ANNUAL LENT SPIRITUAL RETREAT FOR ALL CATECHETICAL LEADERS: “Behold, I make all things NEW!” The Spirituality of the Eucharist and Christ’s power to feed us. March 23, 2023, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; St. Joseph, New Hope, Mass and Lunch included. Retreat Leader: Fr. Tim Tran, Parochial Vicar of St. Stephen’s in Anoka and Archdiocesan point person for the Eucharistic Revival. “…when we’re one with Christ in our belief of his true presence among us and within us, we can spread his fragrance to those around us.”

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 - 8:30-1:30 pm at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church. Led by Deacon Joseph Michalak and Father Joseph Bambenek, the day will focus on key themes of the Pastoral Letter from Archbishop Hebda and how parish catechetical leaders can offer a powerful and prayerful witness to Jesus Christ. There will be opportunities for listening, conversation and prayerful reflection, including a holy hour. By Archdiocesan Department of Parish Catechesis in collaboration with ACRE

Stay connected with the Office of Catholic Education/Department of Parish Catechetical, check out the new monthly newsletter. Eric will be holding the first of monthly online "office hours" on Tuesday, Jan. 17th from 11-12:30.

ACRE is going to host 4 options for the DISCUSSION OF THE SYNOD PASTORAL LETTER AND YEAR ONE PLAN. Two will be via Zoom and two in person. Find out more here...

Director of Faith Formation Position at St. Joseph of the Lakes Lino Lakes

All working in ministry are invited to this special opportunity to discuss the needs of the future Church! >read more...

You can use this link to view the recording of our session with Mr. Lentsch! In addition to updating us, he also took questions at the end. LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xWNpErLT6NyL2BMfGvkRQyYFTywuhxup/view?usp=sharing

The Archdiocesan Center for Mission has put together Advent Resources related to Care for Creation. You can access them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ioYDIQO3bQ5O1QxYx8yqEmWYfvNbVJ42

NCCL will be offering two different FREE conferences in February- One on Parent and Family Faith Formation and one on Adult Formation. You can find out about the sessions and sign up here: https://www.ncclcatholic.org/

ACRE Board Members are hosting a number of small group sessions to discuss the Synod Pastoral Letter and what various parishes are beginning to plan to do for implementation. We’ll send out a reminder and links, etc. closer to the dates. You can join in some or all! Here are your options: 1. Thursday, January 12, 2023, 10:00 a.m.- 11:30 a.m., Karl Horwath to host in person gathering at All Saints, Lakeville. 2. Tuesday, January 17, 2023, Noon – 2:00 p.m., ZOOM Hosted by Terri Hunt 3. Thursday, January 19, 2023, 10:00am – Noon- 2:00 p.m. Hosted by Erin O’Leary 4. Thursday, January 19, 2023, 1:00 – 3:00pm, Katie Schaitberger to host in person gathering at Good Shepherd, Golden Valley.

ACRE has planned a series of Zoom and in-person options to discuss the new Synod letter in January (watch for dates soon!). And, the West Vicariate of Youth Ministers is holding a meeting about the document on Monday, Dec. 19th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park. All Youth Ministers, Directors of Faith Formation/Religious Education and Faith Formation Staff are invited. Please RSVP by Dec. 14th using this link:https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Lkzer7iON06sj2mbqHU1nttdWY0m7XJAml72law7z5pUNFc4NUIzRFo1TTlIU05OV1lWSFdSREg0Qy4u

As you most likely know, Directors of Religious Education/Faith Formation are expected to be members of the Synod Implementation Team at your parish. And, as you also likely know, the Synod Pastoral Letter and other materials were released this past weekend. You can access ALL the materials here: https://www.archspm.org/synodpromo/

Please see the document from Sr. Sue Torgerson with LOTS of information for you to help celebrate this week.

We need to hear from you about topics, how you are doing, when to hold events, etc. There are less than 10 questions and it won’t take you long!

Please check out the following list of ACRE Accomplishments for the past year-plus.  We are already planning for the coming year and look forward to working with all of you!  We worked hard to keep things going during the long Covid- affected time period and here is what we’ve done:

A HUGE thank you to Maredith Toweh, our outgoing ACRE Chairperson. Maredith has guided us through a time of transition and during the Covid pandemic. Her ability to lead, support, encourage and organize have been outstanding! We are VERY glad she will be remaining on the Board. Our new ACRE Chairperson will be Erin O’Leary. Other officers will remain the same at this time.

We welcome Karl Horwath and Katie Schaitberger to the Board! Because no one else has stepped forward to inquire about running for the Board, the Executive Committee of the Board exercised the by-laws clause whereby we may appoint members to open positions. Both Karl and Katie are very experienced catechetical leaders and we are extremely grateful to them for joining the Board!

VICAR GENERAL’S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION:  At our recent Appreciation Lunch, Fr. Charles Lachowitzer, Vicar General, gave a wonderful talk on the importance of Faith Formation.  He also requested that we individually email him with ideas and comments about what is needed currently in our Archdiocese for Faith Formation in terms of support, needs, etc.  It isn’t too late to send your ideas, but please do so ASAP.  You can email him directly here:  frcharlie@st-gerard.org (Note, Fr. Lachowitzer is also currently the pastor at St. Gerard’s in Brooklyn Park.)

On Dec. 10, 2021, Pope Francis named Father Joseph Williams, a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, as Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop-elect Joseph A. Williams will take place Tuesday, January 25, Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle. A public reception will follow.

As pandemic challenges continue, Archbishop Hebda has recorded a video message for the faithful based upon the letter you received from him last week. You may find it helpful to share this video with your parishioners as you communicate with them about helping keep each other healthy this Advent and Christmas.