Pastoral Ministry: Year in Review

posted January 15, 2015

Founded in 1888, Red Cloud Indian School set forth—at the request of Chief Red Cloud—to provide students with a holistic learning experience in the Jesuit tradition of educating the mind, body and spirit while ministering to the Pine Ridge Reservation community. More than 126 years later, we are thriving, not only as a unique Catholic and Lakota K-12 school with a world-class heritage center, but also as a unified Lakota-Catholic parish, incorporating six active churches across the 2.8 million acre Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Our pastoral ministry programming serves more than 800 families across the reservation. Outreach initiatives in religious education, youth ministry, recovery ministry and lay leadership development ensure that these families, and so many more, have a safe and supportive environment to gather and share.

As we step into 2015, we reflect on where we came from and consider what we are growing toward. Our Pastoral Coordinator, Veronica Valandra, has curated a list of some of the most important events and developments from 2014 below. We encourage you to reflect with us and pray for positive growth in the new year.


 

January

Assistant for Evangelization and Formation Sr. Connie Schmidt and Pastoral Coordinator Veronica Valandra made two rounds of visits to all six Red Cloud Indian School parish communities on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The purpose of the visits were to determine how the communities would like to see their parish grow in the coming year and also discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the parish so that Red Cloud's pastoral ministry team could better support their important outreach and religious work.

A third round of visits is planned for spring 2015 with a focus on encouraging increased mass attendance and continued support of the parish communities.

March

Informational meetings were held at the Sacred Heart Church in Pine Ridge for those individuals that expressed an interest in joining Red Cloud's Lay Ministry Program.  Six fantastic candidates were recommended for approval to begin the classes, which are slated to start in the spring of 2015. Learn more about the incredible value of developing a Lakota-Catholic parish on the reservation through the support of Lay Ministers in this article.

April

The pastoral ministry team members all attended the Rapid City Diocese's Pastoral Ministry Days in nearby Rapid City. The topic for this year’s program was 'stewardship.' Because our Diocese is spread across hundreds of square miles, the event is an excellent opportunity to come together as a united Diocese, learn about each other's programming, and support each other. 

May

With the support of the pastoral ministry team, Bishop Robert Gruss once again traveled to Pine Ridge to personally confirm 14 young adult candidates—many of whom are students at Red Cloud Indian School. The much anticipated event was well attended and a beautiful display of the multifaceted spirituality of the reservation community. 

Jamie, now a senior at Red Cloud High School, picked St. Elizabeth of Hungary for her Saint. "She was a queen, but.. she was so humble and served as a nurse during her life, which sort of reminded me of my grandma," said Jamie.

For Jamie, her religion relates directly to her ability to make positive decisions in her life, whether about her social life or about what she wants to major in when she graduates. “When I was learning about St. Elizabeth during this process, she inspired me," said Jamie. "Her efforts make me want to pursue a degree in healthcare even more. One day I hope to work in healthcare like Saint Elizabeth and my grandma.” You can read more about Jamie and last year's confirmed students in this article.

June

The pastoral ministry team participated in an informational meeting with the executive director of the National Tekakwitha Conference to begin discussing the 2017 conference, which we have now learned will be held in nearby Rapid City, South Dakota!

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was the first Native American in the United States to be canonized in the Catholic Church. The national conference is held each year to encourage people to reflect on her life as a Native person of God. Attendees say they return to Pine Ridge with a renewed enthusiasm to create a sacred and safe gathering place for Lakota-Catholics on the reservation. 

July

Throughout June and July, six distinct vacation Bible schools are held in communities across the reservation for area youth. From Oglala to Porcupine to Allen, the programming has covered an area nearly the size of Connecticut since the 1960s.

Along with helping to engage the future leadership of the Church, Fr. Peter Klink noted these camps also serve a wider purpose. “Nurturing a culturally sensitive faith and spirituality among our youth invites students to know themselves as loved by their Creator." You can learn more about 2014's Bible Camps in this article.

October

Pastoral ministry staff attended the Pastors Meeting of the Jesuit Provinces of Milwaukee/Chicago/Detroit. The meeting was a fantastic opportunity to meet new Jesuits and lay people working for the Church across the province and to network with, educate and inform the attendees about Red Cloud's unified Lakota-Catholic parish on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Being located a great distance from any urban center, opportunities for our pastoral ministry team to connect with the greater province is extremely valuable in terms of our parish's growth and sustainability.

November

Pastoral ministry staff traveled to Chicago to attend the installation Mass of our former Rapid City Bishop, Blasé J. Cupich, a long-time friend of Red Cloud Indian School who was appointed by the Holy Father to be the next Archbishop of Chicago. 

We are delighted that Bishop Cupich was appointed and know first hand that his leadership and compassion will be a great asset to Chicago. We are blessed to have friends and supporters across the country and are proud to count the Bishop among them.

December

The Secretary for Secondary and Pre-Secondary Education for the Society of Jesus throughout the world, Fr. Jose Alberto Mesa, SJ, PhD, visited Red Cloud Indian School in December. Fr. Mesa is responsible for the coordination of the Jesuit School Global Network. Aside from his primary role as a member of the Jesuit Curia in Rome, Fr. Mesa is a visiting professor in the Cultural and Educational Policy Studies program at Loyola University in Chicago. 

It was a true honor to have Fr. Mesa on campus and to share with him all the good work being done in the schools and throughout the parish. His visit infused staff and parishioners with a deepening sense of faith direction, knowing that even a small, but proud parish on the prairies of South Dakota is on the radar of internationally known Jesuits like Fr. Mesa.

Continuing into 2015...

With the support of our community 2015 will surely be a year to remember. We are looking forward to trainings for our Lay Leadership team that will enable them to lead their church community through important services and events, while also easing the incredible workload of our priests. We are also looking forward to more collaboration with our individual church communities, more collaborative effort with The Heritage Center and the school. 

 

Will you support the efforts of the pastoral ministry team in 2015?