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 Parish Education

"Engage! Putting Your Faith into Action"

Scheduled Engage! and Faithful Citizenship Workshops

Advocating for Justice - Resources and Ideas

Reaching Out to Your Parish  - Hearing Each Other, Transforming Hearts for Action

 Engage! Putting Your Faith into Action” 

Introducing Your Parish to Catholic Social Teaching and Faithful Citizenship

The Catholics for Peace and Justice Education group offers a program designed to introduce [and reinforce] Catholic social teaching to local parishes.  The program called “Engage! Putting Your Faith into Action” is designed for parish councils, human concerns committees, Christian formation teams and other adult groups seeking to understand and Engage the social teaching of the Church. 

 The program uses the video “Communities of Salt and Light” to emphasize that parishes are the heart of sharing and acting on the social teaching of the Church and calls on parish members to integrate social justice into every aspect of parish and community life. The program covers the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) seven themes of Catholic social teaching plus Peace and provides tools for helping a parish assess “next steps”. 

The Engage! Program is tailored to the needs of each parish and is offered as a 1, 2 or 3 hour session based on the parish group’s desired objectives. The program is made available with a trained presenter provided by CPJ and is offered at no cost – however donations are welcomed!

The program has been well received by participants. We encourage you to spread the word about the program to your parish community and staff. If you are interested in having a member of CPJ present information about Engage! to your parish council, human concerns committee, or other parish group please contact Barb Schultz at cpj@catholicsforpeaceandjustice.org .

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St. Alphonsus will be hosting an Engage! Program on Saturday, April 19 from 9 am to 12 noon. For more information and registration contact Thelma Walker tel. 414-421-3173 / DWATWA7224@cs.com or Barb Schultz tel. 262-628-2408 / barbs@netwurx.netBrochure with Registration Form    Flyer

St. Sebastian will be hosting an Faithful Citizenship program in two parts on Wednesday, April 23 and Thursday, May 8 from 7 to 8:30 pm.  Contact Dorothy Bunke for more information and registration at tel. 414-771-2972  or dorothybunke@yahoo.com or Barb Schultz tel. 262-628-2408 / barbs@netwurx.net  Brochure with Registration      Flyer  

Advocating for Justice - Resources and Ideas 

So much to do so little time - as we look around our neighborhoods, cities, state, country and the world, we can become overwhelmed by what we see. The opportunities for helping people, curbing violence, bringing peace, sustaining creation are endless.

Focus is key. Every individual is a link in God's plan. We must ask the question through prayer where and how is God calling me to action? Each of us is one small piece in God's master web, but without each of us the web is broken.  Nonviolent action means taking planned action in a nonviolent way to resolve issues of injustice and violence in our time.

"The Political Objective and Strategic Goal of Nonviolent Actions " by Robert j. Burrowes

"The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movements" by Bill Moyer

"Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Principles of Nonviolence "

"A Decalogue for a Sirituality of Nonviolence" by Rosemary Lynch and Alain Richard

The above resources are from www.paceebene.org 

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 Reaching Out to Your Parish: Hearing Each Other, Transforming Hearts for Action

At our spring conference on “Justice, Advocacy, and the Social Teaching of the Church” we asked our panel discussion members Father Kenneth Mich, Eileen Ciezki, Kari Hanson and Tom Hunt to address the topic “Transforming Hearts: Incorporating Justice into the Life of the Parish.”
 
They shared with us the goals of their ministry and how their parish has engaged in approaching issues of justice, what has worked well for them and what challenges they have faced.  Through this discussion we hope that all of might gain ideas and encouragement on how we might begin or enhance ministries within our own parishes or organizations. 

The following thoughts came from the panel members:

* Develop a mission statement through parish council that can be incorporated into the life of the parish

* Liturgy is the center of parish life thus if the church has a mission for justice that mission should be a part of the coming together of the parish. Ideas presented were skits, readings, songs, prayer, preaching, or speakers before, during, or after liturgy

* A social justice mission for your parish can be based on the Jesuit mission, Ignatian spirituality, your parish patron saint or another spiritual tradition such as Benedictine, Franciscan, or Dominican

* Create awareness of the social teachings of the church through readings or a “justice corner” in the bulletin

* Create an off shoot of your human concerns group that focuses on and educates the parish on issues of justice and social teaching

* Start a “Just Faith” discussion group in your parish

* Create opportunities for learning and discussion on social issues. Discussion is about listening to what each person has to say as opposed to telling people how to vote.  Don’t be afraid to let everyone express their opinion.

* Create an ongoing relationship with a parish or organization/ministry from another country

* Provide direct service opportunities for adults that give personal first hand awareness and association with people affected by poverty and injustice. Include prayer and discussion about the possible root causes of the situation.

* Provide opportunities for people to hear about all sides of a current issue along with opportunity for discussion and questions - pick topics that are timely and of concern.

* Don’t be afraid to think “outside the box” or outside the walls of your parish.  Invite the community to speaker events and book and film discussions.  Consider holding these events at a community location outside of your parish. Collaborate with other organizations and churches.  Invite people from around the area, not just your own parish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Resources

"The Moment, the Message, the Messenger: Seven strategies to promote Catholic social teaching"  by Tom Fox

"Handling Conflicts in discussions around Catholic Social Teaching" by Educating for Justice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Host a workshop at your parish

Engage! Putting Your FAITH into ACTION

Learn about the social teaching of the Church

 

Download Engage! Brochure

Interested in this program?

Contact Us for More Information

 

Program Outline in pdf format

Program Outline in Word format

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

  Advocating for Justice
Helpful Websites

www.paceebene.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catholic Social Teaching
Helpful Links

Documents of Catholic Social Teaching

www.usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

www.catholicsinalliance.org 
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

www.osjspm.org Office for Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

www.networklobby.org National Catholic Socail Justice lobbying group

www.justpeace.org Current Issues relevant to Catholic Social Teaching