by Jim Mancari

The diocesan Pastoral Institute commissioned 55 new lay minsters representing 33 parishes on May 16 at a Mass and bilingual ceremony in the chapel at the Immaculate Conception Pastoral Center, Douglaston.

The new lay leaders join nearly 700 lay ministers in the diocese who have successfully completed the three-year program of study, in existence since 2001 and offered in English and Spanish.

The group of new lay ministers who studied at St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, pose with Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez, center, after a Mass May 16 in which the diocesan Pastoral Institute commissioned 55 new lay ministers. (Photo by Jim Mancari)

The ministers attended class once a week for two hours at one of four locations: Holy Family-St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope; St. Sebastian, Woodside; St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights; and the Immaculate Conception Pastoral Center.

“I feel like I’ve been re-evangelized,” said Cathy Femia of Queen of Angels parish, Sunnnyside. “I was excited to begin, and it was a sweet ending.”

Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez celebrated the Mass and preached his homily in English and Spanish. He spoke of the sacrifice each lay minister had made to the Church and the diocese.

“The pastors and associate pastors are stretched; they have a lot to do already,” Bishop Sanchez said. “There are so many things in the parish that priests are no longer able to do. I think the lay ministers make a tremendous contribution.”

The program includes spiritual reflection, mentoring and pastoral preparation. Many of the ministers have full-time jobs and families, so the bishop recognized their dedication to the process.

“I am totally in awe of the commitment that these lay leaders make for the three years,” said Gerald Tortorella, director of the Pastoral Institute. “It’s not easy juggling family, work and their ministry.”

The ministers take theology courses, attend workshops and engage in some sort of ministry project as part of the program. They also take part in days of reflection once per semester.

“We reflected a lot on what it means to be a leader and what it means to be a servant like Jesus was,” said Diana Miller from Our Lady of Light, St. Albans.

The new ministers have been prepared to coordinate new and existing parish programs. The purpose was to broaden their theological knowledge base, deepen their spirituality and enhance their skills as servants to others.

“It was a life-changing experience,” said Ana T. Maldonado from St. Mark’s, Sheepshead Bay, who developed Seton Society, a women’s fellowship group at the parish that applies religious teachings to everyday life, as her ministry project.

“There were times when it was very overwhelming, but looking back, I would have done it all over again. I would recommend it to anyone,” Maldonado said.

After Mass, Bishop Sanchez, Tortorella and Sister Angela Gannon, C.S.J., diocesan secretary for Catholic education and formation, presented the new ministers with certificates and pins.

“Formation is never over,” Tortorella said. “It’s an ongoing process, so we encourage them to participate in the alumni activities and further their formation.”

Newly Installed Lay Ministers

Assumption, Brooklyn Heights – Marianne Theresa Bellucci

Blessed Sacrament, Jackson Heights – Dora Bautista

Blessed Trinity, Rockaway Point – Nancy Jean Treffeisen

Holy Family-St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope – Hugo A. Gallegos, Rubid M. Gallegos, Vicenta B. Gamba

Holy Trinity, Whitestone – Mary E. Fera

Immaculate Conception, Jamaica – Mireille Leys

Jovenes de Valor /Blessed Sacrament, Jackson Heights – Angelica M. Taveras

Our Lady of Fatima, East Elmhurst – Esmeralda J. Hidalgo, Ivonne F. Peña

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dyker Heights – Cynthia M. Campusano

Our Lady of Light, St. Albans – Gladys S. Brown, Diana L. Miller

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunset Park – Fabian Otavalo, Adria Ramirez, Arturo Vázquez Díaz

Our Lady of Refuge, Flatbush – Nive Alexandre, Loretta R. Lucas, Nelson Gerardo Tlatelpa

Our Lady of the Angelus, Rego Park – Simab Aziz, Margaret Anne Ofikwu

Our Lady of the Snows, N. Floral Park – Kevin F. Hughes

Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Forest Hills – Yorke B. Mizelle

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jamaica – Euler Olidio Miranda Miranda, Silvia M. Socop

Queen of Angels, Sunnyside – Arturo Marcelo Carrión, Nalina Christian, Adela Ciriaco, Carmen R. Ciriaco, Reyna Collado, Catherine M. Femia, Liliam Maya García, Ernestina Merino

Resurrection, Gerritsen Beach – James Giorgio

St. Adalbert, Elmhurst – Mary Anne P. Page

St. Agatha, Sunset Park – Maria Jimenez, Domingo David Reyes, Rita M. Reyes, Vilma C. Villatoro

St. Anastasia, Douglaston – Maria E. Acevedo, Yury T. Acevedo, Jesus I. Arroyave

St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing – Karen Vicario

St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the Moor, Jamaica – Claudette Brathwaite-Brower

St. Brendan, Midwood – Carmina De La Rosa

St. Brigid, Bushwick – Jacqueline Perez

St. Charles Borromeo, Brooklyn Heights – Tracy A. Howard

St. John the Baptist, Bedford-Stuyvesant – Marie Sonia Marcellus

St. Mark, Sheepshead Bay – Ana T. Maldonado

St. Mary Magdalene, Springfield Gardens – Miriam Bettis

St. Mary Mother of Jesus, Bath Beach – Patricia C. Ferrera

St. Mary Star of the Sea and St. Gertrude, Far Rockaway – Rosa I. Miranda

St. Matthias, Ridgewood – Maria M. Chamorro

St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Jamaica – Leybi Lorena Lima

The Pastoral Institute is accepting registrations for the 10-week Foundations for Ministry program that begins in February, 2013. The program will be offered in Creole, English and Spanish at various sites in Brooklyn and Queens. Designed for men and women who are discerning participation in the three-year Lay Ministry program or who desire a basic update in theology for ministry, the program is also suitable for persons on their parish’s pastoral council or who are working on implementing their pastoral plan’s goals and objectives.

The Foundations for Ministry Program affords an opportunity to grow spiritually and theologically. As participants grow in faith and knowledge, they experience a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and a desire to share their faith with others. Participants who have attended the classes in the past have expressed appreciation. They have also expressed gratitude for the ability of the instructors to break down the content into easily understood language, allowing them to apply what is learned to their everyday lives and ministry.

In Brooklyn, sessions in Creole, English and Spanish will be held at Our Lady of Refuge School, Flatbush. In Queens, the English session will be at St. Robert Bellarmine, Bayside, and the Spanish session will be held at St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing.

An agency within the Secretariat for Catholic Education and Formation, the Pastoral Institute is committed to the formation of the baptized faithful for various lay leadership roles in the parishes. The Foundations for Ministry course is offered for a nominal fee of $55, which includes all materials.

Anyone interested should contact their pastor or the Pastoral Institute at 718-281-9556 or pastoralinstitute@diobrook.org.

New members take part in small group discussions at the Pastoral Institute’s second Orientation Day for the Lay Ministry Program held at Holy Name of Jesus parish in Park Slope.

At two recent full-day orientation sessions, the Pastoral Institute welcomed 80 new participants for its Lay Ministry Program.

Coming from parishes across the diocese, they embarked on a three-year course of intellectual, spiritual, human and pastoral formation that will prepare them for service in their parishes. Thirty-nine will follow the Spanish-language track while 41 will be part of the English-language track. An additional 88 participants have begun the second year, and 57 have started the third year of the lay formation program.

Sister Angela Gannon, C.S.J., the diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education and Formation, spoke to the new participants during the prayer service that opened the first day held at The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates.

She reminded them that each person has been given gifts from God that are for use in the wider community for building up the Body of Christ. The vocation of the laity, which is rooted in baptism, comes with the responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus.

Jesus’ Model of Service

Sister Angela went on to say that the leadership formation they will receive over the course of the three years is based on Jesus’ model of service.

Participants will study at several sites in the diocese. Classes are being held in English and Spanish at St. Thomas the Apostle, Woodhaven, and the Jesus of Nazareth Diocesan Retreat Center in East Flatbush.

Classes in Spanish also are being held at Our Lady of Fatima, East Elmhurst, and in English at Christ the King, Springfield Gardens.

Seven hundred people have successfully fulfilled the requirements of the program since its inception in 2002.

At the completion of their studies, participants serve as coordinators or team members for a variety of parish programs such as adult faith formation, ministry of consolation, pastoral care of the sick, bereavement, Scripture study groups, women and men’s spirituality, stewardship and liturgical planning. All serve as volunteers, and many participate in more than one ministry.

Gerald Tortorella, director of the diocese’s Pastoral Institute, said, “These persons are to be thanked for making a major commitment of time and talent in order to serve more effectively in their parishes and to promote the new evangelization in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens.”

The Diocesan Pastoral Institute has announced that registrations for the 10-week Foundations for Ministry program that begins in September are currently being taken.

The program will be offered in Creole, English, Mandarin, Polish and Spanish at various sites in the diocese. Designed for men and women who are discerning participation in the three-year Lay Ministry program or who desire a basic update in theology for ministry, the program is also suitable for persons on their parish’s pastoral council or who are working on implementing their pastoral plan’s goals and objectives.

Participants who have attended the classes in the past have expressed appreciation for the spiritual and theological growth and for the opportunity to meet excellent instructors. The course is taught with the adult learner in mind.

Sessions in English will be held at St. Rita’s, East New York, and St. Sebastian, Woodside. The Spanish sessions will be held at St. Rita’s, East New York, and St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights.

Creole sessions will be held at St. Teresa of Avila, Crown Heights; Mandarin sessions are at St. John Vianney, Flushing; and Polish sessions will be held at SS. Cyril and Methodius, Greenpoint.

An agency within the Secretariat for Catholic Education and Formation, the Pastoral Institute is committed to the formation of the baptized faithful for various lay leadership roles in the parishes.

The Foundations for Ministry course is offered for a fee of $45 which includes all materials.

Anyone interested should contact his or her pastor or the Pastoral Institute at 281-9556 or pastoralinstitute@diobrook.org.

The Diocesan Pastoral Institute has announced that registrations for the 10-week Foundations for Ministry program that begins in September are currently being taken.

The program will be offered in Creole, English, Mandarin, Polish and Spanish at various sites in the diocese. Designed for men and women who are discerning participation in the three-year Lay Ministry program or who desire a basic update in theology for ministry, the program is also suitable for persons on their parish’s pastoral council or who are working on implementing their pastoral plan’s goals and objectives.

Participants who have attended the classes in the past have expressed appreciation for the spiritual and theological growth and for the opportunity to meet excellent instructors. The course is taught with the adult learner in mind.

Sessions in English will be held at St. Rita’s, East New York, and St. Sebastian, Woodside. The Spanish sessions will be held at St. Rita’s, East New York, and St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights.

Creole sessions will be held at St. Teresa of Avila, Crown Heights; Mandarin sessions are at St. John Vianney, Flushing; and Polish sessions will be held at SS. Cyril and Methodius, Greenpoint.

An agency within the Secretariat for Catholic Education and Formation, the Pastoral Institute is committed to the formation of the baptized faithful for various lay leadership roles in the parishes.

The Foundations for Ministry course is offered for a fee of $45 which includes all materials.

Anyone interested should contact his or her pastor or the Pastoral Institute at 281-9556 or pastoralinstitute@diobrook.org.

The diocesan Pastoral Institute will begin a 10-week, 20-hour Foundations for Ministry Program in Mandarin Chinese at St. John Vianney, Flushing, beginning in September.   The program is designed for men and women who are considering the three-year Lay Ministry program or who desire a basic update in theology for ministry. It is now offered in five languages: English, Haitian Kreyòl, Polish and Spanish, in addition to Mandarin Chinese.
The program is being made possible by a grant from the Alive in Hope Foundation.
The parishes that are hosting the Foundations for Ministry Program are:
• Holy Family, Flushing: English
• Holy Spirit, Borough Park: Spanish
• Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge: English
• Our Lady of Czestochowa-St. Casimir, Sunset Park: Polish
• Resurrection-Ascension, Rego Park: Spanish
• St. Jerome, East Flatbush: Haitian Kreyòl
• St. John Vianney, Flushing: Mandarin Chinese
The program covers topics such as theology as a field of study; the emerging role of the laity; Jesus’s mission, message and ministry; and moral theology. Persons who successfully complete the program may be eligible to receive ongoing or enrichment formation credits for the Living and Leading by Faith catechist formation program.
Registration forms have already been distributed to pastors, directors of religious education and pastoral associates. Space is limited so early registration is encouraged.  For further information, visit the Pastoral Institute or contact Nelsa I. Elías, Pastoral Institute, 718-229-8001, ext. 304, or nelias@diobrook.org.