FORUM FOR SEEKERS

I am a member of the Pastoral Council of the "Diocese created" Transfiguration of the Lord Catholic Church. I believe in its members, and have had many wonderful faith experiences with the people from our local communitites. These faith experiences did not come about simply because we have been "transfigured", but because a wonderful faith had been nurtured in these people through their many years of participation in their local faith communities.

About a year ago, we spent an evening in Council discussing the future of the parish. Almost everyone voiced their opinion that the Youth of our Parish should be our initial focus. As a certified teacher, I couldn't have agreed more. I went one step further and brought up the idea of a "Forum for Seekers". People in our Parish should have access to different programs that fit their unique personalities and talents. I shared this with a fellow council member and he presented it to the group. The idea was third on the priority list, behind getting a Youth Minister and having a place for the Youth to meet. Knowing that encouraging growth in the area of Youth Ministry was actually part of "Forum for Seekers", I agreed with the group to keep working on attaining a Youth Minister and the program in general.

Knowing that the idea was on the 'back burner' for the council,I decided to initiate some ideas I had for "Forum for Seekers". I found a textbook for Bible Study(written by Scott Hahn), and subsequently invited about twenty parishioners from Kirby,UpperSandusky,Forest, and Salem to participate. We met every two weeks until May and will pick up again in the Old Testament a couple of weeks after the Wyandot County Fair. We also tried out more 'Forums.' A Sunday 'Movie night' for adults and youth, a small group study on the "Prayer of Jabez", "Treats for troops" (sending packages to soldiers), "St. Philip Neri Nights", and traveling to hear various speakers, were some of the small programs that were initiated. These small programs were sampled while people participated in their regular ministries such as Bible School, CCD, and the Passion Play.

I was delighted when we were told at a Pastoral Council meeting this Spring, that we had accomplished our goals for the Youth programs and would be dedicating the year to developing the concept of 'Forum for Seekers'. I was excited that many large and small programs might be developed to meet the needs of our parishioners. Unfortunately, during the meeting, I felt as if the spirit of the idea was lost. Our Council facilitator felt that an outside facilitator should be brought in to work on this idea (as had been done with the development of our Parish Mission statement). Our priest said that he would try and find someone. My heart sank. I felt that our parish already had the resources and the leaders to implement many unique and diverse programs. Hindsight being 20/20, I think that I should have stressed that opinion more strongly to the council that evening, but this was the first meeting with the six new council members and I thought that it was not something that had to be settled that night.

When it was announced at a later meeting that a faciliator had been found, I was open to the idea of others receiving help in this area, but disheartened that it would take another year to officially start parish-wide programs.

And why is this history of "Forum for Seekers" worthy of discussion on this Blog? Simply because I was horrified to find out that the facilitator from Toledo that was going to lead the group was going to be paid $13,000 (A real 'bargain' because he usually is paid $26,000!).

My next Post will discuss "Charting Our Future". "Charting Our Future" is the title of the Parish program that is being developed by the facilitator from Toledo and the Pastoral Council. I will share the facts that I know about this project, and my opinions about it. You may make up your own minds on your level of participation in such an endeavor.