Paige Will of St. Hubert in Chanhassen talks with Archbishop Bernard Hebda during a Synod Small Group session Sept. 30 at St. Hubert.

Paige Will of St. Hubert in Chanhassen talks with Archbishop Bernard Hebda during a Synod Small Group session Sept. 30 at St. Hubert. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

In June, about 500 participants in a Pentecost weekend Archdiocesan Synod Assembly will make final recommendations on the Synod’s three focus areas to Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who will then discern a pastoral letter and action plan for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. But, before then, small groups of parish leaders will gather with their pastors to hone the draft Synod propositions that Assembly participants will discuss.
Those draft propositions have already been distilled from feedback shared from six small group sessions held in parishes in September through November, which all Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were encouraged to attend. Organizers read and analyzed more than 68,000 feedback forms, and from that information, they developed “draft propositions” under nine topics within the three broad focus areas that could be put to the Synod Assembly participants in June. There are between four and seven draft propositions per topic.

It’s now the work of members the Parish Synod Leadership Team gathered in each parish — 10 Catholics and their pastors — to further develop and refine those draft propositions to prepare them for the Synod Assembly. On Feb. 26 (or alternatively Feb. 27, March 5 or March 6), those team members will meet at their parishes to pray about and discuss the propositions, and provide feedback to Archbishop Hebda. They will also discuss what it would look like to hypothetically implement three of the draft propositions into their parish life.

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All of the propositions are related to the Synod’s three focus areas: 1. Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization, 2. Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and 3. Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.

In preparation for the meeting, Parish Synod Leadership Team appointees and pastors will read theological reflections on the focus areas written by three local theologians: Douglas Bushman, Liz Kelly and Michael Naughton. The three writers will provide an overview of the focus area via video at the meetings.


Reflections, videos bring theological lens to preparations for June Synod Assembly

As Parish Synod Leadership Teams prepare to gather Feb. 26 or March 5 to reflect, discuss and pray about three focus areas for the June Archdiocesan Synod Assembly, they will be given essays and view videos that bring a contextual and theological perspective to their discussions.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda is seeking feedback from the groups to help inform the agenda and discussions of the Assembly, set for June 3-5 in St. Paul. The primary focus areas are: 1. Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization, 2. Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and 3. Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.

Pastors have been asked to choose one for their discussions among several possible subtopics under each focus area. The focus areas and subtopics were distilled from thousands of comments gathered in prayer and listening events and other archdiocesan efforts that began in 2019.

A 10-minute video and essays written on each focus area by accomplished theologians, teachers and speakers will help guide the Parish Synod Leadership Teams as they gather in parishes across the archdiocese. Before writing, each author met with Archbishop Hebda, who provided direction and reviewed their drafts. The writers are also members of the Synod’s Theological and Pastoral Content Committee, which with the Executive Committee form the Synod’s Preparatory Commission.

The writers, a comment from each on what they hope to convey at the PSLT gatherings and their background:

Douglas Bushman, director of Parish Formation and Mission at St. Joseph, West. St. Paul
Video and essay: Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization

“A parish fully realizes its vocation and mission for evangelization by drawing from the Eucharist to become a family of welcoming and collaborating missionary disciples who bear witness, through word and life, to the truth and love of Jesus Christ.”

Bushman was the lay theologian at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony from 1983 to 1986, and served six years in the Office of Education for the Diocese of Duluth (1986-92). He went on to teach graduate theology for 30 years at the University of Dallas in Texas, Ave Maria University in Florida and the Augustine Institute in Colorado. He earned his licentiate in sacred theology at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. A past executive vice president for mission at Relevant Radio, he serves on the National Advisory Board of Prolife Across America and the board of the Image of God textbook series. He contributed to the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and has written introductions for several books, including “The Sixteen Documents of Vatican II” (Pauline Books and Media, 1999). He has contributed articles to Catholic publications including Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Catholic World Report and Magnificat.

Liz Kelly, retreat leader, editor, spiritual director and writer
Video and essay: Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call

“Our papers are meant to be a kind of theological orientation to our subjects. To that end, I hope that readers will come away with a stronger sense of the variety of ways that Jesus invites us into encounter, not only through the sacraments but through the poor, through one another, through the beauties of creation. Encounter with Christ is not something we leave with adoration or our prayer time, but a relationship to be cultivated and nurtured, all day, every day.”

Kelly has master’s degrees in Catholic Studies and creative writing, and is a certified spiritual director. She was managing editor of “Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture” at the Center of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul from July 2008 to January 2022. She was an adjunct professor in Catholic Studies at UST from 2009 to 2019 and taught from 2009 through 2021 at the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute in St. Paul. She was senior writer and program manager of endowed faculty funds at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (2003-2006), and manager of alumni correspondence at Harvard (2002-2003). Kelly was a donor relations, stewardship and communications writer at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (2001-2002), and has held various positions with schools, corporations and publications in Tennessee and Alaska.

Michael Naughton, director, Center for Catholic Studies, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul
Video and essay: Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young

“Throughout our Synod process, one thing that has become abundantly clear is that the state of the future of our Church depends on today’s education and formation of our youth, a process that initiates them to be saints who serve God and contribute to the good of the world. The power of witness to our youth and quality and effectiveness of education and formation programs need our attention and resources.”

Naughton has taught for more than 38 years at the secondary and university levels. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of 12 books and monographs, and more than 60 articles. His most recent book is “What We Hold in Trust: Rediscovering the Purpose of Catholic Higher Education” with co-authors Don Briel and Ken Goodpaster. Naughton serves on several boards, including Bismarck, N.D.-based University of Mary, St. Agnes School’s Headmasters Advisory Board in St. Paul and Catholic Eldercare in Minneapolis. He is board chair of Reell Precision Manufacturing, a producer of torque solutions for transportation, consumer electronics, medical and office automation products with offices in the U.S., Netherlands and China.

 — Joe Ruff


Unlike the Synod Small Groups, which were open to everyone, the Parish Synod Leadership Team appointees have been selected by their pastor or his delegate and invited to participate. However, Synod leaders are encouraging all Catholics to stay connected to the Synod process through prayer.

This intermediate step between the widespread parish consultation and the Synod Assembly is an opportunity for more than 1,000 leaders in our parishes to share ideas on how the draft propositions can be improved, and to brainstorm ideas on how the propositions “might be brought to life,” said Father Joseph Bambenek, the Synod’s assistant director.

“The archbishop really wants to make sure that the propositions at the Synod (Assembly) are the best they can be,” he said. “It’s a day for refinement.”

It’s also a day for listening to the Holy Spirit and trusting that God is working through the Synod process, he said. “The more that prayer is brought into it, the more that it becomes true discernment, the more confidence we can have that despite the human fallibilities, God will work through the process.”


HOW DID WE GET HERE?

The Archdiocesan Synod process began in September 2019 with the first of 30 Prayer and Listening Events that were held until March 2020. Those events drew more than 8,000 people who provided more than 35,000 comments on the strengths and needs of the archdiocese. In August 2020, Archbishop Hebda announced he had discerned three focus areas for the Archdiocesan Synod.

Although the Synod’s timeline was adapted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in fall 2021, thousands of Catholics from around the archdiocese gathered in their parishes for six-week sessions to dive into the focus areas and offer feedback to Synod leaders. That feedback is now being refined through Parish Synod Leadership Team meetings before advancing to the Archdiocesan Synod Assembly, June 3-5 at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul.

“We’re ultimately doing this because it’s the archbishop’s deep and consistent sense that this is how God is calling him to lead the archdiocese,” said Father Joseph Bambenek, the Synod’s assistant director. “What he believes will be the fruit of it will be greater unity and … a more vigorous proclamation of the good news of Jesus. And both of those things are so necessary in the archdiocese at this point.”


HOW HAS THE PROCESS WORKED?

At the Parish Consultation with Small Groups (Synod Small Groups) last fall, participants discussed 12 topics within the three focus areas. For example, one topic under the focus area “Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization” was “Welcoming Parishes,” and participants were asked “How can we make parishes more welcoming?” Feedback Forms included “Ideas for Consideration.” Participants were asked to share the top three things that have worked for them, as well as the top three things that the parish or archdiocese should prioritize in the future ,using those “Ideas for Consideration.” Participants were also given an opportunity to share their “best idea.” The six small group sessions resulted in about 68,000 feedback forms, with 46,000 including a “my best idea.”

That response was then further distilled into draft propositions under nine topics related to the three focus areas for this next step in the consultation process.

At the upcoming Parish Synod Leadership Team Consultation (formerly the Deanery Consultation), each pastor and 10 parish appointees will consider and suggest changes, as needed, to improve these draft propositions, so that the propositions will be “tested” and fully refined before the three-day Synod Assembly in June, Synod leaders said.

At the Archdiocesan Synod Assembly, more than 500 participants will discuss and discern propositions related to the three focus areas and recommend to Archbishop Hebda which propositions should be prioritized for a more vigorous proclamation of the Good News of Jesus and a renewal of the local Church. After taking time for prayer and discernment, Archbishop Hebda will release a pastoral letter in November that will provide priorities and direction for our parishes and archdiocese in the years ahead.