“The New Evangelization impels us to continue joyfully responding to the Spirit that never ceases to stimulate our communities to a deep conversion. Our call to celebrate the Gospel and to proclaim it to all our communities is at the very core of the creative ministry of the FIP. With years of Hispanic experience the Federation will continue to respond to the challenges of today’s world and will continue to serve by offering excellent faith, academic, and ministerial formation to our communities and beyond.”
Thy Kingdom Come!
November 18, 2011
Friends of FIP,
I encourage all FIP members that we take advantage of our annual meeting, which will be January 16 to 19, 2012 in Romeoville, Illinois (in the Diocese of Joliet), and that we invite other colleagues, directors of formation institutes or programs, whether at the diocesan, regional or national level, so that they enrich themselves, and enrich us, with their participation. Let us especially invite those friends that many of us have made and have reencountered this year in Collegeville, MN (National Lay Ministry Symposium) and in San Antonio, TX (Emerging Hispanic Catholic Leadership Initiative). Let’s hope to enlarge the table to dialogue and collaborate in the best possible way between those of us who are in the ministry of forming lay leaders and, in particular, Catholic Hispanics of the Church in the United States.
The 2012 FIP annual meeting will give us the opportunity to update the membership and put them in dialogue on what the FIP is involved at the national level:
- National Lay Ministry Symposium: Lay ecclesial leadership and certification! We will deal with topics such as FIP’s invitation to assist in the "equivalencies" for national certification, assisting in the organizing of a follow-up national symposium on the lay ministry topic but in relation to Hispanics, and many more projects and possibilities that may be presented for consideration by the FIP membership.
- Emerging Hispanic Catholic Leadership Initiative: Survive and revive! We will cover topics such as the revision and innovation in FIP’s structure and projection, the invitation to collaborate with Fe y Vida and/or NCCHM in their projects to launch a training program for Hispanic lay ecclesial leaders, the resources and the good institutional relations with members of the network created by the EHCLI of benefit to all FIP members.
We also hope to see the presentation of the new FIP manual, Constructores del Presente y Futuro de Nuestra Iglesia, already in its pre-publishing phase. I thank Carmen Cervantes and the Manual Committee (Sr. Sonia Avi, IHM, Fr. Luis Roberto Aguilar, OP) for their interest and dedication to this project!
In addition, at the meeting in January will have a workshop (Tuesday 17) for updating and professional development presented by Tom Cummings, director of the Satellite Theological Education Program (STEP) of the University of Notre Dame. The workshop will be about online theological training, its possibilities and limitations. This presentation will be in English.
See you at the FIP annual meeting on January 16th to the 19th, 2012 in Romeoville, Illinois, con el favor de Dios!
¡Un abrazo a todos!
In Christ,Reynaldo Montemayor Jr., PhL.
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