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Barbara Sutton Executive Director, Diocesan Pastoral Services Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
1. Describe the area you serve geographically and Catholic population, economy of the parishes, educational level of the people, and the leadership situation in the parishes.
The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston includes the entire state of West Virginia which has a population of 1,771,750 people. The Catholic population dispersed among 55 counties is 88,969 people or 5% of the population. The state has one of the highest elderly populations in the country. There are 112 parishes and 24 missions. Thirty four of the Pastors have multiple parishes. Only 32 of the parishes don’t have to share their pastor with another parish. Many of our parishes have very few youth in them (Gr. 9-12), for example, 34 parishes have less than 5 teenagers in them. Our parishes are generally small in size, for example, 7 parishes have less than 50 parishioners and 40 parishes have less than 150 parishioners. A few missions are administered by deacons or religious sisters or brothers. The rural areas are typically also poorer areas and household incomes are well below national average and often in the poverty range. Interestingly, the Catholic population is often more educated and serves as leaders in rural towns and communities. Financial resources are often a concern for parishes and because of that they often recycle religious education materials year after year.
There are a few Parish Catechetical Leaders who have academic degrees in Religious Studies, Theology or Pastoral Ministry. Eight parish leaders are in the Master’s degree program at Wheeling Jesuit University. In addition, eleven parish leaders have just completed a diocesan certificate program. Recently we started a youth ministry training program sponsored by Cultivation Ministries and have 24 adults enrolled.
2. Describe the models of catechesis in your rural areas:
In the rural areas, there are a variety of models of catechesis, including traditional models for children, vacation bible school, intergenerational and whole community catechesis. Youth ministry programs are often ecumenical. Our Pastor and Religious Sisters and Brothers have done a good job in the rural areas educating the laity. Some home-grown models of catechesis are
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CAMP—Catholic Awareness Mid-summer Program which is a camp for children and adolescent held in one of our pastoral centers/retreat centers. Children come for a week of camp centered on different religious education themes.
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Retreat Day for Families—This has been developed in one of the rural vicariates. They come together for a Saturday during Lent and Advent.
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Spirit Retreat—One of rural vicariates has hosted an educational/retreat weekend for adults at one of the state parks. It provides quality theological education as well as prayer time. This is very well attended.
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Koinoina—This is an adult faith formation program in the diocese that is adapted for parishes and clusters of parishes. The diocese provides the resources and staff to provide courses. (koinonia.dwc.org)
3. Considering the challenges that you face in rural catechesis, describe some ways you are addressing these in the areas of catechist formation, adult faith formation, etc.
In the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, there are a few Parish Catechetical Leaders with the academic competencies and pastoral skills for their role. Last year we initiated the first Convocation for Parish Catechetical and Youth Leaders. This brought together about 90 leaders and it was designed to educate, build community, and raise awareness about the need for formation. We also have a Pastoral Ministry Certificate Program for diocesan leaders.
Two years ago we reorganized the diocesan offices and put a Faith Formation Consultant in each of the seven vicariates. Over the past two years the focus has been:
Goal 1: To strengthen catechetical and youth leadership throughout the
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston with a vision for formation consistent with the NCD.
Goal 2: To assess the effectiveness of current models of life-long faith formation throughout the diocese and develop models that reflects the context of parish life throughout the Diocese.
Goal 3: To advance a vision of adult faith formation throughout the Diocese that is rooted in the principle of subsidiarity—making decisions at the level closes to the people they affect.
Goal 4: To implement the diocesan vision of Koinonia that unites present
structures and enhances the Church’s ability to evangelize.
One of the chronic complaints from catechists was that they did not know where they were in the certification process. A database was developed and every catechist was given a password so that they could track their progress. This served us well as a motivational tool to encourage more formation.