People’s Catholic Seminary Forum Presents: Growing Together in Dialogue, Discernment and Decisions as the Synodal Church: Next Steps for Synod in 2024 Part 3: Weaving Bonds, Building Communities, March 12, 2024, 1pm-2pm

 

People’s Catholic Seminary Forum Presents: Growing Together in Dialogue, Discernment and Decisions as the Synodal Church: 

Next Steps for Synod in 2024 

Part 3: Weaving Bonds, Building Communities, March 12, 2024, 1pm-2pm 

Facilitators: Bridget Mary Meehan and Joan Pesce

Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84965259983?pwd=VFl1cWhjV2UvMGl1cWFyR05mU2xKQT09

Meeting ID: 849 6525 9983
Passcode: 868236

Welcome and Opening Prayer: Joan Pesce

Highlights from Synthesis Report in Part 3: Weaving Bonds, Building Communities

 Bridget Mary Meehan

Formation for a Synodal Church Includes: 

-theology, and “the exercise of co-responsibility, listening, and discernment; ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, service to the poorest and care for our common home.”

- “discernment processes, conversation in the Spirit, consensus- building and conflict resolution.” 

Matters for Consideration include 

-Sexual education that integrates a “more mature synthesis” between psychology and theology.

-the People of God in formation programs for ordained ministry.

Proposals include:

-Women in formation programs of ordained ministers.

-Adequate standards and processes for selecting candidates for ordained ministry

-Formation for ordained ministries rooted in life of Christian community.

-Exercise of authority appropriate in a synodal Church

Ecclesial Discernment and Open Questions:

-Dialogue incorporating science, theology, experience on issues related to sexuality and “bodiliness.”

-Issues on identity and sexuality, end of life, marital situations raise new questions and require further study.

-Theological reflection that starts with daily experience of God’s Holy People and places itself at its service.

Proposals include:

-Initiatives on controversial doctrinal, pastoral and ethical issues should “involve people directly affected by the matters under consideration.” 

Towards a Listening and Accompanying Church:

-The Church needs to listen victims and survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. 

-People excluded because of marriage status, identity or sexuality should be heard.

 

-Listening to the excluded enables the Church to understand the point of view of the marginalized and to place itself concretely at their side.

-Small Christian communities foster listening practices of, and amongst, the baptised. We are called to expand and adapt to urban contexts.

Mission in the Digital Environment: Matters for Consideration:

-Catholic educational institutions used online platforms during lockdowns and continue to do so.

-How can the Church” unleash new energies for new forms of mission?”

-Church should accompany “digital missionaries”, and facilitate networking amongst them.

-Create collaborative networks of influencers from other religions/beliefs to promote human dignity, justice, and care for our common home.

Structures of Participation-Matters for Consideration:

-All the baptized should be involved in processes and decision-making in the Church. 

-“We are encouraged by many small communities in the emerging Church, who live the closeness of the day-to-day around the Word of God and the Eucharist.”

Proposals:

-Recommend legislating for the obligatory nature of Pastoral Councils in Christian communities and local churches. 

-Given the variety of charismatic and ministerial gifts of the People of God, how do we integrate the tasks of advising, discerning, and deciding in the various participatory bodies?

Questions for Reflection: Joan Pesce

Time for Prayerful Dialogue and Discernment :

 Proposals for Decisions on Next Steps for Report to Vatican in preparation for Synod in 2024

Summary Report: Bridget Mary and Joan Pesce

PCS Forum on Pastoral Care, Chaplaincy, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Thursday, February 29, 2024 - 1pm EST

PCS Forum on Pastoral Care, Chaplaincy, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and more! 

https://youtu.be/kbljpoUtFng?si=KMRHZmjdiDxoQPOQ 

Presented by  Rev. Lily  Godsoe and Rev. John Jeffrey

Join us in Zoom at this link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84965259983?pwd=VFl1cWhjV2UvMGl1cWFyR05mU2xKQT09
Meeting ID: 849 6525 9983
Passcode: 868236

Dial in for audio only:

• +1 305 224 1968 US

                      

Pacific Institute of Essential Conversations invites you to engage in a panel discussion about Pastoral Care, Chaplaincy, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and more.  During this discussion, you will learn about:

• • Our unique, community-based approach to CPE
• • The nature of our adaptive, flexible, compassionate support approach
• • Our expertise in supporting creative ministries/non-traditional settings
• • Our informed multicultural, interfaith, interspiritual approach to clinical training
• • How just (1) unit of CPE could make you a more marketable spiritual care provider, especially in the field of hospice care and related fields 

Additionally, we will provide an overview of our Independent Study course offering with People’s Catholic Seminary:  Introduction to Pastoral Care, Parts 1 & 2.  

Presenters: 

John Jeffery, Th.D., M.Div., BCCC, Clinical Supervisor 

Director, Pacific Institute for Essential Conversations

For over 35 years, John Jeffery has been an Interfaith spiritual caregiver. He has worked in hospitals, trauma centers, hospices and palliative clinics and has accompanied hundreds of individuals and families through their dying journey and has served at the bedside of countless individuals in the midst of their trauma, uncertainty and despair. John began his journey as a Methodist minister and has served as a professional clinical chaplain, pastoral counselor, spiritual director and end of life care practitioner. He is a graduate of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain & Pastoral Counselor. John is a former Director of Spiritual Care Services for Kaiser Permanente where he established the first accredited Clinical Pastoral Education programs in Kaiser Permanente. He holds a doctoral degree in Ecological Theology. 

For the past ten years John has been a clinical supervisor of chaplains, spiritual directors and pastor counselors and often provides training in end of life care for physicians, nurses, therapists and hospice staff. He is a graduate of the Metta Institute for End of Life Care, A Fellow with the Association for Death Education and Counseling and a Fellow in Palliative and Hospice Care. John has been a student of Zen for the past 25 years. John offers pastoral counseling and spiritual direction to individuals both locally and nationwide.

John is a fully credentialed CPE Supervisor with the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation (CSCPF).

Susan Shannon, M. Div., BCCC, Clinical Supervisor

Susan Shannon is a seeker, teacher, earth and animal steward, devotee of the heart. She has worked in the fields of Emotional Literacy and Restorative Justice for over 20 years, incorporating over 45 years of Buddhist practice and study from the Tibetan tradition. She’s worked with diverse populations all her life including inmates, Tibetan refugees, the homeless, the differently-abled, at-risk youth, and most recently, Buddhist Chaplain to the men in San Quentin State Prison and Death Row. She currently teaches about spiritual care and chaplaincy through the Pacific Institute, as well as classes on Tibetan Buddhism through Sukhasiddhi Foundation, The Chaplaincy Institute of Interfaith Studies and various other Dharma Centers. Susan is the founder of the Buddhist Prison Ministry, providing correspondence classes to prison populations across the US. She resides in the San Juan Islands where she writes, provides spiritual coaching and cares for the sacred ground she shares with many sentient beings!  

Lily Godsoe, MTh, DTh, BCCC, Clinical Supervisor

Lily Godsoe received the call to ministry through her encounters at the bedside as a Zen Hospice Project volunteer and other spiritually-based outreach work.  She was ordained an Interfaith Minister with the Chaplaincy Institute in 2011. Since then, Lily has worked as a chaplain in a variety of clinical settings, including hospices, rehabilitation centers, and senior life-plan communities.  Since 2017, Lily has served as the President of CSCPF - The Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation, an International Community of spiritual care practitioners that educates chaplains and teaches CPE.  She achieved her MTh in Spiritual Direction and DTh in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy through the University of Theology and Spirituality. Lily began supervising Clinical Pastoral Education with CSCPF/Pacific Institute in 2023. She lives in Half Moon Bay, California, and shares her life with her husband, James and their dog, Tito.

PCS INDEPENDENT STUDY

PCS 604 Introduction to Pastoral Care (Part 1)

with Pacific Institute of Essential Conversations

This 12-week course introduces you to the basic elements of pastoral care.  You will explore and discern the use of both clinical and practical skills of a pastoral caregiver.  Topics such as deep listening, grief and loss, empathic distress, and much more will be explored.  At the end of this course, you will have an enhanced understanding of the field of pastoral care and some ideas about where, how, and with whom you can offer pastoral care.

PCS 605 Introduction to Pastoral Care (Part 2)

with Pacific Institute of Essential Conversations

This 12-week course builds upon the basics learned in Intro to Pastoral Care Part 1.  In this course, you will go deeper in the exploration of the foundations of pastoral caregiving.  This course will also provide a framework by which you can begin to further develop your individual pastoral caregiving ministry.  There will be a greater emphasis on applied pastoral care skills and possibilities for a supervised practicum and/or CPE unit.

People’s Catholic Seminary Forum Part 2: All Disciples, All Missionaries- Feb.6, 2024, 1pm

 

https://youtu.be/m8_TLgoiFs4?si=IuOE78EoTdwdJhBA

People’s Catholic Seminary Forum Presents: Growing Together in Dialogue, Discernment and Decisions as the Synodal Church: 

Next Steps for Synod in 2024 

Part 2: All Disciples, All Missionaries- Women in the Church-Feb.6, 2024, 1pm-2pm 

Facilitators: Bridget Mary Meehan and Joan Pesce

Welcome and Opening Prayer: Joan Pesce

Highlights from Synthesis Report in Part 1: Bridget Mary Meehan

1. The Synod affirms that the Church is mission.” Each Christian is a mission on this earth.

2. The exercise of co-responsibility is essential for synodality and is necessary at all levels of the Church.

3. Jesus welcomed women as disciples, and entrusted the “announcement of the Resurrection on Easter to Mary Magdalene.”

4. Women are called to co-responsibility at every level of the Church’s life.

5. “Clericalism, a chauvinist mentality and inappropriate expressions of authority continue to scar the face of the Church.”

6. Avoid talking about women as an issue or a problem. View women as protagonists without subordination, exclusion and competition.

7. “How can the Church include more women in existing roles and ministries?

8. “If new ministries are required, who should discern these, at what levels and in what ways?

9. Different positions have been expressed regarding women’s access to the diaconal ministry.

10. For some, “access for women in the diaconate would restore the practices of the Early Church.”

11. For others, it would be “a sign of the times, faithful to Tradition” and bring “new energy” to the Church.”

12. Theological and pastoral research on the access of women to the diaconate should be continued. If possible, results should be presented to next Assembly.

13. Local churches are encouraged to listen, accompany and care for “the most marginalized women in their social contexts.”

14. Questions of labor injustice for women in consecrated life, treated as “cheap labour” should be addressed.

15. Women should “be integrated into seminary teaching and training programs to foster better formation for ordained ministry.”

16. Liturgical texts and Church documents need to “include a range of words, images and narratives” derived from “women’s experience.”

17. “Lay associations, ecclesial movements and new communities are a precious sign of the maturation of the co-responsibility of all the baptized.”

18. The promotion of synodality requires councils and advisory bodies with representatives of lay associations, ecclesial movements and new communities.

19. The discussion of priestly celibacy “requires further consideration.”

20. Deeper study of the theology of the permanent diaconate will shed light on the question of the access of women to the diaconate.

Questions for Reflection: Joan Pesce

l 1. The Church, the People of God, are a mission and each person is a mission. How does this awareness enlarge your view of your co-responsibility for being the Presence of Christ in the world?

How does this perspective change the view of ”the hierarchy as Church?”


2. How have you implemented co-equal roles and co-partnerships in your emerging church communities?


3. As a major part of your experience of creating inclusive church communities, please share the roles and ministries you have developed and implemented for women in your church community. Your thoughts, comments and experiences are needed to include in our final report and recommendations to the Vatican in May 2024.


4. In the Highlights presented, which point(s) speak(s) to you most powerfully? Please share your thoughts.r

5 What inspires and energizes you the most in moving forward in the Synodal process of change in the Church of the future?

Time for Prayerful Dialogue and Discernment :

 Proposals for Decisions on Next Steps for Report to Vatican in preparation for Synod in 2024

Summary Report: Bridget Mary and Joan Pesce 

PCS Forum Presents: Next Steps for Synod in 2024 Part 1: The Face of the Synodal Church - January 16, 2024 1pm

People’s Catholic Seminary Forum Presents: Growing Together in Dialogue, Discernment and Decisions as the Synodal Church:

Next Steps for Synod in 2024

https://youtu.be/lCugA8hBtfQ

Part 1: The Face of the Synodal Church- January 16, 2024, 1pm-2pm and 7:30PM-8:30PM ET

Facilitators: Bridget Mary Meehan and Joan Pesce


Welcome and Opening Prayer: Joan Pesce


Highlights from Synthesis Report in Part 1 of Synthesis Report: Bridget Mary Meehan

Section 1: The Face of the Synodal Church - Highlights- Bridget Mary  

 

1. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and co-responsible for mission of Church with “a ,genuine equality of dignity and common responsibility for mission according to the vocation of each.“

2. The Church itself is a “conversation” within itself and with the world, walking side by side with every human being in the style of Jesus.”

3. Christian communities are to join “other religions, convictions and cultures in mutual learning, service to those experiencing poverty, care for our common home and theological research. “

4. Synodality involves “reciprocal listening, dialogue, community discernment and creation of consensus” that renders Christ present in decisions” according to “responsibilities.”

5. Synodality offers “alternative way of being and acting for our times integrating a diversity of perspectives.”

6. Synodality integrates the contributions of theology, the humanities, social sciences as well as other models of ecclesial discernment of different spiritual traditions, ancient and recent.

QUESTIONS for Reflection on The Face of the Synodal Church- Joan 

  In your experience of circular leadership in your local church community, what have

been the benefits of this process? What have been the learning experiences?

 What challenges do you see to the ongoing development of the synodal

process in the Church?

 How do you move forward as a synodal church both in your local church community

and in the worldwide Church?

Section 2: Eucharist: Highlights- Bridget Mary 

7. “From the Eucharist we learn to articulate unity and diversity, “unity of sacramental mystery and a variety of liturgical traditions, unity of celebration and diversity of vocations, charisms and ministries. “

8. This means making “liturgical language more accessible” and “embodied in the diversity of cultures.”

9. The preferential option for the poor and those at the margins is rooted in the example of Jesus who “befriended people in poverty, shared a table with them and denounced the causes of poverty.”

16. The issue of Eucharistic hospitality is of “particular importance to inter-church couples and raises the need for a broader reflection on inter-church marriages.”

Questions: for Reflection on EUCHARIST- Joan

How do we promote unity and diversity in Eucharistic hospitality?

What challenges do you see for the Church in implementing understandable and inclusive language in the Liturgy and Rites?  

How do you practice Eucharistic hospitality in your ministry?

Section 3: Social Justice and Ministry- Highlights: Bridget Mary

10. The Church’s commitment must address the causes of poverty and exclusion. This includes actions to protect the rights of those who are excluded, and may involve denunciation of injustices. This means “listening to their demands and points of view, and utilizing their own words. “

11. The Church’s social justice teachings are not well-known. It is a requirement of faith, “not an optional extra. This is especially true for candidates for ordained ministry and consecrated life.”

12. The diaconal ministry should “promote a stronger orientation towards service to those who are poor.”

13. Living the Church’s mission in multicultural and multi-religious contexts requires “taking of one’s shoes to “cross the threshold towards encounter” and “respect for a sacred space, on an equal footing.”

14. The Church encourages interreligious dialogue and is aware that “the Spirit can speak through women and men of every religion, belief and culture.”

15. To address different understandings of evangelization, new paradigms are needed for pastoral engagement with indigenous peoples, that include their participation in decision -making processes at all levels.

17. It is proposed that Christians of other Churches and ecclesial traditions participate in Catholic synodal processes at all levels, including an ‘ecumenical Synod on common mission in the contemporary world. “

18. Each local Church is encouraged “to equip itself with suitable people trained to facilitate and accompany processes of ecclesial discernment.”



Questions for Reflection: Social Justice and Ministry- Joan

How can you expand awareness of the Church’s social doctrine in your local

church community?

How will you go about promoting ministry to the poor and those at the margins of

society in your local church community? How can this be done in the greater Church?

What challenges do you see in moving forward in joining with other churches and traditions in synodal processes at all levels?

NEXT Steps: Time for Prayerful Dialogue and Discernment : Bridget Mary

Please share these highlights on the Synthesis document with your communities and companions on the journey in a Synodal Church that we all belong to and participate in. 


Proposals for Decisions on Next Steps for Report to Vatican in preparation for Synod in 2024

You are invited to share your ideas for next steps forward for incorporation in the Summary Report that we will post on Vatican site in preparation for the October 2024 Synodal meeting in Rome. The Summary Report will be prepared by Bridget Mary and Joan Pesce and shared with you.

Join us on Feb. 6th for reflection and discussion at our next PCS Forum on Part 2 of THE  Synodal Synthesis Report - 

1:00 PM ET 7:30PM ET.