The faithful’s attendance at upcoming Synod Small Groups at their parish is kind of like a family Thanksgiving, said Jean Stolpestad, director of Marriage, Family and Life for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “When somebody doesn’t show up, the table seems empty,” she said.
“If we think of it that way, each person brings something unique,” she said. In that expression of the body of Christ, we are more complete when we are present, one to the other, she said. “So that’s one of the reasons why it’s important to participate.”
Jean Stolpestad
Stolpestad recently joined “Practicing Catholic” show host Patrick Conley to talk about the upcoming Synod Parish Consultation with Small groups. Every parish in the archdiocese has been asked to host small group sessions sometime between Sept. 19 and Nov. 14. Topics relate to the three focus areas Archbishop Bernard Hebda identified last year following data analysis of information from 30 Prayer and Listening Events held in 2019-2020: forming missionary disciples, forming parishes, and forming youth and young adults.
Ideas shared in the Synod Small Groups will influence a Synod Assembly weekend in June, followed by a pastoral letter and pastoral plan from the archbishop.
“Our archbishop has this beautiful vision of bringing our Church forward, and he wants us to walk together,” said Stolpestad, a member of the Synod Executive Committee. In unity lies strength, identity, purpose and joy, she said.
“This is an opportunity for all of us to get together and, in our parishes, listen not only to the Holy Spirit, not only give information to the archbishop, but to really get to know our parishioners to see what’s important to them, to share their experiences and find a way forward for their parishes, as well,” she said.
Every individual is given a mission by God, Stolpestad said, something he’s counting on them to do that no one else can.
“And that’s part of our unique nature as human persons,” she said. “So, in the Synod, when we all come together, all of those unique opportunities and missions and voices and ideas and experiences of Christ can be present. If somebody is missing, then it’s incomplete.”
The faithful have seen an exodus of young people from the Church, marriage rates declining, turmoil in the streets — all of which can begin to affect us, Stolpestad said. But there still can be joy because Christ is present, she said.
“And if we care about that expression of Christ in our culture, of Christ vibrantly living in our Church, in our parishes, in our homes, then it would make sense that we would want to bring the best to this Synod planning process because the outcome, the document, is going to be a pastoral plan that guides our archdiocese, for sure, over the next five to 10 years,” Stolpestad said.
Parishioners who need details on Small Group meetings can check their church bulletin or website.
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. Sept. 3, 1 p.m. Sept 4 and 2 p.m. Sept. 5 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Emily Abe, a young adult and graphic designer who discusses integrating faith and art for the new evangelization in the digital age, and Mary Stolz, a registered nurse at Lakes Life Care Center in Forest Lake, who describes help for women and couples facing a crisis pregnancy.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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