Parishes and faith communities in Northern California will celebrate Synod Sunday Sept. 28 as a way of beginning the preparation process for the diocesan synod.

Bishop William K. Weigand on Aug. 3 proclaimed the opening of a synod for the diocese, an extensive process to be carried out over 15 months, calling on laity, clergy and religious to participate in steering the vision of the local church for many years to come.

Pastors have received informational materials in English and Spanish, including a copy of the synod decree of convocation and one page of questions and answers about the synod, to distribute to parishioners on Synod Sunday.

The synod, with the theme “Journeying Together in Christ,” is set for Oct. 11-13, 2004. It will address broad topics of concern to Catholics in the diocese as suggested by lay members of parish pastoral councils, clergy and religious, and proposed finally by Bishop Weigand, according to Mercy Sister Eileen Enright, director for synod preparation.

She said the Synod Preparatory Commission, a group of more than 25 clergy, religious and lay members from throughout the diocese, has been meeting for several months and has set up a process for surveying clergy, religious and laity about synod topics. Questionnaires to surface possible topics will go out later this month to some 1,500 people.

In addition, there will be opportunities for parishioners, in a series of regional “speak-out sessions” in the spring of 2004, to contribute their hopes and concerns to the synod and to offer their views on possible topics and priorities, she said.

The synod will also take into account the priorities identified by nearly 65,000 parishioners in the diocese, when they responded to the survey designed by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which was distributed in parishes in February 2002.

Sister Enright said parishioners can make known their ideas about the synod to members of their parish pastoral council and through synod delegates, once they are selected from their parish. Pastors will inform parishioners in November of an application process for those interested in being delegates to the synod.

The Catholic Herald will cover synod preparation activities on a regular basis and will inform parishioners of other ways they can participate in the synod process.

Bishop Weigand said the goal of the synod “is to discern, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the path that the Lord is unfolding before us as we continue our pilgrimage and together strive to meet the challenges of a church always in need of renewal.”

The bishop said the actions of the synod will result in a pastoral plan that will guide the diocese at least through the year 2010, as well as in legislation, ordinances and guidelines that flow from this pastoral plan.

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