Year 2: The Church Prepares

The Prayer and Listening Events wrapped up just as Minnesota’s officials began addressing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the state. Due to pandemic-related restrictions and uncertainty around in-person gatherings, Synod leaders decided in April to reorganize the Synod process and extend the timeline by a year. Instead of culminating in a Synod Assembly weekend in spring 2021, as originally planned, that event will be held in June 2022, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda planning to release a pastoral plan informed by the Synod later that year.

The extended timeline allows for the Synod to unfold in three phases: the first year (2019/2020) being The Church Listens; this upcoming year (2020-2021) being The Church Prepares, and the third year (2021-2022) being The Church Engages.

In this upcoming year of preparation, the Synod team is offering two series in the fall, and three in the winter/spring. The series will start in September with a five-week virtual series on praying with Scripture taught by Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Andrew Cozzens, followed by a five-week virtual retreat beginning in October on healing and hope (see sidebar). The catechetical series this winter is designed to engage important topics that surfaced during the Prayer and Listening Events, including the dignity of women, sexuality and the family, and the nature of the priesthood. The Synod at Home initiative during Lent 2021 will engage individuals, couples and families in a Synod process for their lives. The year will close with live events in the spring (assuming they are safe) on the focus areas.

archdiocesan leaders acknowledge that people’s lives — and, for many, their relationship to their parish and Church — have changed during the pandemic. While the pandemic required Synod leaders to extend the process, Father Joseph Bambenek, the Synod’s assistant director, sees the new timeline as a blessing in disguise, “one of many ways in which the Holy Spirit has taken our plans and made them better.”

“This year of preparation will allow us to be even more open to how the Holy Spirit wants to work through the process,” he said. “The biggest downside is that the archbishop and all of us involved are looking forward to the implementation of what comes out of the Synod to address the situation the Church faces. The process is important, but the ultimate fruit is what will determine the success or not of the Synod. So the year delay means a year delay in reaping the fruit.”

Therese Coons, Synod director, hopes that people who participated in the Prayer and Listening Events feel inspired to continue their involvement with the Synod process. “The success in meeting the goal of the Synod — to set clear pastoral priorities in a way that promotes greater unity and leads us to more vigorous proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ — depends on the faithful being involved and sharing their wisdom,” she said.

“The Prayer and Listening Events were a first step, and an important step, but there are more important steps in the process that will benefit from (Catholics’) involvement,” Coons added. “We hope they participate in the Year 2 opportunities. Most importantly, we hope they join in the small group discussions at their parish fall 2021 in the Parish Consultation Process.”

The Parish Consultation with Small Group Process will take place in the fall of 2021 and consist of parish-based small groups diving deeper into the focus areas Archbishop Hebda has just announced. Even though that process is a year away, Father Bambenek encourages Catholics to begin praying about the focus areas now, observing how their own parish currently engages the topics, and discerning what best practices might look like.

Prior to the Parish Consultation Process, some parish representatives will gather in January or February within their deaneries — a geographic grouping of parishes — to discuss the focus areas. Trained facilitators and scribes will assist those small group discussions, which will inform the Parish Consultation Process later in the year, Coons said.

The Parish Consultation Process will then inform the Synod Assembly, which will take place with about 500 participants Pentecost weekend, June 3-5, 2022.

“An important part of a Synod — why the archbishop has chosen to chart the path ahead through this vehicle — is that he believes in the importance of being a Listening Church, following the leadership of our Holy Father, Pope Francis,” Father Bambenek said. “That has not always been the leadership style in the archdiocese, and it takes time to grow in skill and even in the trust necessary for Year 3 and beyond to be fruitful.”

“The ultimate goal of the Synod,” he added, “is to help us as God’s people grow in unity in Christ and to develop a spiritual strategic plan to more vigorously proclaim the Gospel in our place and time.”