Journey in Faith
Thanks to all who attended our first parish meeting on October 6 to discuss and give feedback to the Archdiocese about the options for future parish alignments.
Our next parish meeting for Journey in Faith will be on October 27 at 6 PM in O'Malley Hall. We will gather any new feedback about the options, and prepare ourselves to understand the next steps in the process. We will also pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us individually and as a parish community to plan for the future and accept the decisions that are made.
Anyone can still provide feedback at dbqjourneyinfaith.org as often as you wish. Click on the Feedback button in the upper right corner on that page.
Journey in Faith Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You accompanied your disciples on the way to Emmaus.
As we journey in faith,
we trust in your Spirit
to open our eyes
to set our hearts on fire
and to transform our parishes.
Make yourself known to us
through breaking open word and bread,
that we may travel together on mission;
to grow disciples, cultivate leaders and unify parishes,
with our journey ending in You,
who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Journey in Faith is the process of the Archdiocese of Dubuque to involve parishes in planning for the future.
St. Anthony’s Journey in Faith Team Members were selected by Father Steve to help facilitate the feedback process from our parish to the Archdiocese. Their role is to impartially record and submit the feedback of parishioners at our local meetings to the Journey in Faith Core Team at the Archdiocese.
The members listed below are advocates for our parish. They are not decision makers in this process. Decisions will be made by Archbishop Zinkula, with input from those who participate in the upcoming meetings and through the online Feedback Form.
Besides Father Steve and Sister Margaret Anne Kramer,
the Team Members are:
Jackie and John Gonner
Sharon Heiderscheidt
Deacon Bill Hickson
Doug Schuster
These parishioners will be facilitating our local parish meetings, scheduled for October 6 and 27 at 6:00 PM in O'Malley Hall. We thank them for their time and dedication for this very important work.
Please plan to attend both parish sessions. We value your input.
Review the FAQs, maps, and other resources found at dbqjourneyinfaith.org.
Journey in Faith Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You accompanied your disciples on the way to Emmaus.
As we journey in faith,
we trust in your Spirit
to open our eyes
to set our hearts on fire
and to transform our parishes.
Make yourself known to us
through breaking open word and bread,
that we may travel together on mission;
to grow disciples, cultivate leaders and unify parishes,
with our journey ending in You,
who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I invite you today to embark on a new path with me—a Journey in Faith. This is a call from the Holy Spirit to examine how we live our Catholic faith and how we can best support our parishes, our priests, and one another for generations to come.
This work is a culmination of over a year of seeking feedback, discussion, and prayer. In addition to my own conversations throughout the diocese, I worked with an Envisioning Team, a group of 16 clergy, deacons and lay people from across the Archdiocese. Together, we reflected on where we have been as an archdiocese, where we are today, and where we want to go. I am grateful for their hard work.
Our vision is to be an engaged archdiocesan community of joyful missionary disciples, centered in our Eucharistic relationship with Jesus Christ and united through our legacy of faith. This vision will come to life through our three key priorities: evangelization, leadership formation, and pastoral planning. We must create the conditions for missionary discipleship to flourish, priests to be supported in their vocation, and every parish, school, and ministry to be part of a sustainable and spirit-filled network of evangelizing communities.
In order to achieve this vision and mission, we must address the challenges facing our archdiocese today, which include regional and archdiocesan population shifts, a decline in the importance and practice of religion in our society, and too few priests to staff 160 parishes. The net result of these challenges is that we are limited in the time, energy, and resources we are able to allocate to current ministry needs associated with sustaining and growing our Church.
Journey in Faith will examine the current organizational structure of parishes and schools to evaluate how they can best meet the needs of the faithful and address the challenges facing the Church today. It will be a discernment of how we will move from simply maintaining the parishes we have, towards a more mission-focused network of parishes.
You will be invited to participate in sessions at your parish to offer feedback, share ideas, and express hopes or concerns. These are real opportunities for dialogue and discernment. I ask that you approach them with an open heart and trust in God’s providence. I want to hear from you.
What can you do now?
· Pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance
· Stay informed through parish communications
· Support your parish through service and stewardship
· Join a small group or faith formation opportunity
· Encourage and support your parish leaders
· Pray for our Archdiocese and clergy
This journey will not be easy, but I believe it will be fruitful. I truly believe the Holy Spirit is calling us forward — to TRUST each other, to TRANSFORM our Church, and to do it TOGETHER. If we walk this path with courage, with faith, and with love — listening to one another and to God — we can renew our Church and build something lasting for generations to come.
With you on this Journey in Faith,
Archbishop Thomas Zinkula
Archdiocese of Dubuque
For more information on Journey in Faith click on dbqjourneyinfaith.org button below.