home| join FDLC| e-mail 

November - December 2011   Vol. 38, No. 2

From the Executive Director

Amidst the season of Thanksgiving, preparation for theimplementation of the third edition of the Roman Missal, and Advent, it is appropriate to give thanks to the good people of the Archdiocese of Portland and FDLC Region 12 for hosting the 2011 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions.  In particular, we extend our gratitude to Archbishiop Vlazny, Sister Jeremy Gallet, Michael Prendergast, Laure Krupp, Linda Weigel, and Board representative, Dr. Peter Zografos.  While diocesan budget cuts meant that the number or registrants was lower than normal (127 delegates from 77 dioceses), the amount of work necessary to run the National Meeting remained as vast.  Without the dedicated service of hosting diocese and regions, the National Meetings could not be viable.	Lisa A. Tarker Executive Director
Work on the 2012 National Meeting is well underway.  If you were unable to attend the 2011 National Meeting banquet, the invitation to the 2012 National Meeting is posted on the FDLC website (www.fdlc.org).  Be sure to mark your calendars for October 9-12, 2012. You’ll want to answer affirmatively to the burning question, “Do you know the way to San Jose?” — and within the year, add that you have your ticket to SJC in hand! Certification of Lay Ecclesial Ministers As Monsignor Burton pointed out in his address to the delegates of the Portland National Meeting, the USCCB Commission of Certification and Accreditation approved the standards and procedures developed by the Alliance for the Certification of Lay Ecclesial Ministers.   In describing certification, the United States’ Bishops state:  “Ensuring the quality of pastoral care provided by lay ecclesial ministers requires a process for deciding that a given candidate has the education, formation, and professional skills necessary to serve in a particular role. This involves establishing the requirements for education, formation, and experience for specific ministerial roles and evaluating the extent to which individuals meet these requirements.” (Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord, USCCB, 2005, p. 39)  Basically, there are three steps to certification. 1)  Application Applicantw will be able to sign up for an online account, and submit their application materials and fee to the ministry organization that represents their ministry role: ·         Director of Worship ·         Parish Life Coordinator ·         Pastoral Associate ·         Director of Music Ministries ·         Parish Catechetical Leader ·         Youth Ministry Leader, including Pastoral Juvenil Hispana ·         Diocesan Youth Ministry Leader, including Pastoral Juvenil Hispana 2)  Preparation Once an application is approved, the applicant is accepted as a candidate for certification.  The candidate then builds an online ministry portfolio which documents how the candidate meets the national certification standards. 3)  Submission of Portfolio Once the candidate’s portfolio is complete, it is submitted for review. To be certified, the candidate’s portfolio must be approved by the candidate’s national ministry organization and by the Alliance. The Alliance is developing a website (www.LEMCertification.org) which will will serve as the portal for the application and certification process.  A press release will be sent out once the website is launched. USCCB Committee on Divine Worship As ex officio consultants to the BCDW, Monsignor Burton and I presented the annual report of the FDLC during the November meeting.  The report contained the three Position Statements and Executive Committee resolutions adopted by the delegates of the 2011 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions.  Also included in the report was the update on the status of (arch)diocesan Liturgical Commissions and Worship Offices. The National Office is grateful to all those who promptly responded to the survey sent out after the National Meeting.  The data collected from that survey was related to the BCDW.  Following is a brief summary of the results: Liturgical Commissions Currently 70% of the Latin rite dioceses report having a Liturgical Commission.  Of those dioceses with a Liturgical Commission, 86% report that the Commission has been active in the past year.  Worship Offices 81% of the 178 Latin rite dioceses report having an Office for Worship. Of the dioceses with Worships Office 51% have a Full-time Director (contracted to work 35+ hours per week) and 46% are staffed with part-time Directors (hours varying between 10-34 hours per week).  Currently, six (arch)dioceses are without Worship Office directors and are seeking to fill the vacancy. It is worth noting that 93% of Latin Rite (arch)dioceses have a Liturgical Commission and/or a Worship Office while 58% report having BOTH a commission and an office.  Despite fluxuations in the total number of Commissions and Offices, these two statistics have remained relatively stable (within two per centage points) over the past four years. November USCCB General Assembly During the November USCCB General Assembly in Baltimore, the US Latin Rite Bishops voted on and approved three liturgy action items: Action1:  approval of the inscription Blessed John Paul II on the proper calendar…  YEA—216; NAY—3; ABSTAIN—1 Action 2: approval of the inscription of Blessed Marianne Cope on the proper calendar… YEA—216; NAY—2; ABSTAIN—2 Action 3: approval of the Spanish translation of texts for Blessed Marianne Cope …  YEA—215; NAY—1; ABSTAIN—3 Study and Pastoral Guide on Roman Catholic Worship with Youth In 2003, the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) asked the FDLC to participate in a review of the 1997 NFCYM resource, From Age to Age: The Challenge of Worship with Adolescents, a document which sparked a national dialogue on how Roman Catholic parishes may best reach out and involve youth in worship.  At the time of the 2003 review, the FDLC suggested that considering the forthcoming new translation of the Mass texts, NFCYM table further review until the translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal was completed and received a recognitio from the Vatican. Once the Order of Mass was approved by the Vatican in 2010, NFCYM and FDLC determined that the two organizations should work together in producing a joint resource document in English and Spanish on Roman Catholic worship with adolescents with the hope that the document will serve as a pastoral guide for both English and Spanish speaking directors of worship and youth ministers.    In April of 2011, the FDLC received a grant from Calvin Institute’s Worship Renewal Grant Program (provided under the auspices of the Lily Foundation) to assist NFCYM and FDLC in gathering five representatives from each of our organizations to review From Age to Age and to make recommendations on how to move forward in producing such a resource and to hire both an English and Spanish author for the final document. Mr. Matt Miller, Worship Director for the Diocese of Evansville, has been hired to act as facilitator of the Task Group working on the document.  The Task Group is scheduled to meet via conference call in January and face to face in February. Once a draft of the document has been completed, FDLC and NFCYM will consult with not only their own constituencies, but also with other organizations. In Conclusion On behalf of the National Office staff—Fr. Bob Anello, Joe Skeffington, and Dianne Jimmink—I offer our wishes for a blessed Advent, celebration of the octave of Christmas, and an auspicious beginning to the new year. Lisa A. Tarker FDLC Executive Director

Download PDF version

TOP OF PAGE

©2011
Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions
415 Michigan Avenue, NE  Suite 70,  Washington, DC 20017
202-635-6990 (Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EDT)