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keynotes and the work-shop presenters. NALM is blessed to have many outstanding professionals sharing their wisdom with you for this year’s confer-ence.

To all who generously gave to the NALM Annual Appeal, a very big THANK YOU! NALM is blessed with outstanding mem-bers who generously give so much to the better-ment of NALM and the Catholic Church in the US and Canada.

Peace, Mark

This June, we gather in the crossroads of America in Indianapolis for our 41st Annual Conference. We will conclude the 40th An-niversary celebration be-gun last year in Albuquer-que, NM. Our theme, “Joy on the Journey: Serve. Col-laborate. Dream.” re-minds us that lay ecclesial ministers have joyfully served, collaborated, and dreamed over the last for-ty years. And, for this we give thanks to God!

The traditional gift for a 41st Anniversary is Land. No, NALM is NOT propos-ing nor will be purchasing any land in the near fu-ture. But, in a way we will be reviewing one of the most significant “lands” since Vatican II, and that is the National Certification Standards and Competen-cies approved in October 2011 by the Committee

on Certification and Accred-itation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB/CCA). These standards and com-petencies have given our vocation clear affirmation and professional credibility.

We have assembled an all-star class of wisdom figures whose lives have been ded-icated to developing and growing lay ecclesial minis-try in the Catholic Church in the US. They are: Dr. Zeni Fox, Dr. Marti Jewell, Dr. Jean Marie Weber, Dr. Har-ry Dudley, and Fr. Joe Merkt.

Fr. Ricky Manalo and Kerry Robinson will deliver the opening and closing key-notes. Both are transforma-tional and dynamic leaders known for their ability to engage audiences. Check the NALM website soon for more information on the

A Message from the Chair — Mark Erdosy

February 2017 NALM News and Notes

NALM News and Notes

Liturgical Calendar for February: 2 FEAST: THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD 3 St. Blaise, St. Ansgar 5 5TH SUNDAY ORDI-

NARY TIME 6 St. Paul Miki & Companions 8 St. Jerome Emiliani, St. Josephine Bakhita 10 St. Scholastica 11 Our Lady of Lourdes 12 6TH SUNDAY ORDI- NARY TIME 14 St. Cyril, St. Methodius 17 The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order 19 7TH SUNDAY ORDI- NARY TIME 21 St. Peter Damian 22 The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle 26 8TH SUNDAY ORDI- NARY TIME

HAVE YOU RENEWED YOUR MEMBERSHIP TO NALM? When you become a member of NALM, you take an active role in the development of lay ministry in the Catholic Church. Membership is available to anyone who believes in NALM’s visionary mission and diverse lay ministry endeavors. NALM members serve in parishes, dioceses, hospitals, schools, higher education, and other settings. Still others actively support and advocate (as a layperson, religious, or clergy) for the thousands of lay ministers in and throughout the United States and

Canada. Do you know someone who could benefit from NALM? Connect them by clicking here MEMBERSHIP for a link.

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PLACES TO EAT IN INDIANAPOLIS

NALM News and Notes

ENJOYING INDIANAPOLIS

For those who are planning to attend our conference and celebrate the close of NALM's 40th anniversary year, we want to help you enjoy more fully your time in Indianapolis. This month we highlight a few of the places to eat during your free time. You may even want to consider coming a day or two earlier or stay-ing a day or two longer and enjoy Indianapolis.

BOOK REVIEW

Hope Sings, So Beautiful: Graced Encounters across the Color Line by Christopher Pramuk (2013)

Reviewed by Alden Bass Racial division within the church is not only a great sin, but a failure of the Christian imagination. De-spite its significant ethical resources, the church re-mains as deeply divided by race as the culture to which it is called to witness. Eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is still this country’s most segregated hour. In Hope Sings, So Beautiful, Christo-pher Pramuk calls Christians to expand the circle of their

imagination by attending to the songs, poetry, film and art surrounding them. Some of his earliest reflections on the subject of race and ex-clusion grew out of his en-gagement with Stevie Won-der’s double-LP master-piece, Songs in the Key of Life. He recalls how his “social horizons” were bro-ken open listening to the blind artist sing “Would you like to go with me / Down my dead end street / Would

you like to come with me / To Village Ghetto Land?” By offering meditations on this work and the works of artists and theologians such as Thomas Merton, Billie Holiday, Godfrey Reggio, Etty Hillesum, and Howard Thurman, Pramuk aims to do the same for his readers, red and yellow, black and white. By offering these meditations, Pramuk aims to provoke hope.

READ MORE

St. Elmo Steak House has been a landmark in Down-town Indianapolis since 1902. It is the oldest Indianapolis steakhouse in its original location, and

has earned a national reputation for its excellent steaks, seafood, chops and pro-fessional service.

http://www.stelmos.com/ Winner’s Circle Pub, Grille & OTB is downtown Indy’s most unique social experi-ence. Enjoy all the great entertainment from excit-ing daily racing, the best in

sports broadcasting to daily specials in the pub, grille and wagering lounge. Plus, the all new menu gives guests a welcome twist to traditional pub fare. http://www.otbwinnerscircle.com/

At Nada’s, es-cape the every-day. Snag guaca-mole and salsa for the table,

then dig into tacos, enchiladas, fried chick-en and mac n’ cheese. Modern Mexican fare, house margaritas and cocktails are served up daily, plus weekend brunch. Reservations and private dining welcome. http://eatdrinknada.com/indianapolis/

At The Eagle’s Nest, dine on classic American cui-sine made from the fresh-est local ingredients while enjoying captivating pano-ramic views at The Eagle’s Nest. Enjoy romantic

rooftop dining in Indianapolis, with 360° views of the downtown skyline in a vibrant setting that will indulge your senses. https://indianapolis.regency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/TheEaglesNest.html

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WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN US IN INDIANAPOLIS?

NALM News and Notes

By Laura Reilly, MA Director of Lay Ecclesial Ministry, Diocese of London (Ontario)

As I was pondering the NALM annual conference and what it has meant to me and my growth in min-istry, an image from a ca-noe trip with my three grown children last sum-mer came to mind. After a long day paddling and breaking camp in the rain, I went down to a rock by the lake to ponder a re-freshing dip in the water. Across the lake a mother

moose and her two calves emerged on anther shore from the woods. I watched the mother moose step into the wa-ter then turn to each calf holding out her paw, helping them come in for a dip. It was such a natural and tender scene, and such an awesome reminder of the mystery of the bonds of family and community which I was observing and in which I participate. As I sat with the image, I found a lovely connection with that amazing experience on a canoe trip with my family, to my experiences in ministry and at the NALM Annual Conference.

No doubt, my image gives you some clues about my minis-try context. I am from Canada and I admit that I first came to NALM as an observer on the shore. That was six years ago in Indianapolis. Six years later preparing for this years conference in Indianapolis I no longer feel like an observer by the shore. I look forward to renewing friendships with ministry colleagues who have in so many ways welcomed me into NALM and opened up the horizons of ministry by sharing pastoral situations and experiences and learning new skills together as lay ministry is expressed on so many of the Church’s shores. It is really such a privilege to ob-serve and share one another’s pastoral experiences and to invite one another to dip a little deeper into the ministry waters from all the different pathways from which we emerge!

Six years ago I began a new role in a Diocesan Office as Director of Lay Ecclesial Ministry. This was a relatively

new role in the diocese and was established to support the women and men serving on parish teams throughout the diocese and to deepen understanding of the ministe-rial relationships through which we serve. While I had worked in a parish for ten years prior to being asked to serve at the diocesan centre, the new landscape was abit daunting as I tried to navigate the path that would help me to understand how this new role could relate to my own call and experience of ministry, the lived experience of ministry in my local Church, emerging ministry gifts which would need to be watered and pruned in order to grow and respond well to pastoral needs as a community of pastoral leaders, and the new ways of doing ministry faithful to developments in Church and society. While I could affirm that there was lots of new growth all around me and in my diocese as the Spirit was prompting all kinds of new response, I felt abit disoriented in a forest and looking for a path. It was exactly then that I noticed the annual conference for NALM to be held in Indianapolis. I booked a flight to Indianapolis and landed in the midst of ministry colleagues who were faithfully navigating similar experiences in their varied ministry contexts and pastoral relationships. They too had come down to the water for some refreshment and to be astonished by seeing other amazing ministry and growth on different shores. Looking back to my first conference and the ground that I have travelled with my diocesan family over the last six years, I am so grateful to have had the NALM annual con-ference on the journey as a place to meet with the many new friends and colleagues and to be refreshed and en-couraged as I continue to learn from my experiences in ministry how to collaborate well with my ministry col-leagues as we navigate our pastoral contexts through all kinds of growth, honing new skills and perspectives and enjoying the journey together! Together with my friends and colleagues from NALM, I would love to extend an invitation to come to this year’s annual conference in Indianapolis. From my experience, Indianapolis is a wonderful host city. You will be re-freshed and amazed by the Good News of lay ministry and all the different paths where we see people are turning to one another and helping each other to be refreshed in Baptismal waters! Come and take a dip!

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NALM News and Notes

2017 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Join us in Indianapolis, IN, June 1-3, 2017, to cele-brate the close of NALM's 40th anniversary year.

Hotel Information

Hyatt Regency – Downtown Indianapolis One South Capitol Avenue

Indianapolis, IN 46204 317.632.1234

NALM Room Rate: $139 + taxes Please register through the NALM block at the

Hyatt Regency Downtown

CLICK HERE to keep updated on details of the

conference as they become available.

Conference Registration Pre-Conference + Annual Conference $399 (member) $229 (NALM student) $449 (Non-Member) Annual Conference (only) $299 (member) $149 (NALM Student) $349 (Non-Member) Pre-Conference (only) $249 (member) $149 (NALM Student) $299 (Non-Member)

Early bird registration ends April 15, 2017.

Be sure to include NALM41 on your Conference registration to receive the early bird ($50) discount.

Online registration began January 16, 2017

NALM Pre-Conference Institute May 30-31, 2017 in Indianapolis

To celebrate the closing of the 40th Anniversary of NALM, please join us at our Pre-Conference Institute as we gather with five of the most remarkable wisdom figures whose professional lives have been dedicated to the develop-ment and growth of lay ministry in the Catholic Church of the United States. Under their expert guidance, we will collectively reflect upon one of the most significant devel-opments in lay ministry since the Second Vatican Council – the National Certification Standards and Competencies which have given our vocation clear affirmation and pro-fessional credibility. It will be a time of deep listening to one another’s experiences of the

Standards and Competencies,

prayerfully and honestly reflecting on how we might use them more effectively,

creatively envisioning how they be might be revised in light our experiences and the needs of the Church go-ing forward, and

thoughtfully considering the potential the Standards may hold for certifying parish business managers.

Give yourself the gift of spending time with one another - and our wonderful Wisdom Figures - engaging in practical theology as we write the next chapter in NALM’s history and the ongoing development of lay ministry in the Catho-lic Church!

Watch the NALM website for more details on our Pre-Conference Institutes.

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NALM News and Notes

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting a look back at the history of NALM as we close out our an-niversary year. —————————————————————————--

BROTHER LOUGHLAN SOFIELD, S.T.

I was delighted when invit-ed to write a short piece for its membership about the history of NALM. I would like to focus on three areas (after all, I am a Trinitarian): Beginnings The Present Dreams for the Future

Beginnings Sr. Catherine Francis Lamb, M.S.B.T. and I were co-directors of the Missionary Servant Office of Lay Minis-tries. Both of our communities were founded by Father Thomas Augustine Judge, a Vincentian with a dream to make every Catholic an apostle and missionary in the daily providence of their everyday lives. Father Judge’s first foundation was a lay group, the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate. That lay group gave birth to a Congregation of Sisters, a Congregation of Priests and Brothers and a Secular Institute. In 1977, Sister Catherine and I convened a meeting, in-viting those who shared a similar dream of fostering lay people who felt called to engage in some form of inten-tional ministry. A general invitation was also published in CRUX. The purpose of the meeting was to share hopes, experiences and concerns. We met at the motherhouse of the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity in Philadelphia, PA. The fee for the conference was $25 per person, which included room, board, and nightly booze and refreshment. The attendance totaled about twenty five people and the presenters were the participants, themselves. The participants primarily consisted of lay leaders and vowed religious who were leaders of pro-grams for foreign and domestic missionaries. At that time we were not using terms such as lay ecclesial minis-ters and I don’t believe there were any diocesan offices

for lay ministries.

A similar meeting was held the following year with an increase in attendance. It was in 1980, at the third an-nual meeting, that NALM was born. From those simple beginnings NALM has grown to be the dynamic organiza-tion it is today, offering support to many lay ministers. The Present Lay ecclesial ministries have blossomed during the inter-vening forty years, and NALM has assumed the leader-ship to provide both support and a strong united voice to foster lay ecclesial ministry in particular, as well as the broader reality of lay ministry. In 1995 the USCCB issued a prophetic document, Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium. That document, as many of you know, identified the four calls of every Christian, to holiness, community, ministry and mission, and Christian maturity. One of the more radical ele-ments of that document was that in describing the call of all to ministry and mission, they did not begin with what people did in the church, but rather in their homes, neighborhoods and workplaces. In the years since the publication of that document there has been a strong erosion of the understanding of the universal call to min-istry, despite the fact that Saint Pope John Paul II in his documents on work and family has indicated that what people do in these two settings is ministry.

From 1994 until 2005, the United States Bishops studied the reality of the increasing number of lay people serving in ministerial roles on parish staffs. They concluded their work with the publication of Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry. Here they described men and women in ecclesial service who have the authorization of the hierarchy, serve in a leadership role in a particular area of ministry, work in close collaboration with the or-dained, and have appropriate preparation and formation; they used the term lay ecclesial ministry for these per-sons, noting that lay ecclesial minister is a generic term meant to encompass and describe various roles.

READ MORE

NALM AT 40 ~ TAKING A LOOK BACK

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NALM News and Notes

As we celebrate Black History Month, let us consider delving deeper into this topic through further study of Hope Sings, So Beautiful. Consider visiting Christopher Pramuk’s website: Hope Sings, So Beautiful: Building Re-lationships and Conversations across the Color Line.

http://www.hopesingssobeautiful.org/

On this site, the author, Christopher Pramuk, provides a Reading Guide for the book. He includes music and art to illustrate each chapter’s theme how we can open our hearts and minds to understanding the topic of racism. He also has a Blog: Raids across the Color Line that covers a variety of topics and his reflections on individuals. May our study through the lens of spirituality, theology and pastoral practice help us to come to a deeper apprecia-tion of each one’s giftedness to our communities.

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DIVERSITY PRAYER Almighty God, through your Holy Spirit you created unity in the midst of diversity;

We acknowledge that human diversity is an expression of your manifold love for your creation; We confess that in our brokenness as human beings we turn diversity into a source of alienation, injustice, oppression, and wounding. Empower us to recognize and celebrate differences as your great gift to the human family. Enable us to be the architects of understanding, of respect and love; Through the Lord, the ground of all unity, we pray.

http://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/Prayers-for-Diversity.cfm

DAILY READINGS 2017 — DAILY CATHOLIC READINGS APP

This app provides the daily Catholic readings for the Catholic Mass, and it is simply awesome. You can get it for Android and iOS (iPad and iPhone). The Daily Read-ings 2017 app has been updated to get you well on your way. It contains text for the 1st quarter of 2017 and full readings for the year 2016. The full readings for the year 2015 are still accessible.

There is nothing else to clutter your view, distract you or get in the way. They are simply and elegantly presented to you. The readings are stored locally, so you are not just linking into a website page view like other apps; these daily readings are on your device, with or without data or Wi-Fi.

The app also has a calendar view for easier access and navigation. This allows you to select a specific date, as well as a listing of significant dates in the liturgical year, like the 2017 date for Ash Wednesday, Easter, feast days and more. Daily Mass Readings 2017 also incorporates a guide on the books of the Bible and their abbreviations. So if you are looking for the Catholic daily mass readings, look no further than this iOS app (also on Android). It’s beautiful, simple, and not distracting, and they are al-ways on your iPhone or iPad. Check it out, it’s FREE!

https://catholicapps.com/daily-catholic-readings-app/

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY RESOURCES FOR YOUR MINISTRY

NALM News and Notes Submission

Do you have a piece of news, committee report, or interesting article that you would like to share with your lay minis-try colleagues in the National Association for Lay Ministry? If so, please submit pieces by the end of each month to the Publications Committee Chair, Bridget Klawitter. Her email is klawitterb@archmil.org