Lay ministers: learning and helping

By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Judith McKay says that going through the Archdiocese of Miami’s lay ministry program has inspired her to go back to school for a theology degree. The Nova Southeastern University associate professor already has degrees in education, law, and conflict analysis and resolution.

“I love to learn things and I enjoy helping people,” said the newly-commissioned lay minister after she and 126 other graduates of the School of Lay Ministry received their certificates from Archbishop Thomas Wenski during a graduation Mass and ceremony June 10 at St. Mary Cathedral.

In addition, the archbishop recommissioned 39 lay ministers to continue working for another five years in their particular area of ministry.

McKay teaches religious education at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Lighthouse Point. She entered the lay ministry program in the fall of 2015. In 2016, Msgr. William Dever, the church’s pastor, asked her to take over as coordinator of religious education.

She and other volunteers teach about 50 to 70 children in grades K through 8 at the church on Sunday mornings during the school year. Before joining the faculty at Nova, McKay taught at Mater Dei High School in New Monmouth, NJ. She left teaching and decided to study law at Emory University in Atlanta. She worked as a legal aid for a while and then pursued a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution.

“Nova was one of the two schools in the country that had a Ph.D. program in conflict resolution,” she said. “And I had family in South Florida.”

After graduation, Nova hired McKay to join their faculty. She now chairs the Department of Multidisciplinary Studies, is director of Community Resolution Services and associate professor of conflict resolution and community studies. She has taken her knowledge to her parish, where she conducted a workshop on conflict resolution.

“About 20 parents of my CCD students showed up,” she said. “I want to engage the families of my CCD students more. Some parents just drop their kids off for CCD and don’t go into church for Mass. They want their kids to receive the sacraments. I appreciate that they bring their kids. And some parents are totally engaged in church.”

Archbishop Wenski told the graduates and recommissioned ministers that they are more than social workers.

“Your ministry requires a personal friendship with Jesus Christ,” he said. “You need faith, hope and Christian charity. You are coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord. We encounter the wounded in the struggles of life. Pope Francis said our work is like being on a battlefield. We must always give our very best.”

Lay ministers go through a two-year program of courses, each five weeks long. They learn about Church history and the sacraments. Classes are conducted in English, Spanish and Creole. This year students attended classes at St. Brendan High School in Miami, St. Hugh Church in Coconut Grove, St. Bartholomew Church in Miramar, and online.

As a lay minister, McKay will work in religious education and families. Others work in areas such as evangelization, bereavement, worship, faith formation, spiritual life, leadership, social services, marriage, hospitality, ministry to the sick and elderly and prison ministry.

Mabelle Jaramillo from Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Miami said she wants to help the various ministries at her church to communicate with each other.

“I want to be a liaison between the many ministries at my church,” she said. “We need to support each other in the various functions that we organize. The parish community needs to be in sync with each other. Communication is lacking. What fills my heart is working for the Lord.”

Archbishop Edward McCarthy founded the School of Lay Ministry in 1977 with the help of Mercedes Scopetta, the office’s first director, said current director Florangel Gonzalez.