"Evangelization is the heart of our faith. Evangelization has no color. Our job is to bring people to Christ."
-- Fr. Wayne Payssee, Executive Director, Black & Indian Mission
People experience Christ through their generational, gender, and cultural experiences. Each of us has something embedded in us that attracts us to want to have a closer relationship with God, the Holy Spirit. When we evangelize, we assist those that are seeking Christ or have lost touch with Christ, with coming back into the church and staying in church. Just as each individual has their God-given gifts and talents that should be shared with the church community, so does each culture and sub culture. By sharing our gifts, we experience the fullness of Christ through scripture (word), liturgy (worship), the sacraments (community), and in others (service).
Mission of the Office for Black Catholics
To attract and retain Black Catholics and promote inclusion by sharing the richness of the Black culture with the Catholic Community at large.
Types of Activities and Events:
- Provides catecheses and formation
- Sponsors annual Retreats for Black Catholics
- Kujenga -- Black Catholic high school retreat developing leadership skills around the Kwaanza principles
- Co-sponsors retreats with Campus and Young Adult Ministry
- Black History Month celebrations in February
- Black Catholic History Month celebrations
- Supports Campus Ministry on historically Black campuses
- Supports Diocesan AIDS Taskforce and the SouthEastern Catholic Conference for AIDS Ministers
- Adopted the National Black Catholic Congress pastoral plan
- Contributes in the process to appointments and reassignments of Black clergy
- Supports and encourages Catholic schools
- Partners with other diocesan offices such as the Office of Worship; Pastoral Planning; Pastoral Ministry Lay Formation; and Office of Justice and Peace
Goals
- Increase the number of blacks in leadership roles in the parishes and diocesan wide
- Increase the number of black parishioners in parishes
- Maintain the number black parishioners in the diocese