Ministries kept up in 2020

By The Catholic Free Press

In mid-November the diocese polled ministry leaders asking this question: How you are dealing with keeping your department going during this pandemic? 

Here are how several answered: 
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

David Perda, superintendent of schools 

All is well with the Catholic Schools. Plenty of challenges ahead of us but I’m very pleased with our response to the pandemic to-date.   

  •Schools were forced to go to remote learning for the last few months of the school year. How did you open the schools in the fall?
A summer of intensive planning allowed us to open all schools for in-person learning with many schools simultaneously offering remote learning for families that desired it.
School reopening plans intentionally included different learning models that allow for ease in transitioning as required due to COVID concerns.

•How did the schools prepare for returning to the classroom?
Schools have developed new ways of operating based on guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Public Health including use of personal protective equipment, social distancing, face/mask coverings, classroom configuration, establishment of cohorts, and hygiene and hand sanitizing.
Each week, we monitor COVID statistics in the cities and towns in the Diocese and work with local Boards of Health to make sure that we are operating safely. Families seem very grateful for the hard work of teachers and administrators in making it possible to obtain an in-person Catholic education as this has been absent so far in many public school systems. That part is rewarding.  

•How do schools deal with any positive cases? 
Catholic school leaders have had to learn about protocols for dealing with different COVID scenarios should there be a positive case in the school community – we have had to work our way through these a few times but so far, so good. Things have gotten a little dicey ... with increasing incidence and positivity rates.

•What was most challenging?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the hard work of my staff in the Catholic Schools Office in supporting the Catholic Schools during this difficult period. There have been a lot of hours on Zoom over the last few months!
Challenges include the inability to hold annual fundraising events and, sadly, the need to postpone various parts of the school experience such as athletics, concerts, etc.  

OFFICE OF YOUTH AND
YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY

Timothy Messenger,
director 
Things have been going well in youth and young adult ministry given the circumstances. There’s certainly been a lot of adjustments to programs since the pandemic began in the spring but, overall, I think things are in a pretty good place. 

•How did you keep in touch with young people around the diocese?  
For young adults (20s and 30s), in the spring we did a six-week virtual Theology on Tap series with about 20-25 people attending. I also did a spring Bible study and book study with smaller groups. Over the summer we did virtual Theology on Tap every other week well as virtual men’s and women’s Bible studies that happened on the off weeks of Theology on Tap. Theology on Tap attendance began to dwindle as the summer went on, mainly because the weather was nice and people overall were “Zoomed out.” 

•Will you continue online gatherings? 

I took a break from Theology on Tap until Advent, but the Bible Studies have been continuing with fairly consistent groups. In September we were able to resume our monthly Ascend nights in person. Those gatherings typically take place on the first Friday and consist of a holy hour with Eucharistic Adoration. I also play some music during Adoration. In September, we had our largest crowd ever for that event of somewhere between 30-40 young adults.

•Have you been able to develop new initiatives? 
We launched our first Exodus 90 group. Exodus 90 is a 90-day small group program for men consisting of rigorous prayer, fasting/asceticism, and fraternity. Our current small group meets every week on Zoom. It’s been incredible. I’m hoping this group will continue on a regular basis following the program and that new groups will be set up in the future as a tool of ongoing discipleship for young adult men. 

•Do your activities go beyond Zoom?

For youth (6-12th grade), we finished our diocesan discipleship team on Zoom in the spring. Over the summer I had an eight-part weekly Bible study with around 25 participants on Zoom. We also were actually able to do a couple of in-person social events late in the summer. In August, I took a small group whitewater rafting and in September I took around 30 teens to a high ropes and zip-line course. Earlier in November, I launched a monthly virtual series for high schoolers called Trivia and Theology. We start with a game of trivia on Kahoot (with prizes!) followed by an apologetics talk/discussion. There were 40 high school youth who participated in the first gathering. ... We also launched an eight-part monthly middle school Bible study which has around 60 participating. I’m actually dividing this group into three smaller groups so it’s manageable on Zoom. 

•How do you keep in contact with youth ministers?

For youth ministers and adult youth leaders, I’m doing monthly meetings, as I had in the past, but all on Zoom, for the time being. In March we started doing weekly prayer on Fridays with a small group of youth ministers and that has continued. The monthly meetings get around 15 or so and the weekly prayer gets 4 or 5 people. We’ve done a virtual book study in Advent that had 10 sign up. I’ve also had a number of one-on-one meetings both in person and virtual with various youth leaders. 

OFFICE FOR HEALING
AND PREVENTION

Judith Audette, victim assistance coordinator

 •How did you keep the office for healing and prevention running?

Initially the Office for Healing and Prevention worked from home with emails and phone calls, which worked out well. Cathaleen Peloquin, office manager and safe environment coordinator, completed the CORI applications that were received, and Safe Environment trainings were arranged through Cathaleen and completed online during the pandemic. Although this is a very different situation, Cathaleen has been keeping up with the requests without difficulty. 

•How were clients helped?
Our clients continued to receive counseling from their clinicians as they transitioned to telehealth. Most clients indicated they worked well with the telehealth change and adapted without too much difficulty. Some individuals called regularly to check in and some requested additional services when needed. For example, someone requested a new computer and we were able to accommodate him with a refurbished model. The client was more than appreciative of the new computer. Others called when they needed additional counseling, food, or housing assistance and we were able to work with their requests.  

•Is there another way you communicate with clients?
All of our clients are aware they can call or email anytime and will receive a response as quickly as possible.