets stewards The vocation to ministry is the call by God to be a leader of disciples. . . . prior to distinctions between lay and ordained ministers or specialties in ministry. Ministers share a common vocation, leading disciples of Christ and assuming responsibility for discipleship. (Callahan, 2006) Name three examples where, in your ministry work, you supported a parishioner, a group of parishioners, or a visitor to the parish, in their life of discipleship. 4. Ministry is leadership of disciples through teaching, preaching, leading worship, pastoral care, prophecy with social outreach, and administering organizations. Disciples are: followers worshipe rs witnesse s forgivers neighbor s prophets stewards The vocation to ministry is the call by God to be a leader of disciples. . . . prior to distinctions between lay and ordained ministers or specialties in ministry. Ministers share a common vocation, leading disciples of Christ and assuming responsibility for discipleship. (Callahan, 2006) Name three examples where, in your ministry work, you supported a parishioner, a group of parishioners, or a visitor to the parish, in their life of discipleship. How did your partner support your discipleship leadership 5. Ministry is leadership of disciples through teaching, preaching, leading worship, pastoral care, prophecy with social outreach, and administering organizations. Disciples are: followers worshipe rs witnesse s forgivers neighbor s prophets stewards The Life of Discipleship: deny self take up cross . . . follow me. (From Matthew 16:24) All three conditions are essential for discipleship: deny self (encounter the other) take up the cross (displacement) follow me (commission) This is not multiple choice! Anthony Gittins Slide credit: Antoine Lawlor, I.H.M., D.Min., Holistic Parish Catechesis, Catholic Theological Union, June 2014 6. Ministry is leadership of disciples through teaching, preaching, leading worship, pastoral care, prophecy with social outreach, and administering organizations. Disciples are: followers worshipe rs witnesse s forgivers neighbor s prophets stewards A Presence that Disturbs . . . And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts (William Wordsworth, from Tintern Abbey) Every baptized Christian is, or should be, someone with an actual (disturbing) experience, certainly a close encounter with God; someone who, as a result, becomes a disturbing presence to others. (Anthony Gittins, A Presence that Disturbs, p. 13) Slide credit: Antoine Lawlor, I.H.M., D.Min., Holistic Parish Catechesis, Catholic Theological Union, June 2014 7. Ministry is leadership of disciples through teaching, preaching, leading worship, pastoral care, prophecy with social outreach, and administering organizations. Disciples are: followers worshipe rs witnesse s forgivers neighbor s prophets stewards Discipleship Matters The Paschal hymn, of course, does not cease when a liturgical celebration ends. Christ, whose praises we have sung, remains with us and leads us through church doors to the whole world, with its joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties. . . . Charity, justice, and evangelization are thus the normal consequences of liturgical celebration. (U.S. Bishops, Sing to the Lord, nos. 8 and 9) . . .the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of humanity are those of the followers of Christ 8. What gets in the way of Ministry as discipleship- leadership? 9. What gets in the way of Ministry as discipleship-leadership? Thinking of parishioners as consumers and programs and services as commodities (Vincent Miller, Consuming Religion) Catering to cheap grace (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship) Tailoring all visioning to parishioner members, not the much larger population of other Catholics in the area Maintenance over Mission (Robert Rivers, From Maintenance to Mission) 10. One parishs strategy for Ministry as discipleship- leadership: A Quick Review 1. Big picture philosophy is key and fundamental: good synthesis of principles and documents for various ministries (evangelization, liturgy, music, etc.) put into action 2. But not perfectly: specialists in each area will have critiques 3. So parish leaders should use book to come up with own plans for transforming discipleship through parish life . . . 4. . . . Not just cherry pick practices without praxis (reflection) . . . 5. . . . Or think primarily about church growth/survival/image 11. One parishs strategy for Ministry as discipleship-leadership Focus 1: Timonium Tim (The Non-Practicing Catholic in Community) Focus 2: Its the Weekend, Stupid! One of the most important strategic decisions we ever made was to declare war on distractions and focus our staff and resources on the weekend from the perspective of lost people. (Michael White and Tom Corcoran, Rebuilt, p. 91-92) A national campaign invites non- practicing Catholics to come home. But what in the world are they coming home to? If its more of the irrelevant experience that drove them away to begin with, we could be doing more harm than good. (Rebuilt, p. 90) Good celebrations can foster and nourish faith. Poor celebrations can 12. One parishs strategy for Ministry as discipleship-leadership The Weekend Experience: Crafted with Timonium Tim in mind Four Invest and Invite Teams: 1. Parking Team 2. Host Team 1. Information Team 2. Caf Team Music and Message Sets environment for discipleship Collaborative Preach the Announcements More Environmental Care Operations Team Tech Team 13. An Evangelization Mindset for Ministry as discipleship-leadership Evangelization & the Parish Is it really about church growth? Gods mission (not ours) Kingdom of God (Servant Church) Giving (not possessing) Human person (not just membership) Dialogue and relationship (not triumphalism) Sacrifice (not satisfaction) Transformation & New Life for: Persons Church World Unexpected, Surprising, Sometimes disturbing! Robert Rivers, 14. Practical Theology and Ministry for Discipleship Practical Theology can help us reflect any number of questions, including: How do our practices - programs, ministries, and activities - serve discipleship among our parishioners? How are they irrelevant to discipleship? Do any get in the way? 15. How do our practices - programs, ministries, and activities - serve discipleship among our parishioners? How are they irrelevant to discipleship? Do any get in the way? A Model for Practical Theology Dialogue between three sources: Tradition (e.g. appropriateness to Scripture, Church Teaching, Rubrics, Documents) Experience (of parishioners and can be quite contextual e.g. significance of past parish communal experiences) Culture (e.g. adequacy to people today, again contextual socio-economically, historically) James and Evelyn Whitehead, Method in Ministry, revised ed. David Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order Steve Bevans, Models of Contextual 16. A Method for Practical Theology Three Steps: 1. Attending to Tradition Experience Culture 2. Assertion, putting three sources into dialogue (after attending to all three) 3. Pastoral Response, An action or decision, particularly determined after dialogue, consensus, examination James and Evelyn Whitehead, Method in Ministry, revised ed. How do our practices - programs, ministries, and activities - serve discipleship among our parishioners? How are they irrelevant to discipleship? Do any get in the way? 17. How do our practices - programs, ministries, and activities - serve discipleship among our parishioners? How are they irrelevant to discipleship? Do any get in the way? Practical Theology and: Current Practices and Programs Practices/Programs under consideration (Staff ideas, PPC ideas) Collaboration (among staff and parishioners) for discipleship Graphic credit: Antoine Lawlor, I.H.M., D.Min., Holistic Parish Catechesis, Catholic Theological Union, June 2014