10-19-06

Frequently Asked Questions about Called to be Disciples -

It seems like the climate in the Diocese has gone from free and creative to heavy-handed, rule-laden and suspicious.  What happened to trusting us at the parish level?

 This is a complicated question that starts from the premise that standards and accountability are antithetical to freedom, creativity, and trust.   But we are a people that believe our freedom comes in following Christ.  We also know that following Christ means that we abide by certain standards of conduct and we know that when members of the Body of Christ do not live up to those standards, we are not what we should be.  So norms are not the opposite of freedom.  What norms do is provide the boundaries within which we are all free to operate, knowing we are linked to one another and accountable to one another for our efforts.  Norms also foster a sense of communion, where we are all striving toward the same end: to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  Norms that have reporting procedures in them help us determine who needs assistance and thus prevent disastrous things from happening.  When we all know what one another is expected to do, then we can all work together to make that happen.  Our communion, collaboration, and therefore creativity, actually increases. 

 Yes, there is a trade-off and it is a hard one for many.  We have to give up our parochial individualism, our sense of working as an island, in favor of the much more catholic approach of working together in community, of being connected to the diocesan church and thus to the universal church, and of re-building the bonds of trust between parishes and the diocese.  Rule-laden, heavy-handed and suspicious, or communal, collaborative and creative?  We hope you will join us in moving into the latter descriptors!

What kind of help will there be for us as we try to make all these changes? 

Called to be Disciples comes with a lot of help:

1)      The Self-Assessment Tool and related appendices.  Sample forms, processes, and checklists are all included there. 

2)      Norms workshops for new pastors and new catechetical leaders (which also serve as a refresher for existing pastors and leaders who are welcome to come).

3)      A powerpoint tutorial on the website soon for those who want to understand Called to be Disciples and cannot make a workshop.

4)      Communication mechanisms like “OCF This Week”, the Catholic Virginian and our website will also be used to help implement the norms. 

5)      The development of the PATHWAYS process for catechist certification which will enable parishes to fulfill the fourth norm.

6)      Emily Filippi has joined the Office of Christian Formation Staff to provide implementation assistance for the PATHWAYS segment of the Norm.

7)      Field staff in Region 10 (Marty Huber and Joann Detta) to assist small parishes in implementing the Norms.

8)      Members of the Diocesan staff who will respond to your questions in person, via telephone or using email.

What provisions do the Norms have for smaller parishes who do not have sufficient resources to implement the Norms fully?

There are not separate Norms for small parishes.  Where the customization for small parishes comes into play is in the manner in which small parishes account for their activities, create growth plans and ask for assistance.  We understand completely that, for example, a small parish may not have a full-time catechetical leader, or a catechetical leader at all.  The Norms call for one to be designated, but that catechetical leader does not have to be full-time, paid or initially credentialed.  They do however, have to have a position description, an annual review and a growth plan.  That growth plan may be quite simple however.  It may include learning the parish computer system, learning what the criteria are for choosing textbooks and getting on the “OCF This Week” distribution list, for that is what needs to happen for the parish to begin to be in compliance with the Norms.  Later it would include working toward certification through the PATHWAYS process for catechist certification.

A second provision for small parishes is found in the treatment of the potential duties of a volunteer catechetical leader as articulated in the sample position descriptions.  These were created by our small parish “experts”, Marty Huber and Joann Detta, to reflect the realities of small parishes.  Marty and Joann are also available to consult (electronically or by telephone) with small parishes and clusters outside Region 10

The third provision, while not just for small parishes, should be reiterated.  The vision of the Norms is Progress through Practice.  While we are aiming for full compliance, we are first looking for progress to be made in each year.  As reporting forms come in, we will have a clearer sense of where the areas of difficulty rest, and can create strategies to help parishes respond.  Each year, a parish of any size will be demonstrating Progress through Practice and we will achieve greater and greater excellence in catechesis.

Finally, a small parish with no staff who is struggling to engage lay leadership will need to begin to teach its parish council and its Christian Formation Committee about the norms and their importance.  It may mean that other activities with which these groups have been previously involved are changed so that they can assist the pastor in implementing the Norms.  Some parishes are considering Norms implementation teams, where just one or two people agree to begin to attend to them on a regular basis so that there is Progress through Practice.

 What we want to say to all of you in small parishes is this:  you are the Church and your people deserve the best catechetical efforts you can provide!  Norms exist to help lay out for you what that looks like and to offer you strategies to begin to try and accomplish this. There are Appendices with plenty of practical helps, specialized staff who understand small and rural parishes, regular communication with the OCF staff, who will help complete forms, suggest methods and resources and work with you to make Progress through Practice.  We know your situations are unique, and yet we believe that attention to these Norms will permit catechesis with grace and competence.

I find myself already strapped for time.  Do you have suggestions about how I can implement the Norms in my already overloaded schedule?

Yes, we do!  There’s a principle in time management called “putting in the big rocks first.”  What that means is that we all have the same bucket of time each day.  And each day we must decide how we fill our bucket.  If we fill it with a lot of little rocks, then we will never get the big rocks to fit.  So start with the big rocks.

The Norms are a big rock.  They are policy and so you are obliged, as an employee of the Diocese of Richmond or a volunteer, to implement them.  So the first thing you will need to do is to meet with your supervisor/pastor and look at your position description.  Remove from it some duties that, while perhaps important, can be done by someone else or not at all.  That’s the first suggestion.  Remove some things from your position description.

The second suggestion is related: delegate some of your responsibilities.   Making phone calls, setting up filing systems, serving as a hall monitor during faith formation, setting up for Mass: all of these can be done by others.  That will free some time for implementing Norms.

The third suggestion is to work with neighboring parishes to fulfill their requirements.  Every parish should not be doing everything.  Duplication of services means that no one has enough time.  Figure out how to share providing catechetical services to the people of God among two or more parishes.  That too will free time.

The fourth suggestion: do not do anything new for the next two years.  New initiatives take a lot of energy.  And since the Norms are a new initiative, they will take a good bit of energy.  Don’t compete for the same pool of energy.  Just suspend new initiatives until Norms implementation is well underway.

And the fifth suggestion:  Solicit help from others in the parish in implementing the Norms.  Perhaps members of the Christian Formation Committee would like to assist with the parish assessment of catechetics.  Perhaps you can locate someone to take on the administrative duties of VIRTUS and background checks.  Perhaps there’s someone who would enjoy being the PATHWAYS coordinator.   

It is true that we make time for what we feel to be important.  The challenge here is to make time to meet the requirements of the Norms when they may not feel important.  So that’s the final suggestion:  become familiar with the Norms and begin to see them as ways to bring others into communion with Christ through catechetical ministry, and to do that with competence and grace.

The Norms say we have to offer 30 hours of formation for children, youth and adults.  How are we supposed to count the 30 hours?

First, the Norm says 30 hours must be “offered.”  That means that your parishioners could attend/participate in them with approximately the same amount of effort it would take them to come to your parish.  The 30 hours can not all happen in one event, like Vacation Bible School or a weekend Retreat.  And the 30 hours should offer a variety of  catechetical methods.

You can count the hours in terms of gathered time as in the regularly scheduled weekly faith formation.  Included in the 30 hours of offering may be service projects, prayer/reflection events (other than Sunday Eucharist), online learning, missions, Bible Study, short courses, days of reflection and retreats etc.  The hours should be sufficiently spread throughout the year so as to offer something on a regular basis. 

Finally, this is an area where two things will be apparent to you:  the OCF will be trusting you to speak the truth; and, this is a great place to collaborate with neighboring parishes or begin to promote shared and distance learning. 

How does PATHWAYS relate to the Norms?  Are they two different initiatives?

PATHWAYS is the revised diocesan catechist certification program.  Its first stage of revisions is in use currently.  PATHWAYS continues to be revised so as to make it possible for parishes to meet the Norm that catechists be certified.  So PATHWAYS relates to the Norms in that it is the tool that enables Norm D-Three to be fulfilled. It is not a separate initiative, but rather is intimately tied with Called to be Disciples.  For more PATHWAYS related questions go to www.richmonddiocese.org/PATHWAYS .