Certified lay church ministers honored

at August MCEA convention

MN bishops first to approve statewide certification process

by Sr. Mary Danielle Johnson, R.S.M.

As part of the August 25th liturgy at the 2005 Minnesota Catholic Education Association (MCEA) Convention and Exhibition August 25-26 at the Civic Center in St. Cloud, MN, six lay women from the Diocese of New Ulm were part of a group of 48 lay ecclesial ministers receiving a certificate endorsed by the six Catholic bishops of Minnesota.

Family and friends joined Archbishop Flynn, Bishop Pates, his associate, Bishop Kinney, Bishop Nienstedt, and Bishop Balke in congratulating these lay men and women on their accomplishment of being the first group in the U.S. to receive state certification. Those receiving certification from the Diocese of New Ulm are: JoAnn Borchert, Holy Rosary, North Mankato (Master Catechetical Leader), Deb Larson, St. Joseph, Montevideo (Practitioner Catechetical Leader), Shelly Mendiola, St. John, Darwin (Professional Catechetical Leader), Betty Nystrom, St. Anthony, Watkins (Professional Catechetical Leader), Pamela Osborne, St. Francis de Sales, Winthrop, (Master Catechetical Leader), and Joanne Pohland, St. Pius X, Glencoe, (Master Youth Ministry Leader/ Catechetical Leader).

With more and more lay persons assuming ministerial roles once filled mostly by clergy and religious, church leaders recognize the need to support them with appropriate education and skills. The Catholic bishops of Minnesota are the first in the nation to approve this statewide certification process for lay persons involved with religious education/ faith formation and ministry to youth. The Minnesota Catholic Education Association (MCEA) certification process is certified by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Commission on Certification and Accreditation.

In 1999 three national organizations representing those ministries - the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership; the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry; and the National Association for Lay Ministers -began work on a common set of standards for lay ministry. Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale, state certification consultant, stated that the Minnesota certification process is based on the National Certification Standards for Lay Ecclesial Ministers, which was approved by the United States Conference of Bishops’ Commission on Certification and Accreditation in 2003.

During the six-month process, candidates for certification demonstrated or gained compe-tencies in five core categories - personal and spiritual maturity, lay ecclesial ministry identity, Catholic theology, pastoral practice and professional practice.

Representatives of each Minnesota diocese then worked with the Minnesota Catholic Education Association to identify compe-tencies for each standard and to create a process of certification.

The certification is a systematic formation process with a format that integrates all aspects of lay ecclesial ministry. Candidates then develop a continuous self-improvement plan, which is submitted along with the progress they have made when seeking certification renewal five years after being certified.

Sr. Mary Danielle Johnson is Director of Continuing Education of Clergy & Ministry Formation for the Diocese of New Ulm.