Dear Parish Social Minister,

Catholic Charities USA’s Parish Social Ministry Leadership Team and some outstanding collaborators are busy preparing a three-hour institute on PSM at CCUSA’s upcoming Annual Gathering in Albuquerque from September 25-27.

A complete description of this institute, entitled, “Building Up Parish Ministry: Overcoming the Poverty of Imagination”, is found at this link by scrolling down to item “6B”. Scroll down even further to register!

An exciting new addition to the program will be the formal introduction of Plan. Prepare. Protect., a disasters operations toolkit for parishes developed by CCUSA with the support of local agencies and a partnership with the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation.  

Here are other items of note:

1) On October 21 – 22, CCUSA will coordinate a visit for up to twelve agency staff to learn about a parish-based eldercare program that support seniors and their families, offered by Catholic Housing and Community Services (Philadelphia). Limited funding is available to support staff participation. If interested, please contact Jane Stenson (703-236-6237).

2) For 25 years the Catholic Labor Network has brought together Catholic labor union activists and Catholic clergy, religious and lay Catholics inspired by Catholic Social Teaching (CST) about labor, work, and economic justice. Now CCHD has awarded the Network a national strategic grant to foster cooperation between labor and Church organizations to promote justice for workers and immigrants.

In every diocese in the United States, workers have organized in unions and workers’ centers to pursue systemic change and would welcome solidarity from the Church. This offers a great hands-on learning activity for the faithful! The Catholic Labor Network is ready to partner with you in presenting a short program on CST and social justice, followed by an encounter with workers and worker organizations in your community. This could be a short event of a few hours or a longer retreat. Interested? Contact Clayton Sinyai at [email protected] – and if you are in Salt Lake City for the 2019 Social Action Summer Institute, don’t miss the Catholic Labor Network workshop!

3) If you are responsible for PSM at a Catholic Charities agency, please complete the PSM Data Survey 2019 at this link. Data gathered from this survey can assist with advocacy efforts, grant requests, and resource allocation, and can quantify the benefits to Catholic Charities agencies when they commit to parish engagement. This survey’s data will be unpacked at the three-hour PSM institute at the Annual Gathering.

4) The Catholic Climate Covenant is offering pre-registration for its annual Feast of Saint Francis program entitled “We Are All Connected: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor.” This program will complement and accompany the Vatican Synod, “Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology.” It’s a wonderful opportunity for Catholics to explore integral ecology, environmental and climate justice, and the rights of indigenous communities. Click here to pre-register.

5) Are you engaged in a social enterprise connected with parish social ministry? If so, please contact Steve Bogus, CCUSA’s VP for Social Enterprise Initiatives. CCUSA is seeking to identify such individuals to network, brainstorm, surface best practices, and possibly host a webinar.

6) All of CCUSA’s parish social ministry resources – foundational documents, webinars and newsletters, and CCUSA’s PSM Leadership Team contact info – are freely and publicly available online.

7) If you have an inspiring or informative story about the work of Catholic Charities, please submit it to the CCUSA Storybank. These stories are used to promote the work of Catholic Charities through the media. Contributing agencies will be credited for approved stories. Email David Werning with questions. 

Do you know of others who would appreciate receiving these emails? Please share with them this link.

Peace,

Scott Hurd

Vice President, Leadership Development and Catholic Identity