Black Catholics discuss solutions."What we need a plan," said parish pastoral coordinator Joyce Gillie to over 2,000 African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. Catholics gathered at the Archdiocese of Chicago's first-ever Black Catholic Convocation, one of the largest diocesan black Catholic convocations in the history of the United States “American history” redirects here. For the history of the continents, see History of the Americas. The United States of America is located in the middle of the North American continent, with Canada to the north and the United Mexican States to the south. . Delegates from parish communities with significant African American Catholic membership heard presentations on evangelization e·van·gel·ize v. e·van·gel·ized, e·van·gel·iz·ing, e·van·gel·iz·es v.tr. 1. To preach the gospel to. 2. To convert to Christianity. v.intr. To preach the gospel. , stewardship and tithing In Western ecclesiastical law, the act of paying a percentage of one's income to further religious purposes. One of the political subdivisions of England that was composed of ten families who held freehold estates. , parishes, and schools, and then discussed options on which direction to take on these issues. In the evening, delegates voted on resolutions. "These issues are issues for the whole church," said Sister Jamie Phelps, O.P., a member of the convocation's steering committee. But these areas of church life, Phelps contended, are of particular concern for the black Catholic community. In the area of evangelization, delegates discussed whether to establish a task force on evangelization and the training of parish leaders to reach out to nonpracticing Catholics and the unchurched un·churched adj. Not belonging to or participating in a church. n. (used with a pl. verb) People who do not belong to or participate in a church considered as a group. Used with the. , especially through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (often abbreviated RCIA) is the process through which interested adults are gradually introduced to the Roman Catholic faith and way of life. . On the topic of vocations, the resolutions presented various means of increasing and supporting both ordained or·dain tr.v. or·dained, or·dain·ing, or·dains 1. a. To invest with ministerial or priestly authority; confer holy orders on. b. To authorize as a rabbi. 2. and lay vocations to ensure ministry that reflects black culture in the church. The stewardship issue called on the community to research tithing (contributing 10 percent of one's income to the church) and to possibly adopt a tithing program. On the difficult issues of parishes and parish schools, delegates were presented with three choices: a remapping of parishes that would result in fewer, larger parishes, clustering present parishes so ministry teams could serve groups of small parishes, or staying with the present configuration. School options included choosing between supporting schools with majority Catholic or non-Catholic enrollment, or moving to regional schools, maintaining the present system, or getting out of the school business all together. From its grassroots planning five years ago to the inclusion of the convocation's recommendations in the strategic planning of the archdiocese, participants saw the convocation as a new moment in collaboration between the community and the church hierarchy. As Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, said in his homily homily (hŏm`əlē), type of oral religious instruction delivered to a church congregation. In the patristic period through the Middle Ages the focus of the homily was on the explanation and application of texts read or sung during the for the convocation's opening liturgy, "There is here in this convocation no hidden agenda ... except ... to try to see what God is calling us to." For information on the activities of Chicago's African American Catholic community, visit www.blackcatholicchicago.org. Chicago will also host the next National Black Catholic Congress in 2002. |
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