Parish convening keynote to examine tradition, memory

"How do we stay clear on who we are as Catholics and Christians in a pluralistic context of different cultures and different backgrounds?"

That question will be the basis of Dr. Jane Regan's keynote talk at Parish Convening 2005. The annual event regularly attracts hundreds of participants from throughout the Albany Diocese.

Dr. Regan is a member of the theology faculty at Boston College's Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. Her experience includes nearly 30 years in religious education at the parish and diocesan level. She has also served as a consultant to parishes working to enhance their adult faith formation.

"If we understand that our role is to proclaim the Gospel," Dr. Regan told The Evangelist, "we can try to find resources in our Catholic tradition that reinforce this. I'll be talking about ways to do this."

Challenges

Because her audience will consist mainly of catechetical and parish leaders, Dr. Regan plans to address issues that will directly challenge catechists, and enhance faith formation plans for ongoing catechesis and evangelization.

"I believe that we must be faithful to our Catholic traditions," she explained. "I don't mean to approach this from a conservative/liberal point of view, however. When we look at ways to proclaim the Gospel, it shouldn't come to that perspective.

"Rather, I hope that I can convince people that, in order to move forward as a Church, we must carry the rich traditions of our faith with us. In this new millennium, we need increased knowledge and awareness of who we are as Church and where we want to go as a faith community."

Memories

Dr. Regan believes that memory plays a major role in solidifying Catholics' identity.

But she stressed that she means "big-picture" memory that looks back over the past 2,000 years, rather than short-term memories of the Church in the past half-century.

"I'm talking about the memory of the Church that is larger than our parishes and our world today," she explained. "I'm talking about people that have made significant impact on our identity as Church -- like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Benedict -- and whose ideas have changed the Church and helped it move forward."

Time of transition

Dr. Regan noted that "many people in the Church over the course of time have wanted to go back and ask questions of those before them, those that have set a precedent, such as those two saints. They have done this especially at times when there has been radical change in society.

"Often, though, when they ask their questions, the answers have been inadequate; they don't satisfy. We are in such a time now. Postmodernism and postmodern thought is beginning to change the way we look at Church and our faith communities.

"We find ourselves searching for answers to our questions about why things are changing, and how we can move forward into the future and still remain a faith community that can effectively proclaim the Gospel for future generations."

(Dr. Regan's talk is part of Parish Convening 2005 at LaSalle Institute in Troy, Oct. 29, 8:15 a.m.-3 p.m. The theme is "Old Wine, New Wine: Adult and Catholic in the 21st Century." Sponsored by the Albany Diocese, the event includes workshops and prayer. To register, call Colleen Dowd at 453-6661. Registration can also be done at the door. For more information, including a list of workshops, go to www.rcda.org and click on "events.")

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