April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
LAY MINISTRY
Lay leader learned from Kateri Institute
Lay leader learned from Kateri Institute
For Mrs. Pulver, it was a time of reminiscing about her own form of commencement last year -- earning a certificate from the Albany Diocese's Kateri Institute for Lay Ministry Formation.
The Kateri Institute is a three-year program sponsored by the diocesan Office of Lay Ministry Formation to help laypersons become better leaders in parishes. Meeting one Saturday a month, local Catholics learn more about their faith, form community with peers and gain confidence in their ministries.
This year's "graduating class" includes 15 people from more than a dozen parishes in the Albany Diocese, from Albany all the way to Hudson Falls. Their commissioning ceremony will be June 26, 2 p.m., at Albany's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
The Kateri Institute's page on the diocesan website, www.rcda.org, notes the "continuing need for a well-formed and involved laity."
"It's a lot of work, but it's very fulfilling," Mrs. Pulver said of the program. "We studied every aspect of faith."
The classes were intense. Mrs. Pulver noted the difficult essays she had to write, as well as the large amount of reading.
"It is like going back to school," she told The Evangelist. At 53, Mrs. Pulver said that was a little harder than she had expected, but "the girls helped me:" Both Ashley and Brianna, 21, explained online classroom websites like Blackboard.
"I would write a paper and they would look it over," Mrs. Pulver recalled.
Taking classes at the Kateri Institute opened Mrs. Pulver's mind to subjects she hadn't considered before. "We touched on a lot of different religions," she remarked. "All of us, our faith starts the same way. All of us come from the same place."
She learned about outreach to grieving people and the meaning behind aspects of the Mass. She learned about canon (Church) law, even around issues she has struggled with: "I'm a mother of two girls. When my youngest was a little girl, she always said she wanted to be a priest."
Other coursework covered Church history, Scripture, faith development, prayer, ethics, liturgy, Catholic social teaching and practical skills.
Now, said Mrs. Pulver of her family, "all of us can talk about being college graduates."
The registered nurse is putting her knowledge to work at St. Joseph's parish.
"I'm a catechist and I have been for 22 years," she noted. "I teach [children preparing for] First Reconciliation and First Communion," including a wide age range of children from the parish's Spanish community.
Through what she learned at the Kateri Institute, Mrs. Pulver is expanding her ministry to help Hispanic Catholics who "fall through the cracks" to access health services.
In fact, wider community involvement was necessary for completion of the Kateri Institute program. Mrs. Pulver said she went through a discernment process with her pastor to "think about where you see a need, whether it's in your own parish [or] your Diocese."
Students at the Kateri Institute choose from two certifications: "foundations for ministry" or "leadership for ministry." The foundations for ministry certificate, which Mrs. Pulver earned, is meant to provide "a solid introduction to Scripture, theology and ministry skills, intended for active parishioners to grow in faith and knowledge to better serve their communities," according to the institute's webpage.
The Kateri Institute's leadership for ministry certificate is geared more toward roles like deacon, youth ministry leader or pastoral associate for parish life.
Last year's students celebrated their achievement with a Mass at the cathedral with Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger.
"We each [received] a wooden cross," Mrs. Pulver said. "It was a beautiful ceremony. It was a beautiful way of saying 'yes.'"
(For more information about the Kateri Institute for Lay Ministry Formation, go to the Office of Ministry Formation tab at www.rcda.org or call 518-453-6670.)[[In-content Ad]]
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