News

Faith Alive involves more than day schools

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Related articles: from Dec. 8, 2006 issue: • Letter from Bishop Zubik --     Bishop: New vision of shared parish ministry     Faith Alive Project discussions continue • Priests promise to collaborate     Bp. Zubik will meet next week with parish leaders on Faith     Alive Project from Nov. 17, 2006 issue: • Faith Alive forum draws crowd     Proposal seeks parish collaboration in nine different ministries from Nov. 3, 2006 issue: • Catholics invited to Faith Alive town meeting     Consultants and diocesan officials will be at the Nov. 9 session from Oct. 20, 2006 issue: • Faith Alive process continues     Consulting firm seeks response to recommendations • Editorial -- Take time to comment on Faith Alive     Still time to comment on the proposal from Sept. 22, 2006 issue: • Faith Alive taps support for working together     Listening sessions show that parish leaders want to work     together on schools, ministry from Sept. 15, 2006 issue: • Faith Alive calls for more education, ministry collaboration     Green Bay parishes and schools would work together more     Sidebar: Faith Alive Feedback     Sidebar: Parishes in the Faith Alive Project from Mar. 17, 2006 issue: • Cooperation plan work begins     Parishes, schools, diocesan agencies join in the effort from Feb. 3, 2006 issue: • Life after GRACE: Work starts soon     Work will begin on finding ways to cooperate on efforts     Sidebar: Bishop outlines future actions • Positive reaction greets decision     Bishop heartened by the sheer number who got     involved in discussion from Jan. 27, 2006 issue (article posted 1/30/2006): • Unified Green Bay school system plan delayed     No schools to close for 2006-07 unless parishes ask from Jan. 6, 2006 issue: • GRACE comments from individuals, parishes compiled     Process continues this week from Dec. 9, 2005 issue: • Bridging the Gap by Bishop David Zubik --     Bridging the Gap: G-R-A-C-E     This is a time for exploration and for collaboration from Nov. 25, 2005 issue: • Plan released for unified Green Bay system     Proposal would close three schools, consolidate two     and form one K-8 school system     Sidebar: Green Bay school proposal     Sidebar: Schedule for action from Nov. 4, 2005 issue: • Release delayed on school planning report     Proposal for consolidating the Green Bay area schools     into a system due after Thanksgiving from Sept. 2, 2005 issue: • GRACE subcommittees form     Proposed plan for a unified Green Bay Catholic school     system continues to advance from July 8, 2005 issue: • Unified Green Bay Catholic school system under study     No decisions have been made from June 24, 2005 issue: • Groups ponder schools' future     Proposal considers ways to guarantee the financial     solvency of Catholic schools

When it comes to collaborative ministry in the Green Bay area parishes, it's not just about schools. And it's going to take time to work out all the procedures and make plans for implementation.

That's what Bp. David Zubik emphasized at a press conference on Dec. 5 and that's what will be stressed at three meetings with area pastoral ministers and educators that were scheduled to take place on Dec. 14 (after press time).

"One of the things we learned from the GRACE report," the bishop said at the press conference, "was there wasn't enough time for discussion. And furthermore, we also learned that we really needed to broaden the vision."

GRACE was a previous proposal for collaboration that dealt only with Catholic day schools in the Green Bay area. While it was not implemented, it did lay the groundwork for the more encompassing Faith Alive proposal, prepared by the Reid Group of Seattle, after consultation with many groups and individuals. Bp. Zubik is expected to make a decision on the Faith Alive proposal - which besides collaborative parish ministries also includes establishing an area school system by July 1, 2007 and a separate Implementation Commission to monitor progress for at least five years - by the middle of January.

Msgr. Jim Dillenburg, who has chaired a committee of parish priests exploring the areas of collaborative ministry since last January, said it is time for local experts - ministers, priests, lay leaders, educators - "to work out the details." Msgr. Dillenburg, pastor of St. Elizabeth Anne Seton Parish on Green Bay's west side, said the Faith Alive proposal "puts education and religious education in a context, instead of it being the whole package."

And that context is the goal of Faith Alive: to address every aspect of parish life, since all aspects fit into the one picture of our goal of living the faith the Spirit of Jesus Christ gives us.

Joseph Bound, director of education for the diocese, sees the Faith Alive proposal as an opportunity to "help educate people as to what the church is all about; that it involves ministry to various needs and to people in various stages of life."

Fr. Larry Seidl, pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Allouez, believes the recommendations make clear that the focus will not be on Catholic day schools, "but on the whole mission of the church." He said that, previously, many people who did not have children in Catholic schools didn't feel they needed to get involved. Now, though, he has noticed a shift - especially among the lay leaders in his parish - to a reorientation that seeks collaboration in parish ministries.

Another positive shift that both priests have noticed is the flexibility built into the new Faith Alive proposal. Fr. Seidl said an earlier report had left people feeling that Faith Alive was "a done deal." Now, he said they realize "that not everything in the report will be the way things are done. In the months ahead, there will be opportunities for parish leaders to give input and be part of the determination of school and collaborative efforts."

Msgr. Dillenburg agreed, saying he believes success is attainable "if we accept the concept of collaborative ministry and agree to work it out."

If implemented, Faith Alive may prove to be a guide for systems across the country. According to the Reid Group, no other metropolitan area has a plan for collaboration between parishes in so many areas of ministry, including schools, religious education, youth and young adult ministry, adult faith formation and evangelization.

"Classically, schools and broader planning do not work well together," said Mark Mogilka, diocesan director of stewardship and pastoral services. "We're being a pioneer in this - to have a ministerially complete vision of the mission of the church."

(The Reid Group recommendations and a 69-page report on the Faith Alive process to date can be found at the diocesan web site at www.gbdioc.org. A 15-page executive summary of the report is also posted on the site.)