June 2019

Q and A Fr. Tim Baltes, chair of the priest personnel committee speaks to a couple of questions regarding the priest structure in the Area Catholic Communities.

Mail input ideas on priest structure from your ACC planning council to Fr. Tim Baltes 214 3rd Ave S PO Box 1248 St. Cloud, MN 56301 or email bkresky@gw.stcdio.org and it will be forwarded to the priest personnel committee.

New diocesan initiative for forming lay ministers The Emmaus Institute is an intellectual and ministerial formation program for lay leadership ministry and potential Latino/Hispanic diaconal candidates from the Diocese of Saint Cloud, in partnership with Saint John School of Theology and Seminary. Its purpose is to create well-formed ministers who will serve the mission of the Gospel in their families, parishes and Area Catholic Communities throughout the diocese. Two cohorts will be formed to begin in September 2019. For more information, visit www.stcdio.org/Emmaus-Institute/.

CALLING ALL CHAIRPERSONS!! Are you the chairperson of your ACC planning council? I would like to put all chairs' names (only) on our planning website. Please email me (bkresky@gw.stcdio.org), if you haven't already, if you are the lucky one to be in this role. Thanks! Brenda

Trouble scheduling a time to meet? Use Doodle .

Doodle  is a simple and easy way to schedule meetings for any number of people.

Gathering Information  You are at the information gathering stage of planning. But what information do you need? How much do you need? Do you need to engage others in collecting information? These are all excellent questions and getting the right information is pertinent to good decision making later on in the process. As you begin to have conversations about the strengths and areas of growth in each parish, know that you may have to go back later to gather additional information. You may realize you don't have all the information you need to make a good decision. Gathering information is a continuous process. Gathering information from a variety of sources and talking with people about likes and dislikes or the reasons behind the actions will help make an informed decision; this is part of the process of consensus decision making and it takes time. This could be an opportunity to engage a larger group of people; a survey perhaps. 

Brenda Kresky Director of Pastoral Planning Diocese of Saint Cloud 214 3rd Ave S. Saint Cloud, MN 56301 bkresky@gw.stcdio.org 320-529-4611

“Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” ― Richard Cushing, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church