The Black Catholic Catechetical Network
Investing in Ourselves To Empower Others
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Every institution that desires to live
beyond one generation places great attention and resources in
identifying leaders to build and insure a future. The Black Catholic
Catechetical Network (BCCN) established two years ago is an intentional
forum to identify Black Catholic Catechetical leaders and to offer
opportunities for them to network and share resources.
Born out of the current atmosphere of
enculturation and the ongoing celebration of the diversity in the
Catholic Church as well as the implementation of the General
Directory For Catechesis, BCNN was created. To date, the major focus
of the Network has been to…
- Discover and identify those Black Catholic
Leaders serving in a catechetical role within the United States;
- Create and distribute a Newsletter (3
issues so far- biannually) with a particular column to exchange
"treasured ideas, initiatives and resources" among Network participants;
- Conduct survey on effectiveness of
Newsletter and the identification of future topics;
- Promote the celebration and implementation
of Catechesis from an africentric perspective;
- Develop a Draft of By-Laws for governance;
- Seek position and representation from BCCN
on the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL). (Mrs.
Beatrice Cunningham from diocese of Galveston- Houston is our
representative); and
- Establish relationship with other Black
Catholic National Organizations.
In an indirect way, the above serves as our
strategy to recognize the enormous contributions that Black Catholics
have made in the on-going development of catechetical ministry in the
United States. A parallel strategy is to create a climate of empowerment
of current leaders with the hope of encouraging emerging leaders.
The Church in America is a microcosm of the
universal Church, filled with diverse cultures, issues and ministries.
Thus, the catechetical mission of the Church and all that is associated
with its mission is in need of Black Catholic "giftedness" to become
authentically "catholic".
It takes Black Catholic Catechetical leaders
to shape effective and culturally sensitive resources. It takes Black
Catholic Catechetical leaders to raise our voices to join and influence
the current dialogue pertaining to catechesis in the United States. It
takes Black Catholic Catechetical leaders to be at the decision making
tables within the catechetical arena. This calls for teams of committed
and creative leaders to enhance the Church's catechetical ministry and
the goals stated above.
To this end, an ongoing goal of the
BCCNetwork is to identify Black Catholic Catechetical Leaders and
network among them. If you have not already join the Membership, please
consider it now. Contact Therese Wilson Favors at
TFavors@archbalt.org or
410-625-8472.
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