Sharing Our Resources is a way for parishes to share ways to Inspire, Teach and Serve.
Check out what these parishes have done and provide your own ideas by completing the form on the right.
CatholicFest, "A Celebration of All Things Catholic."
St. Robert
Shorewood
St. Robert Parish in Shorewood invites the public to CatholicFest, “A Celebration of All Things Catholic.”
Events include at Saturday morning service project; Saturday evening Mass with Archbishop Timothy Dolan at 4:30, followed by “Benedict’s Bavarian Brathaus;” Sunday morning presentation by Fr. Javier Bustos entitled “Builders of the Kingdom;” and Sunday Masses at 8:30am, 11:00am, and 5:30pm.
Displays, booths, and food will be available in the school gym on Saturday from 5:30pm until 7:00pm and on Sunday from 9:30am until 11:00am.
CatholicFest is sponsored by St. Robert’s Evangelization Team whose goal is to foster enthusiasm for the Catholic Christian Faith.
All events will be held at St. Robert, located at Capitol and Maryland in Shorewood. More information is available at www.strobert.org.
Contact: Claire M. Anderson
Pastoral Associate
Email: canderson@strobert.org
Phone: (414) 332-1164
Youth for Change
St. Lawrence
Hartford
St. Lawrence Parish, Hartford, believes that early introduction to and involvement in the Parish is vital for the Church’s growth. To that end, St. Lawrence has formed a youth group called “Youth for Change”. Participants range in age from 12 to 20 and the focus of the group is on providing youth with spiritual, service, and social opportunities.
In addition, the Parish offers young people an opportunity to participate in the Mass on Discipleship Sundays which are held monthly. The youth participate in the Mass by acting as lectors, ushers, greeters and servers.
St. Lawrence also offers young adults of the Parish the opportunity to participate in World Youth Day. Participants raise money thru various Parish fundraisers. This summer, we are sending two young people to Sydney, Australia for World Youth Day 2008.
Contact: Angie Cleary
Email: ajcleary@netwurx.net
Phone: (262) 644-9362
Vive Tu Fe t-shirts
St. Katharine Drexel
Beaver Dam
T-shirts with the Vive Tu Fe logo are available for $9 from St. Katharine Drexel Parish, Beaver Dam.
Contact: Fr. Carlos Florez
Email: care42more@yahoo.com
Phone: 920-887-2082
Online Courses
Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association
The Paulist Evangelization Training Institute Online offers three new courses.
In Faithful Celebration of Mass (Item 8130), Fr. Tony Krisak, STD, will review the Mass with the aim of helping us to grow in our love for the gift of the Eucharist and its impact on daily life. Course will include reflection on your experience of Mass during the weeks of the course. Course is for Catholics who want to learn more about the rich treasure of the Catholic Mass.
With Good News and Religious Pluralism (Item 8160), Fr. Tom Ryan, CSP, Director of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, shows how our dialogue and relationships with people of other religions (e.g., Muslims, Buddhists, etc.) can be a mutually enriching experience that deepens our Catholic identity and helps us discover the many ways God works in the world. If you have neighbors, friends, or co-workers of different faith traditions, this course is for you.
In the online course Spiritual Grandparenting (Item 8123), Therese M. Boucher, from the Diocese of Trenton, helps us to see the day-to-day ways that we can share faith with young children, even when the parents may not be active in the faith. Her suggestions and reflections benefit not only grandparents, but any adult who is seeking to pass on the faith to children in a loving and gentle way. Parish ministers to seniors and to children will also benefit.
These courses open for Introductions and Orientation. Each week students read assigned text pages, view a narrated slide presentation (15-20 minutes) and answer one or more discussion questions online. Answers are shared with all students through a daily email and in the virtual classroom. Student interaction is encouraged through online chats and student mail. Visit this link for more information.
Christian Formation Prayer Services
St. Dominic
Sheboygan
Every grade school Christian Formation Program class begins with a prayer service. The students take turns planning and presenting these by grade. They might do petitions related to the Church Season. Some use the lessons they have been studying to prepare for their prayer. They might do a poster of the beatitudes or illustrate the different parts of the Apostles' Creed. Some use costumes and dramatize the Bible stories they have been studying.
Contact: Edie Morrison
Email: morrison@stdominic.us
Phone: 920-458-5390
Spectrum of Ministries for All Ages
St. Joseph
Big Bend
Our parish has developed a spectrum of ministries for every age group for spiritual growth, promoting family values and helping the greater community of God.
Contact: Karen Schuh
Email: schuhk@archmil.org
Phone: 262-662-2832
Special Welcome Cards
Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association
PNCEA’s new Easter pew card provides the connection for the many visitors and guests your parish will have at Eastertime. Some inactive Catholics and those with no church family will want to learn more about your parish because they are spiritually hungry. Connect with them to meet their spiritual needs by putting the pew cards out at all your Easter Masses, telling the congregation about the cards, and then following up with those who respond.
Visit this link for information.
Simply the WORD Bible Study
Christ King
Wauwatosa
In four years we have grown to a group of 50 daytime participants and 25 evening participants. Groups include both men and women. We also have a daytime children's program. We attribute the growth of Simply the WORD to God's grace, and also to the fact that this Bible study is true to Catholic teaching, simple in format and emphasizes how God's Word impacts our everyday lives. In addition, all the leaders of Simply the WORD completed a charism (spiritual gifts) discernment process and their responsibilities within the ministry were based on that discernment. Simply the WORD includes prayer and worship music, small group discussion, large group lecture and individual at home study. New participants are welcome. We meet on Thursdays; 9-11am or 6:30-8:30pm.
Contact: Joan Carey
Email: careyj@wi.rr.com
Phone: 262-821-1013
"In the Spotlight" Series - an adult faith formation program
Good Shepherd
Menomonee Falls
“In the Spotlight" Series - an adult faith formation program between the Sunday liturgies - with speakers, topics and presentations inspired by the Sunday readings - currently in its 9th year and going strong.
Contact: Jane Clare Ishiguro
Email: ishiguroj@archmil.org
Phone: 262-255-2035
Pallium Lecture Series
The Archbishop of Denver, a columnist and television host on The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), and a father and daughter who authored a best-selling book on faith will be the featured speakers in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee 2008 Pallium Lecture Series beginning in March.
The lectures are free and open to the public. Each lecture begins at 7 p.m. A reception will follow. All of the lectures will be held in the Wehr Auditorium on the Alverno College Campus, 3400 S. 43rd St., Milwaukee.
Catechesis That Impacts the Public Square – Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver. Archbishop Chaput’s lecture will focus on the kind of catechesis he feels is necessary to transform American public life. From Archbishop Chaput’s perspective, effective catechesis has nothing to do with good technique, persuasive vocabulary or an appealing personal style. Rather, he believes, that successful Catholic catechesis will flow from our personal witness, personal zeal and personal suffering for the Gospel and for the Church.
The New Faithful and the Future of the Church – Colleen Carroll Campbell, author, columnist and television host. In 2000, Campbell won a Phillips Journalism Fellowship that allowed her to take a year’s leave from her newspaper job and travel the country, researching and writing about a little-noticed trend that had attracted her attention: the appeal of traditional religion and morality to a growing number of young Americans. The result of her research was The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy (Loyola Press, 2002), a critically acclaimed book that has been featured in nearly 100 magazines and newspapers.
Tell Them Why: The Need to Pass on the Faith - Michael and Jana Novak, co-authors of “Tell Me Why: A Father Answers His Daughter’s Questions About God.”
Theologian, author and former U.S. Ambassador, Michael Novak currently holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where he is Director of Social and Political Studies. During his career he has authored some 25 influential books on the philosophy and theology of culture. Together, he and his daughter Jana co-authored the books "Tell Me Why: A Father Answers His Daughter’s Questions About God" (Pocket Books, 1998) and most recently, "Washington’s God" (2006).
The Pallium Lecture Series is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee with financial support from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and other generous benefactors. The Pallium Lecture Series, initiated in 2003 by Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, brings national and international speakers to discuss pertinent issues related to religion, faith and Church activities in the modern world.
Contact: Julie Wolf, Archdiocese of Milwaukee Communications Office
Email: wolfju@archmil.org
Phone: 414-769-3461
Walking To Jerusalem for Lent-A Whole Person Wellness Activity
Good Shepherd
Menomonee Falls
Walking To Jerusalem For Lent whole person wellness activity. Walk, run or engage in other health enhancing activities each day of Lent to accumulate miles to total 120--the number of miles Jesus walked from Capernaum to Jerusalem. Those with the most miles accumulated receive an incentive gift (pedometer). Health enhancing activities include participation in Lenten devotions, healthy eating and other physical health practices, doing things to improve mental function, sharing feelings with loved ones to enhance relationship health, etc.
Contact: Maria Migdal RN, Parish Nurse
Email: migdalm@archmil.org
Phone: 262-255-2035
Rebuilding Ugandan School
St. Robert
Shorewood
The people of St. Robert Parish in Shorewood are rebuilding St. Jude Primary School near Kampala, Uganda. The project was initiated when St. Robert's Pastor, Fr. Dennis Dirkx, invited two priests from Uganda, both full-time graduate students at Milwaukee area universities, to live in residence at St. Robert. One of the priests, Fr. Augustine Kalemeera, attended St. Jude School as a child and reported that the building was in extreme disrepair.
Word soon reached parishioners, and money came in quickly. To date, parishioners have collected over $52,000.00 for the project. Construction is well underway on instructional and administrative buildings for St. Jude School. A dedication of the school occurred June of 2008 when a group of six St. Robert parishioners and Fr. Dirkx traveled to Uganda.
St. Robert parishioners also have established a scholarship fund for tuition assistance for students in need at St. Jude and for disadvantaged students elsewhere in Uganda.
Fr. John Mary Ssozi, a second priest in residence at St. Robert, has collected college-level math and science text books for the newly-opened Muteesa I Royal University Library in Masaka, Uganda. This library, the very first in Masaka, was opened in October 2007. It will serve about 10,000 students and many more residents. Milwaukee area professors, students, and other interested individuals have donated approximately 50 boxes of textbooks. From Shorewood the books will be shipped to Portland, Oregon; combined with other textbooks; then shipped to Uganda. Much of the cost of shipping has been raised; $700.00 is still needed.
Many connections with the people of Uganda exist throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. At least two parishes, St. Eugene Parish (Fox Point) and St. Francis Borgia Parish (Cedarburg), have twinning relationships with parishes in Uganda. Grandmothers without Borders and World Mission Ministries continue to be inspirational and helpful resources in these efforts to make the world a little smaller.
Contact: Claire Anderson, Pastoral Associate
Email: canderson@strobert.org
Phone: 414-332-1164
Longest Night Prayer Service
Good Shepherd
Menomonee Falls
Longest Night Prayer Service A yearly prayer service of healing on or near the longest night of the year (Dec. 21) specifically for individuals who have experienced some kind of loss (death of a loved one, loss of health, a job, a lifestyle, dealing with depression or mental illness, etc.) For individuals who don't feel like celebrating during the holidays. Through ritual, prayer, scripture and music we practice grieving and letting go. Also known as a Blue Christmas service.
Contact: Maria Migdal RN, Parish Nurse
Email: migdalm@archmil.org
Phone: 262-255-2035
“This Precious Gift” Workshop
St. James
Mukwonago
Elizabeth Ministry of St. James Parish in Mukwonago hosted “This Precious Gift” Workshop. This two-fold workshop will be taught by a teaching team from the Marquette University Institute for Natural Family Planning, the Nazareth Group and the Couple to Couple League. Its focus is to educate about God’s precious gifts of chastity and Natural Family Planning. Workshops may be attended separately or attend as one full day event!
Contact: Krys Crawley
Email: kryscrawley@aol.com
Phone: 262-844-7658
Gospel2Go!
Lumen Christi
Mequon
Our middle school religion teacher, Kevin Schramka, has developed a weekly podcast called Gospel2Go. He has a pair of 7th or 8th grade students reflect on the weekly readings and then they develop a very inspirational message about the readings. Mr. Schramka puts together a script and reflective questions. They also often include our Associate Pastor Peter Berger in the discussion. It is an amazing spiritual journey for adolescents and adults. The students are then able to listen to the podcasts on their iPod (hence, Gospel2Go).
We initially, of course, are targeting our school families and parishioners, but, we want to gain a larger audience. If you want more information or instructions to listen to a podcast yourself let me know.
Contact: Laurie Yingling
Email: lmy@lumenchristiparish.org
Phone: 262-242-7960
Joint Choir
St. Alexander, St. Helen and St. John Kanty
Milwaukee
A tri-parish choir promotes music and prayer in all three of our churches. The choir roster includes members from all three and the choir rotates its appearances among the English masses in all three churches.
Contact: Shelby Schurter
Email: schurters@archmil.org
Phone: 414-744-3695
Variety of Opportunities
Prince of Peace
Milwaukee
Retreat with confirmation candidates and their families, Posadas, Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, RCIA and RCIC Fundraising Activities, Sports and Prayer, Mass with the Children of the Religious Education Program, Community Garden and Work Camp. For more information on any of the following, please contact us below.
Contact: German Diaz
Email: diazg@archmil.org
Phone: 414-645-8786 Ext. 110
RCIA with Other Parishes
St. Paul the Apostle
Racine
For our RCIA candidates with other parishes: Presentations by various pastors and deacons, especially those with specific backgrounds; suggest visiting other parishes; candidates are exposed to varying perspectives and different environments and ideas. Most parishes participate with their candidates in joining together for 6-8 key sessions during the process.
Contact: Anne Marie Clausen
Email: car-amc@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 262-633-3822
Making Disciples
St. Benedict Retreat Center
This workshop will include training in fostering the awakening of faith and intentional discipleship.
Contact: The Catherine of Siena Institute
Email: info@siena.org
Phone: 888-878-6789
Tuesdays with Archbishop Timothy
Blessed Teresa Of Calcutta
North Lake - Monches
Beginning January 8, we will offer a weekly gathering at the parish in response to the initiative: Living our Faith . The event is: Tuesdays with Archbishop Timothy. We will review the previous TV Living our Faith series followed by a discussion. This will give our parishioners an opportunity to grow in faith, and in relationship with others from the parish community.
Contact: Mary Lestina
Email: lestinam@archmil.org
Phone: 262-966-2191
Offer closed captioned Sunday Mass
St. Clare Catholic Church
Wind Lake
St. Clare Catholic Church offers a closed captioned Sunday Mass each week for the deaf and hearing impaired. Three computer monitors are set-up in a section of church and the words spoken or sung at Mass appear on the monitors. The Masses that are closed captioned are indicated in the church bulletin with the closed caption (CC) symbol. A parishioner, who is a court reporter, types the words in real time. Since many people lose their hearing later in life they do not all know how to interpret sign language and this offers them the opportunity to meet Christ in Word and Sacrament.
Contact: Fr. John D. Hemsing, Pastor
Email: Clarewl@tds.net
Phone: 262-895-2729
Establish a twinning relationship
St. Eugene Parish
Fox Point
We have a twinning relationship with a parish in the Lugazi Diocese of Uganda in the village of Nkokonjeru. We’ve had the relationship since 2000 and in those years we have learned a lot about twinning, its ups and downs, rewards and challenges. Overall however it has brought our parish a global awareness it would never have otherwise had, and we have come to meet, know, and live Christ in and with the people of Africa.
Ann Setterlan or Sr. Kathy Slesar
Email: annsetterlun@sbcglobal.net or slesark@archmil.org
Phone: 414-918-1105
Online Religious Formation
Three Holy Women Parish
Milwaukee
Use existing free websites to create interactive, online components of your formation programs. For example, a few years ago, we had a “Catholicism 101” program that met for four weeks, as an informal re-introduction to the faith for Catholics. As part of launching it and creating awareness at the parish, we created a blog on www.blogspot.com that enabled people to submit their questions about the Catholic faith. We’d post answers on the blog, and also enabled them to respond to the posts. We simply pasted a link to the Q&A blog on our website. It’s free, it’s easy, and it helps you created online interactive features for your parish website. You can also use sites like myspace to do similar things. The blog also serves as a place where people can ask general questions about the parish.
Contact: Emily Kang
Email: ekang@threeholywomen.org
Phone: 414-271-6577
Advent Program
St. Mary Parish
Menomonee Falls
On the second Sunday of Advent, we invited adults, youth and children to come and celebrate the Spirit of Jesus' love by Building Prayer Bears for the children in our sister parish in Honduras. Harcourt Religion Publishers was asked to donate the bears and they have generously shared 300 bears with us to be given to the children of Puerto Cortes, Honduras. We will take these soft teddy bears and stuff them and then put a prayerful message in each bear's front pocket! The children will decorate these Spanish messages of prayer and the Prayer Bears will be shared as a sign of hope and a way to share the spirit of Christ's love with the children in our sister parish.
We will begin the event by gathering at the 10:30am liturgy and our students can participate in the Liturgy of the Word for Children during this Mass. We will then proceed to the Activity Center and enjoy a Fiesta that includes a taco buffet, Hispanic music, pinatas and working together to Build our Prayer Bears! We hope this event will bring all ages together to work on a service project that will benefit the children in our sister parish and will be a tangible way to share the love of Jesus with them.
We are grateful to Harcourt Religion Publishers for donating these little prayer bears and we know that those of us who gather in the love of Jesus will work together to bring the spirit of hope and peace to the children of Puerto Cortes!
Barbara Searing , Director of Child Ministry
searingb@archmil.org
262-251-1154
Web Site
ActiveParishioner.com provides many resources that are intended to connects people's Catholic faith with their daily lives.