CHARLOTTE — Twelve delegates from the Diocese of Charlotte are ready to participate in the fifth National Encounter of Hispanic Ministry Sept. 20-23 in Grapevine, Texas.
The national event, themed “Missionary Disciples: Witnesses of God’s Love,” is expected to be a crucial turning point for the Catholic Church in America and its response to the growing numbers of Latino Catholics in the United States.
It will focus on discerning ways in which the Church in the U.S. can better respond to the Latino presence and strengthen the ways in which Latinos respond to the call to missionary discipleship. It will be led by U.S. bishops and delegates in diocesan leadership roles from across the country as well as leaders of Catholic ecclesial movements and Catholic organizations and institutions.
The 12 delegates have been commissioned by parishes and vicars of western North Carolina to be the bearers of the voices of thousands of Hispanic Catholics, practicing or not, about their spiritual and material needs in the Charlotte diocese.
Of the 64 parishes in the diocese which serve the Latino community, 42 – counting organized groups – sent final reports of conclusions and suggestions reached during a series of meetings held at the vicariate and regional levels over the past several months.
For Eduardo Bernal, coordinator of the Hispanic Ministry for the Charlotte vicariate, these grassroots-driven recommendations deal with familiar challenges: how to engage youth, improving adult faith formation, and training more lay leaders to assist priests in serving the fast-growing immigrant community of approximately 225,000 Hispanic Catholics in the diocese.
“The development of youth ministry is a very important issue,” Bernal said.
While there is a diocesan youth ministry office, it is predominantly geared to English-speaking youths, he noted. Parishes with large numbers of Hispanic youth have separate youth and faith formation programs in many cases, but the initiative is left to the parishes.
“Although 58 percent of our Catholics under 18 are Hispanic, we do not serve them as we should,” Bernal said. “And we limit ourselves, in the majority of cases, to offering them catechesis.”
“It is true that almost all of them speak English,” he added, “but the idea of some pastors that these children should go to the group in English is not necessarily correct, because there are many cultural differences and they do not feel comfortable.”
Other diocesan priorities that will be brought to the National Encounter are the need to: increase formation and spiritual direction programs for adults, the promotion of religious vocations, an increase in the number of bilingual ministers, training of lay leaders, development of family ministry, and expansion of evangelization efforts.
But not everything the Charlotte group will present are obstacles to overcome. The regional meetings thus far have been valuable in compiling suggestions and proven success strategies that they want to share with other groups, delegates have said.
As Sister Joan Pearson, delegate for the Salisbury vicariate, pointed out, “Now we have to prepare ourselves to be true delegates of our diocese and region.”
At the national level, the V Encuentro process has involved more than 250,000 missionary disciples in organization, collection and processing of information. More than 2,500 lay delegates, 250 bishops, representatives of the Vatican and observers from the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), the Episcopal Conference of Mexico (CEM) and the Canadian Catholic Bishops Conference (CCCB) are expected to attend the event.
— César Hurtado, Hispanic Reporter
Parish capital campaign kicks off Sept. 22-23
HENDERSONVILLE — An influx of families has brought more life into Immaculate Conception Parish – so much so that the need for more space has culminated in what some are calling a perfectly timed blessing.
Immaculate Conception Church was founded in 1912 and now is home to more than 1,710 registered households. The parish has 113 parish organizations, more than 440 children in its faith formation program, and 150 students enrolled at Immaculata School. Space to accommodate all these activities has been sorely needed.
To accommodate the growth, the parish recently purchased a 9,500-square-foot building next door. Besides the extra space, the property also came with additional parking spaces.
“We’re keeping up with our 10-year plan,” explained Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz, pastor. “It’s been such a blessing. One thing after another has fallen into place.”
The building was renamed the St. Joseph Center, in honor of the patron of the Universal Church, spouse of the Blessed Mother and foster father of Jesus.
“The St. Joseph Center looks over our church (literally). We have a statue of him inside the doors,” Father Schratz said.
The center is a “green building,” which means that it is energy efficient.
The St. Joseph Center currently has 18 tenants renting office space, so the parish works around their business hours when using the additional space in the building. Those leases will end late next summer, and at that time the office spaces, which are flexible spaces, will be altered by Sept. to meet the needs of the growing parish.
“We needed more meeting rooms for groups, for our teens and for our Good Shepherd catechesis program,” Father Martin said.
In order to fund the upfit to the St. Joseph Center, the parish will kick off a $2.5 million capital campaign Sept. 22-23.
The campaign will also fund renovations to Immaculata School, which was built in 1961 and has never been renovated.
The 9,500-square-foot St. Joseph Center will provide much-needed space for parish faith formation and meetings. (Photos provided by Immaculate Conception Church)Of the campaign funds, $1.5 million will be used for the center and $1 million is earmarked for the school renovation.
Parishioners Jim Welter and Jay Thorndike are helping to spearhead the capital campaign.
“We’re going to take care of our buildings,” Welter said. “It’s a way to meet the educational needs of our parish family. It’s taken a while, but we have to wait on the Lord.”
He said he is pleased with the growth of this former “retirement parish.”
“I am so enthusiastic that the parish as a family is growing. I have such an appreciation for working with our parish plan and the committee,” he said.
“Father Schratz and the campaign leadership have put together a strong plan to encourage parishioners to make a pledge to the campaign. They aren’t just taking care of buildings. The activities that will happen in these buildings, whether it be the center or the school, will change lives,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan development director, who is assisting the parish with this campaign.
The capital campaign pledge period will run for three years.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter