For Immediate Release 3/22/10
| Contact: | Sr. Christine Schenk 216-228-0869 X 4 (W); 216-513-3647 (C) |
March 22, 2010: All Catholics in Northeast Ohio are being invited to attend a “Listening Assembly” to be held at the Independence Civic Center, 6363 Selig Dr., Independence, OH 44131, on April 17, 2010 from 9:00am to 12:30pm. Organized by FutureChurch this event will give Catholic laity and clergy the opportunity to come together and voice their views about the challenges and needs facing the Catholic Church today.
“We are at a critical crossroad in our life as a Church, so we need everyone’s best thinking to meet the challenges we face. All Catholics are welcome -- laity, clergy, bishops -- young, old and everyone in between,” said Chris Schenk, FutureChurch Executive Director. FutureChurch is one of the one of the organizational endorsers of the American Catholic Council and the organizer of the Northeast Ohio event.
Catholics nationwide are being invited to gather and express their views on the state of the Catholic Church. Findings from this event and from similar Listening Assemblies being held across the United States will inform a national gathering, called the American Catholic Council, to be held in Detroit on June 10-12, 2011. For more information about the American Catholic Council movement, go to www.americancatholiccouncil.org.
At the Northeast Ohio event, participants will engage in structured dialogue about the needs of the Church. The sense of the gathering on a wide variety of critical questions will be tabulated with results from many other Listening Assemblies and presented to the national meeting in Detroit in June 2011. The keynote presenter and facilitator of the Northeast Ohio gathering will be Sallie Latkovich csj. Sr. Sallie, originally from Cleveland, has given presentations, workshops and retreats nationally and is currently Assistant Professor and Director of Holy Lands Study Programs at Catholic Theological Union.
RSVPs are requested, but are not required. To register and fill out an anonymous pre-listening session survey, participants are asked to go to www.americancatholiccouncil.org and click on “Assemblies Community Network.” There is no cost to attend, but a free will offering will be accepted.
For more information about the Listening Session or to register by phone or email, please contact Emily Holtel-Hoag at 216-228-0869 X3 or email emily@futurechurch.org.
FutureChurch, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a U.S. coalition of 5,000 parish centered Catholics striving to educate fellow Catholics about the seriousness of the priest shortage, the centrality of the Eucharist (the Mass), and the systemic inequality of women in the Catholic Church. FutureChurch makes presentations throughout the country, distributes educational and informational packets and recruits activists who work for full participation of all baptized Catholics in the life of the Church.
FutureChurch
17307 Madison Avenue, Lakewood, OH 44107
216-228-0869
www.futurechurch.org