Synod Formation Day held for parish staff

St. Joseph in New Hope welcomed parish staff from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for Synod Formation Day Oct. 27. The day fell nearly five months after the three-day Archdiocesan Synod Assembly in June and weeks before Archbishop Bernard Hebda issues his pastoral letter on the Synod as the Church celebrates the Nov. 20 feast of Christ the King.  

The event at St. Joseph offered parish staff the chance to share prayers and conversation with colleagues, engage with leaders in the archdiocese, and ask questions and provide insights to facilitate success in implementing Synod learnings and priorities. Archbishop Hebda celebrated Mass.  

Speakers included Bishop Joseph Williams; Deacon Joe Michalak, director of the archdiocesan Office of Synod Evangelization; and Douglas Bushman, director of faith formation and mission at St. Joseph in West St. Paul.  

Bishop Williams talked about the importance of parishes forming lay leadership for evangelization, one of three major themes that rose out of the Synod process. He illustrated his point through an example he encountered on a pilgrimage to Guatemala with his brother, Father Peter Williams. They met a priest there, Bishop Williams said, who spent about 70% of his parish ministry forming lay catechists.  

Bishop Williams said he left there asking himself, “what if I spent 70% of my priestly ministry as a leader in the parish forming the laity, the staff, the lay missionaries, the couples, etc.? How would that change my parish?”  

Marianne Charbonneau, coordinator of religious education at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minnetonka, said she enjoyed all the speakers’ remarks and felt it was “energizing for the Synod as we’re moving forward.” 

The day gave her a better sense of where the Synod is going and how it will be implemented, Charbonneau said. “This whole process, the steps in the (Synod) process, pulling people together from the parishes, felt good,” she said. 

Meeting people from other parishes was beneficial, too, she said, adding that she plans to stay in touch with a woman she sat with at lunch and during the small group discussion session. They both work in faith formation, Charbonneau said.  

“It’s always helpful to hear what other people are doing in the same area,” she said. “It gives you ideas, not necessarily that you have to implement the same thing, but that may work (at our parish).”