Conversations in the Spirit: FutureChurch Interim Stage Listening Sessions for the Synod on Synodality
Please Note: These sessions have now concluded
and our Interim Stage Synthesis was submitted to the US Synod Team
and to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in Rome
on April 8, 2024.
Join FutureChurch as we engage together in “Conversations in the Spirit” to deepen our engagement with one another and continue our journey toward the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission.
FutureChurch will host three stand-alone sessions at different times to allow for as much participation as possible. Each session will last approximately 2 hours. Pick the session that works best for you and your schedule:
- Saturday, March 9 at 9 -11am ET
- Monday, March 11 at 7-9pm ET
- Saturday, March 16 at 12N – 2pm ET
Please note: Small breakout groups engaging in conversations with others will be integral to these sessions. If you are unwilling or unable to participate in a breakout group, these aren’t the sessions for you. Instead, we invite you to fill out our questionnaire. Your input, regardless of whether or not you attend a listening session, will be incorporated into our report, which we will send to the USCCB Synod Committee and post to our website.
In this interim phase, the USCCB Synod Committee has posed two questions which will guide our conversations and subsequent synthesis report:
- Where have I seen or experienced successes—and distresses—within the Church’s structure(s)/organization/leadership/life that encourage or hinder the mission?
- How can the structures and organization of the Church help all the baptized to respond to the call to proclaim the Gospel and to live as a community of love and mercy in Christ?
Resources for Preparation:
To prepare for these Conversations in the Spirit we encourage you to spend some time reviewing the following resources:
- A Synodal Church in Mission: Synthesis Report from the October 2023 Assembly
https://www.usccb.org/resources/2023.10.28-ENG-Synthesis-Report_IMP.pdf - FutureChurch Presentation by Deborah Rose on the Synthesis Report
https://futurechurch.org/justice-in-the-church/synod-on-synodality/november-9-presentation-on-synod-synthesis/ - Synod report has wide-ranging implications for church governance, ministry by Christine Schenk, CSJ
https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/synod-report-has-wide-ranging-implications-church-governance-ministry - How to Have A Conversation in the Spirit
https://futurechurch.org/how-to-conversation-spirit
Please Respond to Our Questionnaire
https://futurechurch.org/interim-stage-questionnaire/
We have developed a questionnaire based on the questions posed by the USCCB Synod Committee. Your responses to the questionnaire will serve two functions 1. Preparing you to make your contributions to your small group if you are joining one of our listening sessions and 2. Providing data to us as we develop our written report, which we will send to the USCCB committee.