Synod
What's Next...
After your responses were noted and after all of our sessions were completed our parish sent our collective responses to our local Archdiocese. You can find that summary below called "OLL's Synod Summary May 2022" as well as our report to the parish presented in June by John Zarek and Diane Moseley called "OLL's Synod Report June 2022". As we move forward with what we have learned from the Synod Listening Session held last year...
Father Tim Clark and the OLL SYNOD Planning Committee announce the launch of Phase Two of the ongoing Synodal Process at Our Lady of the Lake.
The multiple small group Synodal listening sessions that took place last year produced valuable feedback about the priorities of the Parish and School Community. The major themes included Strengthening our Community; The Role of Women in the Church; Liturgy and Prayer Life; Social Justice and Service; Religious Education and Continuing Faith Formation; and Youth Engagement. These themes mirror our ONE OLL process started back in 2018. To learn more about this and what we have built HERE.
To further the listening and discernment process essential to formulate change and achieve improvement in these areas, there will be a series of Town Hall Gatherings which will be open to all of our members both in person and by zoom. The Town Hall series will begin just after Easter 2023 and continue through this calendar year and into early 2024. There may be multiple gatherings for some or even all of the themes in order to facilitate full access and participation.
The inaugural Town Hall just after Easter will be “Strengthening Our Community”. With the very recent announcement of the Archdiocesan Plan "Partners in the Gospel" which will create new groupings of parishes, we want to provide a place for listening and discerning about that major change as we reflect on the special community at OLL. Sign Up for the Synod Town Halls HERE
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. 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”?”
In the Seattle Archdiocese, there were over 1,000 sessions that included 11,000 people and 93% of parishes participated. At Our Lady of the Lake, 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. Each session began with an opening prayer that we also prayed at Mass each Sunday during the Spring. A reading from Luke about the Apostles walking to Emmaus after Jesus’ Crucifixion helped us focus on the journey of faith we are all taking. 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. Our full report was over 20 pages long. In July, the Archdiocese released their synthesized report of parish synod sessions. We were pleasantly surprised that their report mirrored much of what surfaced at OLL.
Please find below the Synthesized Synod's Reports from our local Archdiocese, Regionally and Nationally
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: