Jim Smith

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
B ible 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.

See below for
information
about a
powerful
workshop
provided by
Jim.

Free and
unlimited
consultation
with Jim is
available to any
parish in the
world via
telephone or
e-mail.

To schedule a
phone call,
simply send an
e-mail to Jim
suggesting
several good
times. If you
want to work
with him as a
staff, request a
time which
works for a
conference call.

There is no
charge for this
service. All you
pay for is the
call.

It is also
possible for Jim
to work with
your diocesan
or parish group
in person, but
there is a fee
for this service.
To open a
conversation
about this, click
here to send
him a note.

Meet Jim Smith

Jim is a visionary leader with over ten years
experience directing non-profit organizations and
more than twenty years with leadership
responsibilities. He relates with ease to very diverse
communities. He is passionate about human
transformation. Jim possesses excellent speaking and
writing skills with a strong ability to synthesize and
summarize with clarity. He brings personal qualities
of intelligence, integrity, compassion and
organization to all his public roles as director,
facilitator and collaborator.

In 2006, Jim launched Deep Down Things, a
professional retreat and seminar firm offering a
concentration on topics of service, vocation,
collaboration, and contemplation in daily life, even
in the midst of a busy world.

He served as Executive Director of Simpson
Housing Services in Minneapolis from 2003 - 2005,
and in this capacity he provided leadership, training,
and management. Simpson Housing serves homeless
adults and families seeking aid and comfort.

Prior to and since his work with Simpson Housing,
Jim has also served in several key leadership roles in
Catholic parishes, including ones where he was
responsible for pastoral planning, leadership,
and teaching. He also served as Campus Chaplain
at the University of St. Thomas.

Jim has completed the Certificate Series on Human
Resources -- University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN.
He holds a Master of Arts in Applied Spirituality
from the University of San Francisco, San Francisco,
CA and a Masters of Divinity in Theology from the
St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of
St. Thomas, in St. Paul, MN. He also holds a
Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of St.
Thomas.

Jim has made eight trips to serve various
development projects in the highlands of Guatemala.
He is an active member of the Council of Non-Profit
Executives (CAE) and an active member of the
County Advisory Board on Homelessness. He has
provided weekly mentoring to a Minneapolis, inner
city neighborhood teen group, and is currently a
member of ISAIAH, a Christian/Jewish social
justice/advocacy network.

He is author of the upcoming book, Give Them
Something to Eat from Twenty-Third Publications,
along with numerous articles and other works.

Click here to download in PDF
a FREE article by Jim Smith:
Learning Some Lessons:
Catechesis Can Happen
Anywhere!

Dreams & Visions
Workshops & Training

Jim Smith and Bill Huebsch
work as colleagues,
providing training for parish leaders,
including pastors, liturgical and
catechetical leaders,
on the ways and means
of doing pastoral planning
which results in sound programs
of lifelong faith formation
for your parish.

To contact them, click here to send
an e-mail requesting more
information.
To see what a typical workshop
requires and how it flows,
click here.

Powerful Parish or School Staff Workshop...
Give Them Something to Eat
by Jim Smith

Parish level. Let Jim lead your group through a workshop designed to facilitate a deep conversation
about how to finally, really, and effectively bring the adults of your community into lifelong learning. This
brilliant workshop is based on Jim's acclaimed new book, Give Them Something to Eat. In it, he will
work directly with you to create a formation and training day for your leaders which will change forever
the way you do business as a parish or school.

Diocesan level. This workshop is also available as a diocesan training day, bringing together leaders
from many parishes at once. For your diocese, this will be a life-changing experience. Jim will work
directly with you to tailor this workshop to your specific culture and needs.

To learn more, click here and send Jim a personal, private note.

FREE Article!

Click here to download a powerful new article
by Jim Smith which will help you launch
effective lifelong faith formation in your parish:

Courageous Conversations

Here's a great new article
from Jim Smith:
Becoming a Coordinator
for Lifelong Faith
Formation

Click here to get your copy!
Share it with others!
It's FREE!

Take me:
to the
H ome P age

to the
Resource
Center

to
"Getting
Started"