UPCOMING EVENT

• Parishes and organizations are once again invited to share the joyous news of Our Lord’s Birth with Bishop David with the age-old custom of Christmas Carolling. Please contact the Pastoral Centre to schedule a time on Thursday, January 9  (5:00 pm – 7:00 pm).
• The Ukrainian Musical Society of Alberta will hold its annual Concert of Carols, 3:00 pm, Sunday, January 26, at Saint Josaphat Cathdral. Plan to celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord through the age-old tradition of carolling.
• Pastors are kindly requested to forward to the Chancery Office by January 31 (or shortly after their annual general parish meeting) the following documents for each parish or mission in their pastoral care:
  • A current list of the Parish Council Members, including position, name, address, telephone and e-mail.
  • 2019 Financial Statements, as well as a copy of the annual T3010A Registered Charity Information Return (for parishes who issue income tax receipts).
  • A photocopy of the Baptismal, Marriage and Death Registers entries for the year 2019.
• 2020 Annual Clergy Retreat:  May 25-29, 2020 (Sanctum Retreat Centre). Retreat Master – Very Rev. Gabriel Haber, osbm, Provincial Superior, Order of Saint Bastil the Great.
• 2021 Annual Clergy Retreat:  May 17-21, 2021 (Sanctum Retreat Centre).
• 2020 Annual Clergy Study Days:  October 5-8 (Providence Renewal Centre, Edmonton).
• 2020 Presbyteral Council Meetings:  (2:00 – 5:00 pm, Pastoral Centre):  March 9, October 5, and November 16.
• 2020 Clergy Conferences:  (10:00 am – 4:00 pm):  March 10, October 9, and November 17.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• His Beatitude, Patriarch Sviatoslav, issued a Pastoral Message on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord.
• The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops in Canada issued a Pastoral Message on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord
• Vision 2020 “Vibrant Parish” Program comes to an end. The final report follows, issued on behalf of Bishop Ken Nowakowski, Head, Vibrant Parish Coordinating Group:

         Dear Benefactors and Partners,

         In this newsletter we would like to share with you some important developments of our Church in the field of PASTORAL MINISTRY.

         First of all, we would like to bring to your attention two important decisions of the Synod of Bishops of our Church held in Rome this year related to the “Vibrant Parish” program:

  1. To end the mandate of the Working Group for the Implementation of Strategic Development in the Ukrainian Catholic Church till 2020.
  2. To express gratitude and recognition to the members of the Working Group for the Implementation of Strategic Development in the Ukrainian Catholic Church till 2020 for their conscientious work.

         Brief history. In December 2011, following upon the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church held in Curitiba, Brazil, the Ukrainian Catholic Church launched the first year of the implementation of a pastoral renewal program called “The Vibrant Parish – a place to Encounter the Living Christ.”

         To implement this strategic development of our Church on a global level, the Working Group was established. Bishop Ken Nowakowski (Eparch of New Westminster, BC, Canada) was appointed as Head of the Working Group. Its members (coordinators) included bishops, clergy, religious and laity from a various countries where the Ukrainian Catholic Church eparchies and exarchates are present. The Working Group has been largely responsible for developing and implementing the “Vibrant parish” program.

         “Vibrant Parish” Themes. The Vibrant Parish pastoral renewal program consisted of six key areas of development:

         1) Word of God – Catechesis,
         2) Liturgy and Prayer,
         3) Serving one’s Neighbor (Diakonia),
         4) Leadership-Stewardship,
         5) Communion-Unity (Koinonia),
         6) Missionary Spirit.

• These themes are explicated in the Pastoral letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav issued in 2011.
  Accomplishments. The Vibrant Parish program has been implemented in the life of the Ukrainian Catholic Church for eight years. During that period a number of important accomplishments have been identified:
  • The Ukrainian Catholic Church had an opportunity for the first time in its history to think about the priorities of development on a global level by identifying parish life and ministry as a central element from which stems all ecclesial life expressed in Church’s teaching, liturgical and private prayer and social ministry.
  • The network of Eparchial Coordinators responsible for the implementation the Vibrant Parish program has proven to be an important innovation in the life of the Church, as those with concrete pastoral responsibilities and impact have been able to exchange one’s experience and resources.
  • The network of Eparchial Coordinators has helped establish the effective channels of communication within the Ukrainian Catholic Church contributing to the unity of the Church.
  • The Working Group has been instrumental in helping the Church acquire practical experience in the collection and analysis of important statistical data on key pastoral parameters for the Ukrainian Catholic Church as a whole, as well as for various regions and individual eparchies.
  • The Vibrant Parish Program has also helped to raise important issues regarding the cooperation of various departments and ministries at different levels, with a view towards the sharing of vision and resources.
  • In the critical and difficult time of Russia’s covert war of aggression in Ukraine, the Vibrant Parish Program has helped the Church maintain focus on her ministry and mission priorities.
  • The Working Group has proven critical in promoting the practical implementation of the decisions and resolutions of the annual Synod of Bishops, especially those with a pastoral focus, and in particular of the VI Session of the Patriarchal Sobor (Assembly), held in 2015.
  • A good collection of handful resource materials (among them videos on vibrant parishes, handbook on pastoral planning, mission days guidebooks, stewardship materials etc.) has been elaborated. Some of these materials in English language can be downloaded from the website of St. Josaphat Eparchy in Parma, OH.

         Future initiative. The Working Group of the Vibrant Parish Program officially ended its mandate in September 2019 after presenting its final report to the Synod of Bishops in Rome, and a new structure – Pastoral Council – is to continue the legacy of its predecessor in close collaboration with the Ukrainian Catholic Church Patriarchal Curia.

         Assessing the fruits of the Working Group, the Head of the  Group, Bishop Ken Nowakowski, said:
         “We are grateful for this privilege to serve our Church in such a way. With a great enthusiasm I am looking forward to the next developments …Because our Church is conscious that the evangelization process is our responsibility and no one will do it for us.”

  Bishop David, the entire Pastoral Centre staff and volunteers extend to the clergy, religious, monastic, and faithful of the Eparchy of Edmonton a joyous celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and prayerful best wishes for the New Year.

© 2019 Eparchy of Edmonton
9645 – 108 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5H 1A3
Tel: (780) 424-5496 Fax: (780) 425-2330
www.edmontoneparchy.com