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The Diocesan Lay Ecclesial Ministry program is a four-year program that prepares lay men and women for specific roles of service and leadership in and for the Church. This program reflects the standards developed in the document Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry, which was approved by the U.S. Bishop’s Conference in November of 2005.
The Lay Ecclesial Minster is a generic term. It is not itself a specific position title for serving in the Church. It does, however, describe several possible roles lay men and women who feel called to serve in the ministry of the Church. These ministries include, but are not limited to, Pastoral Associate, Liturgy Coordinator, Director of Religious Education, Youth Minister, R.C.I.A Director, Director of Adult Formation and Parish Business Manager.
The Lay Ecclesial Ministry program is a prerequisite for the Diaconate Program. (web link to the Deacon program should be here).
Contact Person
Anne Verbeke
Program Director
219-769-9292, Ext. 280
e-mail – averbeke@dcgary.org
Theology Classes
The four year program includes eight semesters of theology. The classes meet once a week on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings, at the Pastoral Center in Merrillville, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Each semester is 15 weeks long and meets once a week for 3 hours. The academic courses are:
- Introduction to Scripture
- Liturgy/Sacramental Theology
- Introduction to Theology
- Christology
- Introduction to Morality
- Ecclesiology
- Trinity/God
- Synoptic Gospels/Paul
Spiritual & Pastoral Formation
The student is required to participate in the spiritual and pastoral formation component of the program that is held monthly on Saturday mornings. In addition to the Saturday morning sessions the student will attend one weekend retreat per year.
Practicum
The student will be assigned a specific practicum each year of the program. During the first three years of the program the practicum assignment will be in the parish. In the fourth year the assignment will be a supervised practicum at an institution or in a program outside of the parish.
Academic Credit
Catholic Theological Union at Chicago provides both full time faculty and adjunct faculty for the program. Undergraduate credit is available from Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, and graduate credit is available from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago. Interested students must register, and pay tuition at these institutions in order to receive credit.
Those seeking admission to the program must complete an application packet that is available at the Diocesan Office of Lay Ecclesial Ministry. Once the packet is received the applicant will be interviewed by a team that includes the Program Director, a member from the Advisory Board and Formation Committee.
The next opportunity to enroll in the Lay Ecclesial Ministry program will be in 2009. Applications will be accepted from January 1 thru June 30th 2009. The application packet can be picked up at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, located at 9292 Broadway, Merrillville or it can be mailed. Registration forms are not available by internet.
Classes for those enrolling in the 2009 year will be held on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. starting on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. The students enrolled in the 2009 class will continue attending on Tuesday evenings for the four year duration (8 semesters) of the program. Classes are held at the Diocesan Pastoral Center located at 9292 Broadway, Merrillville
Two information nights will be held after January 1. These dates will be made available in the fall of 2008. Contact information is available below if you need additional information or are seeking an application packet in January, 2009,
Contact Person
Anne Verbeke, Coordinator
219-769-9292, Ext. 280
e-mail: averbeke@dcgary.org
The Emmaus Program is a formation program that has been created for parish ministers, catechists, catholic school teachers and lay men and women in our parishes, in order to broaden their understanding of their faith. It is a much less intense program than the Lay Ecclesial Ministry program. The program will focus on the core beliefs of the Catholic faith, with time allocated for input and discussion. Each year 8 - four week sessions will be conducted across the diocese. Four classes will be offered in the fall and four in the spring. Two of the 8 classes will be conducted in Spanish. Each session will be two hours long, and the classes will be taught by a variety of instructors, coming from local universities, who have degrees in theology and scripture. A more detailed outline is found on this website, a registration form is available on this website as well.
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Office of Lay Ministry Formation Resources:
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