CNE Newsletter - September 5, 2024

The spiritual pathway of a young adult is marked by essential seasons of transition. The move from high school to college is a necessary time to be connected to a college campus ministry. Leaving college to join the workforce is an essential time to connect to a community of other young adult disciples. Another critical stage is the move into married life, which requires growth in vocational maturity.

Join us for our upcoming annual Marriage & Family Inservice. Fr. Matthew Summe, L.C., our Managing Director for College and Young Adult Evangelization, will share best practices for evangelizing engaged couples in that critical stage of vocational maturity. This is a wonderful opportunity for fellowship and ongoing leadership formation for all those involved in marriage ministry.

Sean Ater
Director, Center for the New Evangelization
sater@catholicaoc.org

All Marriage & Family evangelists, priests, deacons, and NFP instructors are invited to our annual Marriage & Family In-Service on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at St. Mary of the Assumption, Springboro, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. This event is annually hosted by the Marriage & Family Evangelization team to provide ongoing formation and fellowship. Resources and lunch will be provided, and the cost is $5 per person. Please RSVP by September 20, 2024. For more information and to register, click the button below:

Our online meeting for OCIA Coordinators and other initiation ministry leaders to discuss the new translation and the new National Statutes will be on Tues. Sept. 24, from 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. Fr. Jason Williams will be joining us to discuss changes to archdiocesan policy and practice, and Jeremy Helmes and I will be presenting our formation plan for the coming months. It takes time to finalize dates, times, locations, topics, speakers, etc. for all the things we want to do, so thank you for being patient with us!

Register for the online meeting here (scroll down to “MTG FOR INITIATION COORDINATORS”) – and please forward this to the initiation ministry leaders in your Family of Parishes!

Also, regarding the Register for Catechumens and the Register for Reception Into Full Communion, I’m working on a template that parishes can use to create these registers themselves (by formatting pages that are placed in a nice binder), in case purchasing them is cost prohibitive. That template will be uploaded to our OCIA page as soon as it’s ready. Whether you purchase them or make them yourself, you will need to use these registers this year.

Finally, Jeremy and I are happy to come out to your parish, answer questions, meet with your initiation team, train your team, etc. Send me an email (nhardesty@catholicaoc.org) if there’s anything we can do to help.

The Peace of Christ to you,
Nicholas Hardesty, Assoc. Dir. of Adult Evangelization & OCIA

As we continue our journey through Beacons of Light, the Center for the New Evangelization continuously evaluates our own initiatives, programs, and roles as we seek to better evangelize our archdiocese. We know that you are working tirelessly for your Families of Parishes, and we hope that the resources and tools we provide are helping in your mission to evangelize. To this end, the Center for the New Evangelization, with consultation and approval from the Archbishop, has discontinued ACRE testing in favor of the Assessment of Religious Knowledge (ARK). ARK provides "clear, actionable insights that enable you to ensure a robust Catholic foundation" for students in grades 2-12 and their catechists. ARK is required for all parishes in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Your Director of Evangelization has received logistical information regarding preparing for ARK, how to administer ARK, and how to use results from ARK. This includes a series of webinars, formation opportunities, and in-person consulting for every Family of Parishes. If you have not yet identified a Director of Evangelization, your pastor received that email. Please see that email for details regarding the first steps.

All married couples, family, and friends are invited to our annual St. Gerard Mass of Hope for the Blessing of Children on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral Basilica, Cincinnati at 7:00 p.m. This free event is an opportunity to pray for all married couples who are struggling with primary or secondary infertility, or grieving the loss of their infant through miscarriage or stillbirth. This event is hosted by the Marriage & Family Evangelization Team. No RSVP is needed. For more information, click the button below.