by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker
Diocese of New Ulm

Next month I will note twenty-five years since my appointment as Bishop of New Ulm. I look back on those days with peace and joy, remembering the wonderful things that God has done through his people and the pastoral leaders of the diocese. If someone were to ask me to name five highlights of my ministry during these years, the following would be on the list.

1) I have continually held before the people of the diocese a vision of the Church and a vision of the renewal of the Church as outlined by the Second Vatican Council.

I proclaimed to all that the mission of the Diocese of New Ulm is the same as the mission of Jesus: to build the kingdom of God. The strength of our diocese derives from the fact that it is made up of so many small faith-filled communities. We form one body in Christ, gifted by the Spirit. All members are invited by Jesus to participate in his life and work. We are instruments in making God present in our families, in our work, and in our society.

I reorganized the diocesan staff according to that vision with offices for word, worship, and service, personnel and administration, helping parishes call forth, train, and validate people in their ministries.

2) I committed myself to pastoral planning which involves listening to the people of the diocese in formulating diocesan goals and programs that would be in tune with our mission.

This planning process identified spiritual renewal as the first priority of the diocese. Thus we began our first celebration of RENEW and led us to choose RENEW 2000 as our vehicle for celebrating the millennium.

Lay ministry formation was identified as our second priority. The diocesan staff has gone out to parishes and regions conducting training programs, workshops, consultations, parish ministry days, lay ministry formation programs, and countless meetings to help train people in the ministries that they felt called to by God.

I committed myself to a process of consultation taking seriously the recommendations of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Priests’ Council in the formation of diocesan policies.

Our five year Plans for Parishes helped us to decide how we could provide the best pastoral care for our parishes given our personnel, facilities, and resources. It also led to my authorizing the closing of twelve parishes.

3) I called the diocesan staff to be of service to the parishes of the diocese.

I have supported the work of the diocesan staff through monthly meetings, enrichment days, planning and evaluation sessions.

Regional Assemblies were started in 1977 and have been held almost every fall since. This brought together parish leaders, parish council members, parish committee members, for in-depth training on their roles and responsibilities. Several Diocesan Assemblies were held bringing parish leaders together from all over the diocese on common themes, especially renewal, evangelization, and parish leadership.

Diocesan liturgies have touched the lives of thousands of people; for example, at the annual celebration of the Chrism Mass, the Rite of Election, and the ordination of priests, youth rallies, and Council of Catholic Women conventions. These diocesan liturgies have been models for parishes to follow in the building up of their own liturgical celebrations. I celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation about a thousand times. I have consecrated sixteen churches and presided at dozens of parish anniversaries.

We established a uniform diocesan accounting system, continued the diocesan wide insurance program, and inaugurated the lay pension plan. We had open discussion and reporting of all of our financial affairs. Computers were made available to parishes so that every parish would be able to get their financial reports finished each year with some uniformity and dispatch. We were able to reach out to communities in times of flood, farm crisis, and tornado.

4) I have fostered the ministry of the pastoral leaders of the diocese.

I have worked carefully with the priests of the diocese, especially through the Priests’ Council, the Priest Personnel Board, Presbytery Days, Pastoral Leader Days, Clergy Retreats, and through personal contacts. They have given me constant support and love. We conducted a successful Capital Campaign to support the priests’ retirement fund.

The national movement to have non-ordained pastoral administrators to serve as leaders of parish communities started in the Diocese of New Ulm in 1981.

5) I have taken seriously my responsibility to proclaim the Word of God.

I have written over two hundred pastoral letters for the Prairie Catholic expressing my views on parish renewal, spiritual life, my own personal spiritual journey, and on issues of concern in the diocese and in our Church.

I have made statements to the press on many issues of the day, including war and peace, civil disobedience, nuclear weapons, sexism, ERA, the ordination of married men, moral values, church renewal, poverty and injustice in Guatemala, abortion, women, and capital punishment.

During this time I have also published three books: My Experience: Reflections on Pastoring, The People’s Catechism, and One Hundred Years of Memories. I have also written chapters for several books on catechetics, evangelization, justice in the church, and other issues.

I have given over one hundred and fifty addresses at conventions, ministry days, and conferences throughout the country on topics such as lay ministry, spirituality, catechetics, evangelization, theology, renewal of the church, and pastoral planning. I taught theology courses at the St. Paul Seminary and at the College of St. Catherine.

I have been active in the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, served as President of Pax Christi in Minnesota, Episcopal Advisor to the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership, and the National Association for Lay Ministry.

I look back on twenty-five good years. Throughout all of this I have felt the support of the community that I live with in New Ulm, of my numerous family, and above all the love and care of the Lord Jesus.

The motto I chose when I was appointed a bishop was, "I believe. But help my lack of trust." That has guided all of my ministry in these years.

November, 2000