The Deacon's Page Welcome to all you dedicated deacons out there! We hope you are deeply involved in lifelong faith formation! |
| Dear Deacon, Thank you for your strong service to the parish to which you are assigned. Many of you are in close touch with some of the forgotten and most vulnerable in the community. Many of you preach regularly. Many of you take on ministries for which there is no one else to do them. Thanks for all that! This web site is for YOU. Many of the resources here are free or very inexpensive. To receive them, you must download them directly onto your computer. To do that, you must add what you want to your shopping cart (you can have more than one thing in your cart at a time), proceed through the check-out process, and then click on the icon to download your materials. You will not be charged anything for the resources which are free. But of course, you will be charged a modest fee for those which have a small charge associated with them. If you wish to donate a few dollars to help with the cost of this site, you can also do that. Click here and you will be taken to a donation point. Here are some of the resources available right now, which will be of interest to you: if you'd like to talk to a pastor or parish worker about how to start or sustain lifelong formation in your parish, click here to see a list of willing folks. All you do is send them a note to establish a time to talk, and call at the appointed hour. Lifelong faith formation is centered on helping people have a personal encounter with Christ. That encounter with Christ is the basis of all we do! One thing we know for sure, faith development does not end at primary school. But that's when most of our religious education programs stop. Because it is so new, you may not yet have read Dreams and Visions, the book which explains lifelong faith formation and how to plan for it. To obtain a copy, go here. Every link mentioned in that text is found here. It's no small thing we're doing! Every parish really does need a plan to become more effective in providing lifelong learning. To help you, this web site is loaded with resources. If you're just getting started with pastoral planning as a parish, begin here for a free pastoral planning tool. Or download the FREE resource on the home page to help you plan for the next fiscal year, Parish Vision 2009. So once again, thanks for everything you do for your parish. We're glad you're making use of this support web site, and please let us know if there are other ways in which we can help you! Good wishes for your ministry, Bill Huebsch and the Pastoral Planning Crew |
| Lay people have the obligation to constantly develop a more profound grasp of their Christian faith. Constitution on the Church #37 In the end, the Christian layperson must be to the world what the soul is to the body. Constitution on the Church #38 from Vatican II in Plain English |
| Resources offered on this site |
| Pastoral Planning A step-by-step guide: Dreams & Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation A new book which includes a chapter outlining those all-important Planning Team Meetings. Training How to teach your parish about lifelong formation including excellent PowerPoint presentations to download and use, complete with presentation notes. Implementation How to state and sustain faith sharing throughout the parish using the Question of the Week With free prayer sheets. Prayer Services to accompany faith sharing. You can download and use these in 5 minutes! Outlines for adult or intergenerational Faith Gatherings linked to your children's textbook series. Outlines for adult Bible Studies which are in plain English! Download each session and get all you need in one item. Complete plans for Parish Based Retreats in several practical scheduling formats. Background Material All the current books you need to better understand lifelong formation, plus free articles you can download, copy, and use. Vatican II Lots of strong resources to help you teach about the Council. We are approaching the 50th Anniversary of the date on which John XXIII called Vatican II: Jan 25, 1959. |
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