Diocesan departments shift, refocus efforts JACKSON — Over the past few months there have been several departmental changes for various ministry offices of the Diocese of Jackson.
Organizationally, diocesan offices are divided into six departments. The departments and their directors are:
Ecclesiastical Affairs – Father Elvin Sunds, Administration and Finance – Bill Dunning, Catholic Charities – Linda Raff, Formational Ministries (previously Educational Services) – Sister Deborah Hughes, Evangelization – Mary Woodward, Stewardship and Development – George Roman.
Each department is comprised of different offices that relate in a specific way to the needs of different groups and individuals in the diocese.
In looking at the previous organizational chart, department heads/directors felt if some offices were shifted into other departments, they might be better able to collaborate and, therefore, create a more efficient and cohesive ministry focus to more effectively serve the parishes, missions and individual Catholics of the diocese.
Bishop Joseph Latino asked Sister Hughes and Woodward to look at the 2005 organizational chart and recommend changes to create more focused ministry efforts and to prevent duplication.
Sister Hughes and Woodward used the U.S. bishops’ document, “Go and Make Disciples: A National Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States,” as a guide in making their recommendations.
Go and Make Disciples provides three goals of evangelization. The first goal is: to bring about in all Catholics such an enthusiasm for their faith that, in living their faith in Jesus, they freely share it with others.
This goal underscores the need for Catholics to be formed and informed in their faith so they feel comfortable sharing it with persons of other faith traditions.
Sister Hughes and Woodward noted the ministries in what was previously called the Department of Educational Services fit very well into the theme of Goal I.
They said the name of the department, however, seemed limiting in its scope, in terms of the services being offered by the department at this time. They recommended the department henceforth be known as the Department of Formational Ministries.
According to Sister Hughes, the title “formational ministries” fits the focus of all the offices in the department much better because it acknowledges learning happens at all stages of a baptized Catholic’s life.
“When people hear the words educational services, they first and foremost think of structured classroom settings. We wanted to highlight the reality of the various services and opportunities available for all age groups in the diocese. The goal of all of our programs is to enhance the lifelong faith development and formation of Catholics from womb to tomb,” she said.
The Department of Formational Ministries will now include the Office of Faith Formation (lay leadership training and certification, Spring Hill master’s program, small faith communities, religious education in parishes and schools, adult education), the Office of Black Catholic Ministry, the Office of Campus Ministry, the Office of Hispanic Ministry, the Office of Youth Ministry, the Office of Catholic Schools (schools, learning centers), and the Diocesan Audio-Visual Library.
“We believe the new name better reflects the specific ministries and resources in faith formation available for all ages. In that way, we are able to better focus our efforts on Goal I of Go and Make Disciples for the people of our diocese,” Sister Hughes said.
Goal II of Go and Make Disciples states: To invite all people in the United States, whatever their social or cultural background, to hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ so they may come to join us in the fullness of the Catholic faith.
“This goal focuses on evangelization and communication of the Catholic faith to non-Catholics,” said Woodward. Offices in the evangelization department strive to reach Goal II.
“Evangelization in this sense is done in many ways ranging from inviting friends to come to Mass or other church events to reaching out to Catholics separated from their faith to using print, radio, TV and the internet in sharing our faith to having well-crafted liturgies that inspire and welcome people to our faith,” she said.
The Department of Evangelization will now include the Office of Evangelization, the Office of Communications, Mississippi Catholic, the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogue, the Office of Liturgy, the Office of Special Events and Cathedral Liaison.
Goal III of Go and Make Disciples states: To foster gospel values in our society, promoting the dignity of the human person, the importance of the family, and the common good of our society, so that our nation may continue to be transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ. This third goal is best met by the ministries and services offered by Catholic Charities agencies.
Two diocesan programs, Child Protection and the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), because of their distinct phases and components, are ministries with personnel from different departments of the chancery.
In the Office of Child Protection, the “prevention aspects” of the program – the screening and educational components – are coordinated by Vickie Carollo who has moved to the Department of Formational Ministries, since youth programs originate there.
The “response component” of the Protection of Children program – the investigations of alleged child abuse by church personnel – will continue to be handled by the vicar general through the Department of Ecclesiastical Affairs.
The RCIA program also has various aspects that will be handled by personnel in two departments. Outreach and invitation to persons of other faiths will be initiated through programs of the Department of Evangelization.
The other aspect of RCIA – the curriculum of instruction used to introduce the basics of the Catholic faith – will be provided by the Office of Faith Formation.
In using Go and Make Disciples as a guide to reorganize the diocesan departmental structure, Sister Hughes and Woodward believe the essential efforts and mission of the church – evangelization – will be better focused and implemented by diocesan staff in tandem with parishes, missions and schools.
“We wanted to model a more collaborative organizational structure in order to promote better communication and enhance services for the people of the Diocese of Jackson,” Sister Hughes said.
“The previous structure was good and our offices collaborated on many initiatives, but we believed there was room for updating and improvement,” Woodward added.
