Pastoral Ministry Formation Program to start new year

The Pastoral Ministry Formation Program is about to open its virtual classroom doors.

In January, the program, which is open to any adult with a yen to learn more about their faith, will begin a series of classes taught by Fathers Henry Hildebrandt and Reggie Urban, and Debbie Snapp, director of Catholic Social Service.

The accredited classes are taught simultaneously at several sites throughout the diocese via the interactive television (ITV) system. Instructors teach from one site where they can listen and respond to students’ questions from other sites. Classes can be taken for personal enrichment or for college credit.

Following is a description of the classes being taught, the instructors, and class times.

For more information about PMFP or the classes listed below, or to register, contact Coleen Stein at (620) 225-2156 or ask your pastor for a Pastoral Ministry brochure.

"Triduum: Dying with Jesus, Rising with Christ" is a one-hour course offered this spring. The course will be taught by Father Reggie Urban, a native of Mary, Help of Christians Parish in Loretto. Father Urban is pastor of the Catholic Community in Great Bend. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1977 by the Most Reverend John J. Sullivan at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Grand Island, Neb. During his pastoral assignment in Grand Island, he taught at Central Catholic High School. In 2003, after serving in the Diocese of Grand Island for 25 years, he returned to the Diocese of Dodge City.

The course "Triduum: Dying with Jesus, Rising with Christ" will provide an opportunity to take a close, reflective look at the "Triduum" through the lens of history, scripture, and liturgy. It will enable the participant to realize how the ritualization of death and resurrection is at the heart of a truly personal and communal Christian (specifically Roman Catholic) "spirituality." The prayers, scriptures, and rituals that weave through the "Triduum" will be the essential material for this course, along with the textbook.

This class will be taught on four Wednesday evenings from 6- 9:30 p.m. The class will meet on: Jan. 26, Feb. 2, 16, 23. This class will offer parishes and individuals a way to prepare for the upcoming Triduum.

Debbie Snapp, LBSW, program director for Catholic Social Service in the Diocese of Dodge City, will be teaching a one-hour this spring. The course, "Catholic Social Teaching," will explore the themes of Catholic social teaching. The class will look at the history and development of the major themes and how people are called to respond. The course will meet four Saturday mornings, Feb. 5, 19, Mar. 5, and Apr. 2, from 8:30 a.m.-Noon.

Snapp has worked with the Catholic Social Service agency since 1987 and has served as program director since 1991. She supervises the social workers and support staff at the three agency offices in Great Bend, Dodge City, and Garden City. She holds bachelors degrees from Kansas State University in Social Work and Family Life in Human Development. In 2002 Snapp initiated the Just Faith program in the diocese. Just Faith is a conversion based process dealing with social justice issues.

The class, "Revelation in Context," is a one-hour course that will be offered in the spring. Father Henry Hildebrandt will be the instructor. He is currently the pastor of Sacred Heart, Ness City, and St. Aloysius, Ransom. He serves on the Diocesan Stewardship Committee and the Diocesan Building Commission. Father Hildebrandt taught the class, "The Book of Revelation," last spring, and 77 people throughout the diocese took the course for credit or personal enrichment, and many requested it be taught again. "Revelation in Context," will give more historical background than the first time it was taught. The class will meet six times on the following Wednesdays; Mar. 16, 30, Apr. 6, 13, 20, 27. "Revelation in Context" is being offered during the Easter season, which is the same time as the Book of Revelation will be proclaimed in our Sunday Liturgies.

This course will focus on the Scriptural, historical, liturgical, and cultural background of the Book of Revelation and will consider it within the context of the Apocalyptic literature of the first century. The meaning and interpretation of the Book from a Catholic perspective will be explored as will an examination of some contemporary non-Catholic perspectives, including the currently popular "Left Behind" series.

Father Henry Hildebrandt will be teaching the three-hour core course, "The Creeds and Faith." This course is a study of the Catholic community’s endeavors to adequately articulate and systematize its beliefs through the centuries. Sociological, political and theological factors which contributed to particular historical and contemporary creedal statements, as well as the implications of those statements, will be considered.

Father Hildebrandt will be teaching in his seventh semester in the Pastoral Ministry Formation Program. He is currently pastor of Sacred Heart, Ness City, and St. Aloysius, Ransom, and serves on the Diocesan Stewardship Committee and the Diocesan Building Commission.

The Creeds and Faith class will meet nine times on Saturday morning from 8:30 a.m.-Noon. Those meeting dates are: Jan. 22 and 29, Feb. 12 and 26, Mar. 12, Apr. 16, 23, and 30, May 7.