Next up: Implementing synod norms
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
PISCATAWAY — The first synod of the Diocese of Metuchen may now be concluded, but its most important dimension is just getting underway: implementing the 59 norms promulgated by Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski.
In a synod progress report given to the staff of the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center March 6, Msgr. William Benwell, vicar general and former chair of the Synod Commission, reviewed what the synod accomplished and how its vision will become a reality with the assistance of the new Commission for Synod Implementation.
The commission, which will meet for the first time March 20, is charged with implementing the norms and creating an Office for Synod Implementation.
Msgr. Benwell will be an ex-officio member of the new commission.
Other commission members are: Sara T. Acevedo, Holy Trinity Parish, Perth Amboy; Msgr. Seamus Brennan, Immaculate Conception Parish, Somerville; Ted Ellis, Immaculate Conception Parish, Somerville; Clare Giangreco, St. Bartholomew Parish, East Brunswick; Erin Jones, Sacred Heart Parish, New Brunswick; Msgr. Gregory E.S. Malovetz, Mount Saint Mary, Watchung; Cecelia Regan, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Old Bridge; Mercy Sister Alice Swartz, Mount Saint Mary; and Judy Tabert of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish.
Peg Garvey-Mitchell, facilitator of the Synod Commission, will assist the new commission in an interim capacity; Susan Kovach, administrative assistant, the chancery, will serve as interim support staff.
Members of the commission all had roles in the synod. They were either self-nominated or nominated by others. They were appointed to three-year terms by Bishop Bootkoski in February.
In a sense, the work of the synod will not be completed until the norms are implemented, otherwise it becomes “a fruitless exercise,” Msgr. Benwell said.
When Msgr. Benwell was asked by a diocesan staff member to define the term “norm,” he explained that “it is the policy of the diocese.”
A look back
Msgr. Benwell said he believed the synod was successful based on quantifiable results and others that are harder to measure.
He noted the high percentage of the 108 parishes in the diocese that participated by sending delegates or hosting speak-up sessions.
“The first round of speak-up session brought out more than 6,000 people, many of whom discussed with fellow parishioners their hopes and concerns for their parish, the diocesan church, the universal church even, maybe for the first time in their lives,” Msgr. Benwell said.
“And, nearly 500 people made the additional commitment of participating in the second phase of the speak-up sessions, helping to refine those general ideas and concerns into concrete action items for the diocese as we begin our second quarter century.”
“A truth” about the success of the synod that cannot be measured is the heightened consciousness of the work and the mission of the diocese among people in the parishes, Msgr. Benwell added.
Among the synod’s achievements, Msgr. Benwell reflected, were: a greater appreciation of an authentic biblical theology of church in which parishes are extensions of the bishop’s ministry and the bishop affirms the gifts of the Holy Spirit that have poured out on all the people of God; a new openness to parishes working together and pooling resources so that all people may be well-served without weakening individual parishes.
Also, he said there was the “personal impact of the synod process on the faith and the commitment to the church of those who participated in it at its various levels.”
Bishop Bootkoski thanked those who participated in the synod, especially Msgr. Benwell, without whom, he said, the synod might not have succeeded.
“He has got the drive, the abilities and a way about him that draws people to work together,” Bishop Bootkoski said.
The synod “is something to be very proud of,” he added. “It was professional, it was prayerful, it was thoughtful, it was challenging.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law