St. Joseph of the Lakes

As we have been living through the pandemic precautions the Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening sessions tended to fade into the background. However, Archbishop Hebda and his team continued to process what they heard and just recently articulated the focus areas of the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod.  These will be three discussion areas for the Synod. The first is forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization. The second is forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call. And the third is the forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.

1) Forming parishes that are at the service of evangelization includes: doing what we can to make parishes more welcoming and accessible; promoting a greater sense of ownership of parish activities; working towards Sunday liturgies that more completely satisfy spiritual needs and send us forth for service; to make parishes a central driving force of evangelization; and to bring the implications of the Gospel into our communities.

2) Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call includes: personally encountering Jesus; fostering discipleship; enhancing adult formation; fostering a universal call to holiness; and to see joyful service as a Gospel imperative.

3) Forming youth and young adults for a Church that is always young includes: supporting parents as primary educators; helping the young encounter Jesus; education at the service of encountering Christ; ministry to millennials; and rethinking structures of young adult ministry.

Throughout this coming year a variety of events will look at these focus areas, with all of this culminating in the Synod which will take place in June 2022 on Pentecost weekend. This will lead to the Archbishop releasing a pastoral plan in November of 2022.