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Synod

What's Next...

After the Synod sessions were completed and your responses were collated, OLL sent our collective summary to the Seattle Archdiocese and also reported a summary to our parish. As the synodal process moves forward globally (Update HERE) with the Instrumentum Laboris for October 2023, what can we do here at OLL with what we have learned?
 
Father Tim Clark and the OLL SYNOD Planning Committee announce the launch of Phase Two: Synod Town Halls 
 
The multiple small group during the Synodal listening sessions surfaced six areas that warrants further dialogue: Strengthen Our Community; The Role of Women in the Church; Religious Education and Continuing Faith Formation; Social Justice and Service; Liturgy and Prayer Life; and Youth Engagement. A Synodal Town Hall format will allow us to do that. What we want to do is to brainstorm together!
 
There will be a series of Town Halls which will be open to all of our members both in person and by zoom. Each series will focus on one of the six areas identified above beginning after Easter 2023 and continuing into 2024. 
 
The series this Spring focused on "Strengthening Our Community". You all know that the situation facing parish life is going to change based on the recent announcement of Partners in the Gospel. We would like to go into this period of change really knowing who the Our Lady of the Lake Community is as a parish and how we would like strengthen and grow.
 
This Fall, we are continuing with a Town Hall series on the role of Women in the Catholic Church. They will be September 17th after mass, September 19 in the evening, and the morning of September 23. In preparation for these Town Hall focused on “The Role of Women in the Church”, we invite you to read this excerpt from the working document of the Synod #60-#65 linked HERE. Sign Up for the first Synod Town Halls HERE
Deacon Denny announces the launch of Phase Two of the ongoing Synodal Process at Our Lady of the Lake at Mass. Please find a link to his homily from Mass, February 6th, 2023 (Homily at min. 25). 
 
Readings:
Isaiah 58:7-10 / Corinthians 2:1-5 / Matthew 5:13-16
Synod, What Is It?

The synodal process has involved dioceses around the world in a phase of listening. Local churches like ours held “listening sessions” guided by facilitators that led us in a conversation centered around two questions asked by Pope Francis. Our Synod Process began with the following invitation by Father Tim Clark: 
Our Lady of the Lake Parish took the Synod Listening process seriously and invited current and former parishioners to participate in group sessions both in-person and remotely as well as individual in-person and remote meetings. The groups included, current parishioners, the Bible Study group, parents of young people enrolled in public, private and Catholic schools, young adults, Our Lady of the Lake School 7th and 8th grade students, home-bound parishioners, members of the Executive Board and individuals who have stepped away from the Catholic Church. At Our Lady of the Lake over 200 individuals in 21 group sessions contributed their responses to the key questions: 
 
“How is this “journeying together” happening today in your local Church?” and “What steps does the Holy Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our “journeying together”?” 
 
All participants respectfully listened to each other and set an atmosphere of openness and trust. Individuals opened their hearts and spoke with deep conviction of the steps needed to grow in our journeying together. On May 6th a summary report of the main themes from the Listening Sessions was sent to the Seattle Archdiocese (HERE). Our full report was over 20 pages long. In July, the Archdiocese released their synthesized report of parish synod sessions (HERE). We were pleasantly surprised that their report mirrored much of what surfaced at OLL. Please also find the regional, national and the continental working document entitled “Enlarge the Space of Your Tent” linked.