As a lay person actually currently praying about how I might serve the Lord through what feels like a call to “teaching and preaching” (although as a woman I feel uncomfortable thinking of myself “preaching” for some reason- I’m a wife and mom so I’m personally thinking along the lines of volunteering for our parish’s RCIA program or som…
As a lay person actually currently praying about how I might serve the Lord through what feels like a call to “teaching and preaching” (although as a woman I feel uncomfortable thinking of myself “preaching” for some reason- I’m a wife and mom so I’m personally thinking along the lines of volunteering for our parish’s RCIA program or something like that…Or potentially becoming a third order Dominican down the road…?) so I was very interested in JD’s idea about an office of preaching. I do understand the criticism of those who think adding more “regulation” to preaching might be counter productive, or that it might discourage the very people who might be most effective, but I do also think it could be a welcome tonic against the “get a bunch of followers on Instagram and now you get to preach for the Church” method. Here in the Twin Cities we have the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute, associated with the Seminary, which is for lay people and, although I am not too familiar with it, seems like the kind of program that could easily feed in to something like a lay office of preachers. It wouldn’t be a theology degree, but enough formal instruction that the diocese could be assured the prospective preacher would be guaranteed to have at least a sound foundation. It would also mean that lay people who felt called to preaching would have a path to pursue or way to discern without having to start a YouTube channel or something first. I also love the idea of a trusted group of lay people who could be available to help support and supplement the preaching of priests who are already in high demand and rather short supply.
As a lay person actually currently praying about how I might serve the Lord through what feels like a call to “teaching and preaching” (although as a woman I feel uncomfortable thinking of myself “preaching” for some reason- I’m a wife and mom so I’m personally thinking along the lines of volunteering for our parish’s RCIA program or something like that…Or potentially becoming a third order Dominican down the road…?) so I was very interested in JD’s idea about an office of preaching. I do understand the criticism of those who think adding more “regulation” to preaching might be counter productive, or that it might discourage the very people who might be most effective, but I do also think it could be a welcome tonic against the “get a bunch of followers on Instagram and now you get to preach for the Church” method. Here in the Twin Cities we have the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute, associated with the Seminary, which is for lay people and, although I am not too familiar with it, seems like the kind of program that could easily feed in to something like a lay office of preachers. It wouldn’t be a theology degree, but enough formal instruction that the diocese could be assured the prospective preacher would be guaranteed to have at least a sound foundation. It would also mean that lay people who felt called to preaching would have a path to pursue or way to discern without having to start a YouTube channel or something first. I also love the idea of a trusted group of lay people who could be available to help support and supplement the preaching of priests who are already in high demand and rather short supply.