A summer of change
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 Catholic Sentinel June 30, 2014  It is almost a cliché to say that “no one likes change.”
I
don’t know if that is true or not for most people, but one thing I do
know:
Change, even when it is needed, is not always easy.
We have been going through some very significant changes at the Pastoral Center, the “headquarters,” if you will,of the Archdiocese of Portland, serving the many parishes and schools of western Oregon.
I can say
without hesitation that these changes are not easy,
but that they are timely and needed for us to move forward with the work of the New Evangelization in this local Church. When I first arrived here as the new Archbishop over a year ago, I decided that I would spend my first year getting to know this local Archdiocese of Portland. I did the best I could to listen, observe and learn.
This involved assessing the current state of affairs, both within the
Pastoral Center offices
and throughout the Archdiocese in western Oregon.
It also included an attempt to objectively identify the needs
of this local community of faith in the
Archdiocese. Coupled with the above, I have spent much time in prayer and reflection on the mission that the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me here as the shepherd called to minister to and lead this local Church according the mind and heart of the Good Shepherd. I am by no means perfect in this regard, and I do not individually enjoy the charism of infallibility (just ask my mother!), but as they say, my heart is in the right place.
I desire only what God
wants for us and what will help us all achieve the goal of our faith, i.e.
salvation.
I have already identified some of my top priorities moving forward. They include, but are not limited
to the following: The education, catechesis
and faith formation of our people, from the earliest days
of childhood and into the senior years; the revitalization, renewal and reform of the divine worship we offer God in the sacred liturgy and in the sacraments of the Church; and the service of charity to all of our brothers and sisters most in need. Included in all of this is an acute awareness of and attentiveness to the cultural diversity present in our local Church. These are the “three fronts” of the New Evangelization, i.e. faith formation, divine worship and the service of charity. There are many other needs, for example marriage and family life and young adult ministry, but they are essentially related to these three areas of focus. After spending my first year here, I decided to bring in outside consultants who are experts in the reorganization and restructuring of Church entities. They came to us highly recommended by others, and they have proven to be invaluable in helping us assess the current state of affairs and chart a way forward. In all honesty, they confirmed in many instances my own observations, but also surfaced some other things of which I was unaware. As a result of this study, my assessment of their observations and recommendations, and my own observations over this past year, we have begun to implement significant changes in our Pastoral Center operations.
We
do this in order to better respond to current needs and to be more effective
in responding
to those needs, keeping a sharp focus on the mission of the Church and the priorities that have been identified. A major part of this reorganization involves changes in staffing. In order to allow me to move ahead with this new vision and plans for our future together, several key staff persons are departing their service as employees of the Archdiocese. In addition, one long time employee has taken the opportunity to retire. All have agreed to assist us for a month with the transition. I want to publicly and sincerely express my gratitude to these fine individuals for their years of faithful service to Christ and his Church here in the Archdiocese. We will be forever grateful for the contributions they have made to build up the Body of Christ. Their departure should in no way diminish their significant roles in the story of this local Church. So, change is difficult and involves some sense of loss as we see longtime friends depart. It is to this point that I wish to express one final point. I suppose it is natural to see such deep and significant changes as being somehow a criticism or rejection of the past. I sincerely do not want it to be seen in this way. I have nothing but the deepest respect and gratitude for these fine people. Almost all of them were here during some very difficult and challenging times for the Archdiocese. It is largely due to their dedication and hard work that this local Church came back from bankruptcy and began to rebuild. But with changing times come changing priorities and needs. For us to move forward and meet the challenges we face today and in the future, reorganization and “re-tooling” are needed at this time. It is with a tremendous sense of mission and enthusiasm that we move forward together. There will be some restructuring of the offices even as we begin to fill vacated positions and staff new positions. I humbly ask your prayers as we begin to rebuild and look to a future full of hope.
And please remember the staff members who are leaving and their
families. May they find a new path
as God continues to lead and guide them. |
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Archbishop Sample: "A Summer of Change". What's Going on at the Archdiocese of Portland?
Friday, July 25, 2014
Archdiocese of Portland Job Opportunities. Know anyone?
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| Saint John Cajean, patron saint of job searches. |
all people to be father of providence
because you provide miraculous aid to
all who come to you in need, I stand
here before you today, asking that you
present to the Lord the requests that
I confidently deposit in your hands.
(Mention here the
graces desired.)
May these graces that I now request
help me to always seek the Kingdom
of God and his Righteousness,
knowing that God — who dresses with
beauty the flowers of the field and
abundantly feeds the birds of the
sky — will give me all other things. Amen.[source]
Here is a list of job opportunities from the Archdiocese of Portland. Although many have expired as of July 1st. it is interesting to see all the changes.
You will notice the resurrection of the Office of Marriage and Family Life. The last director slowly had his job eliminated and was the end of the "welcome" we all desire when going to our Pastoral Center.
Music Ministry
(5)
Youth Minister (2)
Archbishop Sample Reorganizes the Pastoral Center. Six resignations.
| Director of worship leaves archdiocese | |||
Sister Jeremy Gallet, archdiocesan director of the Office of Worship, is leaving her job. Her resignation adds to the list of five other Portland archdiocesan staffers who left their jobs earlier this month. The department heads and key staff are departing as part of a reorganization of Pastoral Center operations. Archbishop Alexander Sample said the changes are part of the archdiocese's effort to streamline operations and better communicate with the Western Oregon parishes and schools the Pastoral Center serves. The reorganization is the result of a months-long review of pastoral center practices by a firm retained by the archdiocese. |
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Entire Article on Joy Wallace from Catholic Sentinel, June 16, 2014. Link is broken.
It was pointed out to me that this link was "broken". In fact, the Catholic Sentinel archives has no mention of Joy Wallace I could find. So, here is the entire article.
Catholic Sentinel photo by Ed Langlois
Joy Wallace leads a group that works with schools to stop bullying. 6/16/2014 4:32:00 PM By Ed Langlois Joy Wallace thinks no one should get picked on for who they are.
A member of St. Andrew Parish in Northeast Portland, she has received a major award from the Oregon Education Association for defusing bullying in schools and aiding students who have been bullied.
Wallace, 68, is a founder and co-chair of the all-volunteer Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition.
Among the youths most often bullied are those who are homosexual or transgender. Children with disabilities and learning differences also get persecuted.
When parents are dissatisfied with answers and actions from schools, they come to Wallace. The coalition helps the students and their families by responding vigorously to bullying — sometimes with volunteer lawyers — and by offering education and events to halt bullying and harassment before it begins. The coalition also collects data, which lawmakers use to hone policy.
“You can’t concentrate to learn mathematics if you fear your school environment,” Wallace says.
One of the hopes is to reduce suicide among victims of bullying.
“I guess I have a passion for making things more fair for people,” she explains, crediting Catholic social teaching for refining her passions.
Wallace received the OEA’s Ed Elliott Human Rights Award, named after an Oregon educator who worked for inclusivity in public schools during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. The award goes to people who have made a sustained contribution to human rights in Oregon. When news of the recognition was announced after Mass at St. Andrew, worshipers gave Wallace a standing ovation.
Wallace, who became Catholic in 1988, was a high school teacher intent on social justice. While working in Corvallis, she noticed bullying just outside her classroom and felt a dearth of resources for making schools safer.
In 2001, four years after a move to Portland, she attended a conference on ending bullying and met others who felt like her. The coalition emerged.
A natural teacher, Wallace leads the group so it tells the history of discrimination, with an emphasis on ethical decision making. When the Oregon Legislature passed a tough anti-bullying law in 2009, the coalition took the lead in seeing to it that K-12 schools implement the policy. Organizers convene meetings so district representatives can become stronger advocates at their schools.
State guidelines don’t apply to private schools, but Wallace thinks the values at Catholic schools are a good start against discrimination. She urges Catholic school officials to monitor their institutions and look over the state policy.
Included in the coalition is the “Welcoming the Whole Family” Committee from St. Andrew Parish, which seeks to make gay and lesbians feel at home in the Catholic Church.
Wallace feels encouraged because new federal requirements against bullying have come out and are strong. “Having legislation is a good first step to having safer schools,” she says.
Now retired except for volunteering, Wallace once worked as development director for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and the Franciscan Spiritual Center.
“She has deep roots in Catholic social justice teaching,” says Jane Braunger, also a member of St. Andrew’s. “It is also about hospitality for her. And I find her upbeat. She is never harsh in her criticism. She is about rolling up her sleeves and getting work done.”
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Foxes in the (Archdiocese of Portland's) Henhouse - Why Did the Catholic Sentinel Allow a Joy Wallace article?
Ed Langois, a reporter for the Catholic Sentinel since 1993, knows about Joy Wallace. Robert Pfohman, the editor must know about her too, yet, he decided to put in the article below.
This, in my opinion, undermines Archbishop Sample; further confuse Catholics about the teachings of the Church by promoting active homosexuality even in our public and possibly Catholic schools; same-sex marriage and "woman priests".
(This link below no longer works since this article was written) Please see entire article at http://vocalblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/entire-article-on-joy-wallace-from.html)
Click http://www.catholicsentinel.org/m/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=25448
She got the award for supporting only homosexual and confused children in the schools. Not fat kids, kids with glasses, wheelchair bounds kids or even red or yellow black or white kids. As a "catholic" does she help these homosexual and confused children know that their Creator has a plan for each of their lives?
Click http://www.oregoned.org/images/pages/RA_mediarelease_2014_Final_(1).pdf
This pose from 2013 by encouraging others to override Archbishop Sample request to not participate in the Portland Pride Parade. Joy is leading these people away from the Truth and no matter how she "feels", she shouldn't be considered a Catholic this invincible ignorance. |
“It was much more difficult for me to tell my feminist friends that I had made the choice to become a Catholic than it ever was to come out as a lesbian.”
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Sadly this is how far she is taking her disobedience of the Truth of Christ.
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| Joy Wallace holding book of professed "womanpriest" Toni Tortorilla at Sophia Christi "Catholic" community's 4th anniversary "mass". One of five in this Archdiocese administering Sacraments that are not valid. She is on the Board of Directors of EQUITY. A pro-homosexual group.
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Joy Wallace, Secretary, recently retired as a Development Director for a faith-based non-profit and has had a long career as an educator, mainly doing professional development for teachers and materials development in equity-related topics. She currently chairs the Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition Board of Directors and serves on the Board of the Sophia Christi community ("womenpriests" church). She works with the Portland Catholic Coalition of Welcoming Parishes to increase welcoming queer ministry in Catholic churches. She has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a Master’s degree from Oregon State University. For fun, she volunteers in her granddaughter’s classroom, loves going camping, reading and gardening.
Finally, listen to what she says about the Catholic church. Her contribution to this panel is seven minutes and thirty seconds (7:30) into the video below.
Ed Langois and Robert Pfohman
why was this woman chosen for an article in the Catholic Sentinel?
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