With the objective of advancing the six key pastoral priorities identified by the Catholic people of the diocese, the Diocese of Camden has announced a major initiative to help laity engaged in parish work to obtain the educational credentials specific to their area of ministry.
Beginning in January, the diocese’s “Lay Ministry Formation Program” will offer college and university degree and certificate courses for parish leaders and staff in the diocese who serve in various pastoral ministries, including religious education, youth and young adult ministry, campus ministry, adult faith formation, Hispanic and Black Catholic ministry, family life, ministry to seniors, and liturgy. Programs also will be offered for lay persons involved in pastoral administration, Catholic schools, and parish business management.
The diocese is working in partnership with the College of St. Elizabeth (Morristown, NJ), Georgian Court University (Lakewood, NJ), the Center for Ministry Development (Naugatuck CT), and the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center. Additional courses and programs are under development at other institutions, including St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (Overbrook, PA).
Through agreements forged with the participating colleges and institutions, the degree and certificate programs will be offered at a substantial discount of 50 percent of the normal cost for parishioners of the diocese. In addition, candidates that are accepted into the program will pay only 1/3 of the discounted tuition cost. Parishes and the diocese will pay the remaining portion of the cost. Financial assistance also will be made available based on need to those parishioners who cannot pay their portion of the cost.
The diocese also has made arrangements with the participating colleges and institutions so that the courses will be offered at convenient satellite locations within the diocese. Details about the satellite locations will be announced later this fall.
“It is essential that we provide opportunities for laity to become fully prepared to serve in their parishes and to provide the ministries and services the people have said are most important. This major initiative will present wonderful opportunities for parishioners to achieve first-rate preparation in lay ministry by nationally-recognized institutions, all delivered within the diocese,” said Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, D.D., J.C.D., Bishop of Camden.
“This is one of the ways in which we as a diocese are providing not only for the future, but supporting those who serve in ministry in our parishes right now. This initiative, which marks an exciting and grace-filled time in the life of this diocese, is a major step in helping to ensure that the parishes of the diocese are dynamic, life-giving centers that will more fully serve the spiritual needs of the Catholic people in this diocese,” he said.
The lay ministry formation initiative follows the announcement last April of Bishop Galante’s intention to reconfigure parishes in the diocese to strengthen them in the face of shifting populations, changing demographics, a decline in the number of diocesan priests, and a decline in religious practice. The reconfiguration also has as its major goal to advance key pastoral priorities identified at Speak Up sessions Bishop Galante held with parishioners in 2005 and 2006. The pastoral priorities identified were lifelong faith formation, lay ministry, youth and young adults, vocations, liturgy and compassionate outreach.
“The emergence of laity who commit themselves to serving in parish ministries is related not only to the decline in the number of priests available to serve parishes, but also to the laity increasingly assuming the rights and responsibilities of their baptism,” said Father Terry Odien, the diocese’s Vicar for Clergy. “The ordained ministry of the priest—which is essential and irreplaceable—is not diminished but complemented when laity take on the roles proper to their vocation,” he said.
More than 66 percent of parishes nationally now have paid lay ministers, according to a 2005 study commissioned by the U.S. Catholic bishops. Church law requires that lay persons be properly credentialed to carry out ministry in the Church. Yet in the Diocese of Camden, there currently are only two full-time, paid parish staff members educated or certified in Youth and Young Adult Ministry.
The agreements forged by the diocese with Georgian Court University, College of St. Elizabeth and other institutions are designed to address this deficit, while providing new opportunities for laity to become more fully formed in the faith.
“In just a few short months, we, who have no resident Catholic college in any of our counties, will be able to offer, at the local level, Ministry Formation Programs of the highest quality to countless women and men of the diocese,” said Sister Roseann Quinn, SSJ, D.Min., the Bishop’s Delegate for Lifelong Formation at signing ceremonies at the diocese on September 4 and 5 with the College of St. Elizabeth and Georgian Court University.
“Both institutions have generously offered us a 50 percent tuition discount and full privileges at their home campuses, both in-person and on-line. Both offer a full range of ministry coursework for those just beginning, as well as for those seeking to be fully-prepared for leadership in ministry in the parishes.”
The College of St. Elizabeth will offer undergraduate ministry certificate courses in both English and Spanish in religious education, youth and young adult ministry, pastoral administration and liturgy.
Georgian Court University, meanwhile, will offer graduate certificate and degree programs in religious education, pastoral ministry, Catholic school leadership, parish business management and liturgy.
The Center for Ministry Development will offer certificates in youth ministry studies. This certificate program is a national program which equips parish youth ministry leaders with the knowledge, skills and practical tools for creative and comprehensive ministry for youth. The certificate curriculum provides eight different course components with each course consisting of 14 hours of instruction.
The Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center will offer a comprehensive Hispanic Adult Faith/Ministerial Formation program through certification in three levels of course instruction and formation, while St. Charles Borromeo Seminary will offer a certificate in pastoral ministry for those engaged in pastoral service to largely African American parish communities.
Pastors have been invited to identify parishioners who may be candidates for the Lay Ministry Formation Program. Parishioners also may contact their pastors to indicate their interest. Each participating institution has its own admission requirements and application procedures. Those making application also will need a letter of recommendation from their pastor or superior.
An orientation and information day explaining the program requirements and procedures will be held for priests, parish staff and interested parishioners on October 25 at two separate locations in the diocese: the Northeast Hispanic Center will hold a session at St. Bridget in Glassboro from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (lunch included), while Georgian Court and the College of St. Elizabeth will hold their information meeting at St. Thomas More in Cherry Hill from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (light lunch included).
For more information, see https://www.464edee1fa.nxcli.io or call Roger Pisani at (856) 583-6122..