Dear 

Happy 2015! 

Someone asked for a reminder of why you are getting this email called Lay Network Update. This is why: You are a lay person (or supportive priest or deacon) in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and you are willing to take responsibility for making this archdiocesan church the kind of community Jesus modeled. For this, the community needs some on-going channels of communication. You have joined this email network to connect people from the 188 parishes in the Archdiocese and to bring a lay voice to the Archdiocesan decision-makers.  You are always free to unsubscribe, but we hope you will stay connected and add your voice to our effort.

Email us at [email protected] with your concerns. We will post them on our email Bulletin Board below.

• 1st piece of news for 2015: Archbishop John Nienstedt has agreed to meet with a delegation from CCCR/Council of the Baptized to discuss how we can work together for the Church's mission. For this first meeting, on January 20, Bob Beutel, Paula Ruddy, and Mary Beth Stein will meet with the Archbishop and his invitees, Fathers Charles Lachowitzer and Erich Rutten, at the Chancery Office. Will you pray that all of us may be open to the Holy Spirit? We are hoping that we can set up regular channels of communication.

• 2nd piece of news for 2015: To bring the people's voice to the Archdiocesan decision-makers, we need to grow our Lay Network. Can you ask fellow parishioners to join up? The Network now numbers 1540 people from 89 parishes. The parishes are grouped in 15 geographical deaneries. Go to www.cccrmn.org to see the whole set-up. People can register for the Lay Network on the home page.

• 3rd piece of news for 2015: What are we going to communicate about? Last year we concentrated on having input into the selection of our bishops. This year we will concentrate on bringing input to the U.S. bishops for the Synod on the Family taking place in October, 2015, in Rome. Pope Francis has asked all the Catholic bishops of the world to survey their people on how the Church can bring pastoral care to families, including couples who use contraception, divorced and remarried couples, gay and lesbian families, and cohabiting couples. What is the Holy Spirit leading you to think about these issues?  You can read about the Synod here.

CCCR/Council of the Baptized has a team working on info-gathering, and we hope to discuss how we can work together with Archbishop Nienstedt on this Vatican mandate.  We will update you on what action to take. If any individuals want to help on the HealthySexuality Team, reply to [email protected]

. You will be welcome.

Invitation from Council of the Baptized

Come to the Council of the Baptized meeting on Tuesday, January 13, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 S. Snelling, St. Paul. We meet at 7:00 p.m.   Nancy Gotto will present some ideas and facilitate a discussion around the evolution of consciousness: Re-membering Who We Are. A journey of transformation through the Meditations of Richard Rohr. Then at our February meeting, Sr. Catherine Michaud will take us further with Faith Development and our Choice to Evolve.  Both of these segments of "Evolving our Thinking" will guide us into deeper understanding of ourselves as well as compassion with others wherever they are on their spiritual journey. 

You can still write to the Papal Nuncio asking for a broad consultation process before he submits recommendations for Archdiocesan leadership. You can tell him who you think would make a good bishop. According to the CCCR Bishop Selection poll of 2014, Fathers J. Michael Byron, Paul Feela, and Timothy Wozniak (alphabetical order) have the confidence of many people, but you should tell the papal nuncio whatever seems best to you. His address:

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan�

3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20008                         or email at [email protected]

BULLETIN BOARD

"The mission of the church is to follow Christ in proclaiming the good news, to be the place where truth is told, where the unseeing have their eyes opened to reality, and where oppression and injustice are overcome and a reign of peace and justice is established among humans and with the earth.  The church's mission is to be a community of liberation, a redemptive community where one has a taste of what the world would be like if all forms of evil were overcome.  This mission can never be complete and final within the finite conditions of history, but the church must be a place where humanity is moving in the direction of redeemed and redemptive living.  Above all, the church should not be a place where new evils are constructed, perpetuated, and justified!" Rosemary Radford Ruether

Let us know what you think.

In joyful hope,

CCCR and Council of the Baptized Lay Network Organizing Team