National Organization for the Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy

1337 West Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60622-6490; 312/226-1890; Fax 312/829-8915; NOCERCC@cmnonline.com

It is a pleasure to announce that the national office is now on-line through the courtesy of Catholic Ministry Network Online. Our e-mail address is NOCERCC@cmnonline.com. We invite you to send inquiries and information about continuing education programs and resources. The Internet will be another way to network with one another.

This spring’s resources, besides the Summer Listings mailed to you in April, will include the newly revised Sabbatical Programs. This is the ninth resource on the subject published by NOCERCC. This new edition includes two new one-month sabbatical programs for priests offered by Associate Members, St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore and the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha. We will also be publishing the 1997 Convention Booklet containing the presentations made in February in Orlando: Emmaus: Sunday After Sunday by Joan Delaplane, O.P. and Storytelling and the Art of Preaching by Tom Boomershine. Please use them as a continuing educational resource for yourself and for those whom you serve.

The following regions have scheduled meetings for the fall:

Region VI September 2-3 Sylvania, OH

Region XI October 13-14 Los Altos, CA

Region VIII November 10-11 St. Paul, MN

Region V November 17-19 Memphis, TN

Enclosed in this issue is a copy of Parish Staffing According to the Official Catholic

Directory, a statistical report compiled by William P. Daly, S.P.H.R. and reprinted with

permission from the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators.

We extend a warm welcome to new Affiliate Member, Msgr. James E. Wall of the Diocese of Buffalo and Associate Member The Graduate Theological Foundation of Donaldson, Indiana.

The Holy Spirit...Who Speaks Through the Prophets is the title of the John Neumann Summer Institute scheduled for July 28-August 1, 1997 at the Sacred Heart School of Theology. The pastoral and practical focus of the institute is the second part of a trilogy focusing on the Trinity and leading up to the Third Millennium. Speakers include: Sr. Dianne Bergant, C.S.A., Rev. Richard Fragomeni, Ms. Rosemary Haughton and Rev. Michael Himes.

Contact: Sacred Heart School of Theology,

P. O. Box 429, Hales Corners, WI 53130-0429; 414-425-8300.

Regina Tours, Inc. announces two 7-day Priest Familiarization Trips to the Holy Land December 3-9, 1997 and January 8-14, 1998. Both trips depart New York’s JFK Airport and cost $499.00 per person plus tax.

Contact: Regina Tours, Inc., 401 South Street, #4B, Chardon, OH 44024; 800-228-4654; Fax: 216-286-4231.

The two workshops will be given at Weber Center, Adrian, Michigan, July 13-18, 1997. Be on the lookout for the July 12-17, 1998 Beginning a Pastorate Workshop in San Antonio, Texas.

Contact: Sr. Donna L. Ciangio, O.P., National Pastoral Life Center, 18 Bleeker Street, New York, NY 10012-2404; 212-431-7825; Fax: 212-274-9786.

The Executive Committee met in Chicago on April 11-12. Our agenda included reports from the President and Executive Director, updates on the print and video resource, Priestly Relationships: Freedom through Boundaries, the Catholic Coalition on Preaching and the Organizational Directions, an examination of the FY 97 and FY 98 budgets, reports on the conventions of 1997, 1998, and 1999, a review of plans for our 25 anniversary celebration at the 1998 convention, and drafting an agenda for the upcoming meetings of the NOCERCC Advisory Council and the Board of Directors at Techny Towers Conference Center in the Chicago area. We also approved a 1998 endowment fund drawing.

We discussed at length the invitation I received in a letter, dated October 22, 1996, from the late Cardinal Bernardin asking NOCERCC to discuss the statement, Called to be Catholic: Church in a Time of Peril, and consider what implications it might have for our work. I am very pleased that Archbishop Rembert Weakland accepted my invitation to address the Board during our June meeting and lead us in a conversation about this statement and the Common Ground Initiative.

The NOCERCC Advisory Council meets on June 26-27 and the Board of Directors meets on June 27-30. We intend to have a consultation with the council regarding how NOCERCC can assist parish priests in their life and ministry with others. The Advisory Council will have a joint session with the Board of Directors on June 27. These meetings are always wonderful experiences of dedication and commitment on the part of all who participate. I invite you to remember us in prayer during these days.

The new print and video resource, Priestly Relationships: Freedom through Boundaries, is in its final stages. I completed writing the final revision of the Resource Guide in April.

I continue to focus a lot of time and energy in working with the Golden Dome Productions regarding the duplication of the video tapes and the printing of the Resource Guide. Thanks to the twelve-member Task Force for their participation and work on this important project during the past two years. Special thanks to the two priest support groups in San Antonio and Cincinnati for piloting this resource.

I was invited to be present at the summer meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Kansas City on June 19-21 to showcase this new resource. I will have the opportunity to hand-deliver a copy of the resource to each Ordinary during these days. Moreover, I was recently informed that I was given Observer Status, allowing me to attend the sessions of the Bishops’ meeting.

We gratefully acknowledge the Bishops and Major Superiors of Men who generously contributed to our 1996 Appeal. A listing of all contributors is included in this issue of NewsNotes. We are encouraged and honored by this additional support.

I participated in the March 16-17 meeting of the Bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry. This meeting was held at the new Center for Continuing Formation at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore. With my regular written and oral reports on NOCERCC and now on the Catholic Coalition on Preaching, I also had the opportunity to lead the committee in a review of the new print and video resource. Conventual Franciscan Father Canice Conners and Jesuit Father James Gill addressed the committee on the subject of homosexuality and the priesthood. Our next meeting is in September.

The work of the Catholic Coalition on Preaching continues. Following the meeting of the CCOP Governing Board in February, the CCOP Executive Committee met in March and in May. We are pleased that Bishop Sylvester Ryan and Bishop James Malone accepted my invitation to serve on the Governing Board. I wrote an invitational letter to forty-five seminaries/schools of theology and twelve national organizations. Two schools of theology and one national organization has recently joined the Coalition. In the midst of initial planning for the 1999 national conference, we are making final preparations for this year’s national conference in Cincinnati on September 21-24. I trust you have received the conference brochure. I encourage you to attend. Your concern about receiving practical resources for your work continues to be voiced. The change to a Sunday evening-Wednesday noon time frame is meant to signal to Sunday preachers that this conference is indeed for us. I know you will find the conference beneficial both personally and in your continuing education/formation ministry.

I almost forgot - keep sending in those contributions to the endowment fund. We need $39,000 to reach our goal by February 1998.

Francis S. Tebbe, O.F.M.

The Washington Theological Union welcomes experienced ministers for an academic year or single semester sabbatical. Opportunities include classes at WTU and other schools of the Washington Theological Consortium, workshops on issues of personal and ministerial growth, leisure and recreational activities, attention to the integration of theology and the arts. Comfortable, attractive on-site residence available. WTU’s location facilitates easy access to events in the nation’s capital.

Contact: Carol Regan, S.U.S.C., WTU, 6l896 Laurel St., NW, Washington, DC 20012, 202-726-1716 or 800-334-9922.

Directions Ministries announces a 12-day Spiritual Direction Workshop July 28-August 8, 1997 on the campus of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. Offered in the traditions of Ignatius, John of the Cross, Merton and Teresa, it takes advantage of contemporary authors as well as pertinent ecclesial theology. Presenters include Rev. Gerry Weber, O.M.I. and Ms. Billie Castro, R.N. Graduate credit available through Oblate School of Theology. Contact: Directions Ministries, 334 West Kings Highway, San Antonio, TX 78212; 210-732-8024; Fax 210-732-6143.

R.P.I. convocations were held in the Dioceses of Fresno, CA (January 20-23) and San Bernardino, CA (January 29-30). Convocations are scheduled for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OH (June 9-12), Bismarck, ND (September 1-4), Jefferson City, MO (September 22-24) and Salina, KS (October 20-23). For information about scheduling a R.P.I. convocation in your diocese or province, contact the National Office.

The Weston Jesuit School of Theology is offering a new six-week continuing education program for theological and pastoral renewal from September 29 to November 7. For information on this six-week program or the full-semester/year sabbatical and other courses and programs, contact Mary Pat St. Jean, Director of Admissions, WJST, 3 Phillips Place, Cambridge, MA 02138-3495; 617-492-1960; Fax: 617-492-5833.

Drs. Joseph and Eileen Connolly invite you to sign up for a week of personalized coaching and skill development at one of their upcoming Institutes in Effective Group Leadership: June 22-28 and October 19-25 in St. Louis, July 6-12 in San Francisco, and July 20-26 in Fairfield, CT. The new workshop entitled People-Centered Homilies is scheduled for July 1-3 in the San Francisco area, July 29-31 in Fairfield, CT and October 28-30 in St. Louis.

Contact: Communications Center #1, 214 S. Meramec Ave., St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-863-7267; Fax: 314-863-7263; e-mail: ComCntr1@aol.com

The 8th National Convention of Asociacion Nacional de Sacerdotes Hispanos will be held in Corpus Christi, Texas, October 13-16, 1997. The convention theme is “Jesus Christ, Head and Shepherd of the Church, and the Hispanic Priest.” ANSH was established in 1990 to serve Hispanic priests through fraternity and support for their life and ministry.

Contact: ANSH, 2472 Bolsover, Suite 442, Houston, TX 77005; 713-528-6379; Fax: 713-528-6379.

Msgr. Vincent Walsh, pastor of Presentation B.V.M. Parish in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania announces the annual priests’ revival conference June 16-20, 1997 at St. Joseph in the Hills Retreat House, Malvern, Pennsylvania. The conference team includes Rev. Robert Faricy, S.J., Rev. Thomas DiLorenzo and Mr. Henri Lemay.

Contact: Presentation B.V.M. Parish, 204 Haverford Road, Wynnewood, PA 19096; phone and Fax: 610-896-1970.

Meetings, Bloody Meetings dealing with the practical side of running an effective meeting and its sequel, More Bloody Meetings which aims to develop the social skills of being a chairperson, may be rented from the National Office at a cost of $25.00 per tape.

40,000.00

10,000.00

Rev. Paul L. Golden, C.M.

Rev. Don Piraro

Making Good Preaching Better, by Alvin C. Rueter, Ph.D., is a textbook based on Dr. Rueter’s preaching workshops and experience. It has homiletical exercises that proceed step-by-step allowing preachers the possibility of success a step at a time. The book is available for $19.95 from the Liturgical Press, St. John’s Abbey, P. O. Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321; 800-858-5450.

The Ministry Planning & Review (MP&R) is a performance analysis process to cultivate the church as God’s people by improving the performance of pastors, key leaders, staff teams, and congregations. Two packages are available: MP&R for Clergy/Clergy-Parish Relations Committee, and MP&R for Head of Staff/Member of Staff. Each package is $59.95 and includes a video, an instructional manual, and a readings booklet. Contact: Center for Parish Development, 5407 S. University Ave., Chicago, IL 60615; 773-752-1596; Fax: 773-752-5093.

Preparing for the Jubilee: Year One, 1997 is a resource kit available to help parish staffs plan for the millennium at the local level. Developed by the U.S. Catholic Conference, Department of Education and published by the USCC Office for Publishing and Promotion Services, the kit is available for $13.95 and may be ordered by calling 800-235-8722.

Avery Dulles, S.J., in his new book The Priestly Office: A Theological Reflection explores the nature and status of the priesthood drawing on the teachings of Vatican II, post conciliar theology and the teachings of John Paul II. Available from Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Blvd., Mahwah, N.J. 07430; 800-218-1903; Fax: 800-836-3262.

Making Parish Meetings Work, by Medard Laz, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, is a step-by-step guide to plan for, conduct, and evaluate meetings on both the parish and diocesan levels. The book is mindful of the necessity of prayer and the guidance of the Spirit as a group goes about its work. The book is available for $5.95 from Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN 46556; 800-282-1865; Fax: 800-282-5681.

First Things First an audio tape by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, may be borrowed.