Successful Vocation Programs in Your Diocese?

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Poor_Clare_tobe

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*I have been asked to help out in my in my Parish to foster vocations particularly to the religious life. [My background previously was as a vocations director for my community]

My question for our posters on the vocations forum is this:*

*** What Programs have you seen in your own or neighboring Diocese that have been successful in helping to foster vocations?***
Blessings to all who take the time to share your experiences.
 
Can I tell you about one that didn’t work very well?
For a long time in this diocese, inquirers were encouraged to view a religious vocation as a career choice. The brochures and printed information were all geared toward that view. During that time period, I looked into a discernment program because I wondered if I was being called to join a religious order in my 30’s. During the initial phone conversation with the diocesan vocations director, I made the mistake of mentioning contemplative prayer and Jesus in the same sentence and the vocation director told me that it wasn’t " about mysticism, it was about a career choice, pure and simple." I hadn’t said a word about mysticism; maybe he’d gotten some phone calls from people who had. In any case, nobody accepts celibacy to work for IBM or Chase Bank. A religious vocation is more about a relationship than a career choice. I didn’t go into the discernment program and worked it out myself - no vocation, unfortunately, but vocations were very low during that time period and I can’t help but think the career-choice focus had a lot to do with it.
 
*FickleFreckled,

Thank you for the time you took to post. I am sorry that things did not work out for you.*
 
FickleFreckled said:
Can I tell you about one that didn’t work very well?
For a long time in this diocese, inquirers were encouraged to view a religious vocation as a career choice. The brochures and printed information were all geared toward that view. During that time period, I looked into a discernment program because I wondered if I was being called to join a religious order in my 30’s. During the initial phone conversation with the diocesan vocations director, I made the mistake of mentioning contemplative prayer and Jesus in the same sentence and the vocation director told me that it wasn’t " about mysticism, it was about a career choice, pure and simple." I hadn’t said a word about mysticism; maybe he’d gotten some phone calls from people who had. In any case, nobody accepts celibacy to work for IBM or Chase Bank. A religious vocation is more about a relationship than a career choice. I didn’t go into the discernment program and worked it out myself - no vocation, unfortunately, but vocations were very low during that time period and I can’t help but think the career-choice focus had a lot to do with it.
Click to expand...
Sad response. It is little wonder so many orders suffered decline. They lost purpose.

Thank God for a return to some sense of spirituality (I think God used JP II and is using Benedict XVI powerfully). I also pray for the church and for Christianity that we never end up with a Pope who is less than orthodox theologically.
 
Poor Clare tobe,

Thank you, but it did work out. I didn’t have a religious vocation. But I wonder about the inquirers who really did who were discouraged away from it by the priest’s (or the diocese’s) attitudes.

God bless you in your vocation and in the program you’re working on BTW. 👍
 
Thank You for your responses thus far. I am hoping to receive additional responses from people who have seen various programs that do work. I had heard one Diocese has perpetual adoration for vocations. I am hoping that through people sharing their stories of success that many will work in their parishes to promote vocations
 
*Two things our newly ordained priest in our parish is doing is to have each different grade class adopt someone who is in formation to pray for them. I am sure this will help to get the kids to thinking about vocations

The second thing he has done is to once a month have a pizza lunch with the alter servers where they can ask questions and he can share various things about religious life with them*
 
I’ve been involved in vocations work for 20 years now, and I’ve seen stuff that works, and other methods that don’t.

As has already been stated on this thread, the career choice version doesn’t work.

When we lived in Missouri, Conception Abbey produced a booklet regarding parish vocation committees. How successful was it? In the parishes where there was faith, it worked. For parishes without a lot of faith, it didn’t. When the diocese held a retreat for young men interested in the priesthood, half of the attendees were from my parish.

The Conception Program used demographics. They put the parish priest and a volunteer together to work the phones. “Have you ever thought about being a priest?” they’d ask.

Essentially, if vocations are not discussed on a regular basis, the parishoners will not pay any attention to the issue. The “vocation thought” in the bulletin is a start, but more has to be done.

Other studies have shown that direct contact with the priest has resulted in more vocations. The parish priests HAVE to get involved if they wish to propagate their vocation.

I was the prez of our vocations committee, and if any member had an idea, I simply made them the coordinator of the project. Worked quite well, because the person with the idea had the zeal to carry it through to completion.

There was a vacant leaflet rack in the church vestibule, and one committee member made a sign about vocational reading to tack to it. I saw one woman reading through the brochures.

Our parish also brought back 40 Hours Devotion for the sake of vocations.

I had planned a nun-run of St. Louis, but we moved to NC before it came to pass. We would have stayed at Kendrick Seminary, would have had access to their monastic-style chapel with stalls, and had the bus and monasteries lined up.

One thing I’m finding here lately is that if one is going to discern a religious vocation, they just about have to start living as eremitical a life as possible to be able to focus on God. All the noise of the world has to be left behind–at least temporarily. You could encourage that.

HTH.

Blessings,
Cloisters
 
Cloisters said:
I’ve been involved in vocations work for 20 years now, and I’ve seen stuff that works, and other methods that don’t.

As has already been stated on this thread, the career choice version doesn’t work.

When we lived in Missouri, Conception Abbey produced a booklet regarding parish vocation committees. How successful was it? In the parishes where there was faith, it worked. For parishes without a lot of faith, it didn’t. When the diocese held a retreat for young men interested in the priesthood, half of the attendees were from my parish.

The Conception Program used demographics. They put the parish priest and a volunteer together to work the phones. “Have you ever thought about being a priest?” they’d ask.

Essentially, if vocations are not discussed on a regular basis, the parishoners will not pay any attention to the issue. The “vocation thought” in the bulletin is a start, but more has to be done.

Other studies have shown that direct contact with the priest has resulted in more vocations. The parish priests HAVE to get involved if they wish to propagate their vocation.

I was the prez of our vocations committee, and if any member had an idea, I simply made them the coordinator of the project. Worked quite well, because the person with the idea had the zeal to carry it through to completion.

There was a vacant leaflet rack in the church vestibule, and one committee member made a sign about vocational reading to tack to it. I saw one woman reading through the brochures.

Our parish also brought back 40 Hours Devotion for the sake of vocations.

I had planned a nun-run of St. Louis, but we moved to NC before it came to pass. We would have stayed at Kendrick Seminary, would have had access to their monastic-style chapel with stalls, and had the bus and monasteries lined up.

One thing I’m finding here lately is that if one is going to discern a religious vocation, they just about have to start living as eremitical a life as possible to be able to focus on God. All the noise of the world has to be left behind–at least temporarily. You could encourage that.

HTH.

Blessings,
Cloisters
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Thank you Cloisters
 
Cloisters said:
One thing I’m finding here lately is that if one is going to discern a religious vocation, they just about have to start living as eremitical a life as possible to be able to focus on God. All the noise of the world has to be left behind–at least temporarily. You could encourage that.

HTH.

Blessings,
Cloisters
Click to expand...
Very good advice. I’ve found that living in silence and prayer has really nurtured my contemplative vocation. I’ve actually found myself, so to speak. I used to hate silence because I felt complacent in my life when I was silent, but I have left that ideology behind in the dust where it belongs. It took a lot out of me, but once I discovered how beautiful Adoration was, and how I could just sit there for hours on end looking longingly at the Blessed Sacrament, I can’t ever think that silence is a bad thing. Today was mostly silent, and I got a LOT of thinking and prayer done. 🙂
 
*Thank You all so very much for your (name removed by moderator)ut thus far. I believe perhaps I need to clarify my original question and intent. Our Diocese has called for more programs to encourage vocations. It seems to be a given without a doubt that prayer is necessary for those in the discernment process. Without prayer there is no maturing relationship with our Divine Lord. My question is more this: Has any one posting here experienced programs which successfully seem to encourage vocations? How were these programs successful?

I have heard that some diocese have 40 hrs of prayer or perpetual adoration for the intention of fostering vocations? Have you run across such programs???

In Spokane last year there was a rally where various religious communities gathered for talks and Mass. Sponsored by the University of Stuebenville. There was actually an altar call.[100’s of young people responded and left their names for further contact.

What I am hoping is that with ideas flowing perhaps those of us in various stages of discernment might be able to help ignite a spark within their own area whether it be at parish level or at school. Please keep the posts coming and thank you to those who have posted thus far!

if your parish doesn’t have much more than a nodding acquaintance with promoting vocations??? What would you do? If you were developing a program?? How or what would you implement???

**
 
Poor_Clare_tobe said:
*Thank You all so very much for your (name removed by moderator)ut thus far. I believe perhaps I need to clarify my original question and intent. Our Diocese has called for more programs to encourage vocations. It seems to be a given without a doubt that prayer is necessary for those in the discernment process. Without prayer there is no maturing relationship with our Divine Lord. My question is more this: Has any one posting here experienced programs which successfully seem to encourage vocations? How were these programs successful?

I have heard that some diocese have 40 hrs of prayer or perpetual adoration for the intention of fostering vocations? Have you run across such programs???

In Spokane last year there was a rally where various religious communities gathered for talks and Mass. Sponsored by the University of Stuebenville. There was actually an altar call.[100’s of young people responded and left their names for further contact.

What I am hoping is that with ideas flowing perhaps those of us in various stages of discernment might be able to help ignite a spark within their own area whether it be at parish level or at school. Please keep the posts coming and thank you to those who have posted thus far!

if your parish doesn’t have much more than a nodding acquaintance with promoting vocations??? What would you do? If you were developing a program?? How or what would you implement???

**

A coordinated effort is what is required–central committee in the parish, and brainstorming for events. Follow the Conception plan–try to have a representative from every committee/guild/club on the vocations committee.

Before doing anything, though, I would be Dominican about it–spending many days in prayer before going to someone–primarily the pastor. Know what you want to do before presenting it to him, and be prepared for no budget.

HTH.

Blessings,
Cloisters
Click to expand...
 
I have long believed that we must reestablish Catholic culture and tradition. If we can ever return to a position other than self-loathing, young men will want to be part of a church that knows its own identity. Theology is for the mind, culture and tradition, is for the heart and is the glue holding theology together. What young man would want to belong to our church where members attend mass to be entertained?
 
Our diocese has an excellent vocations program with components to reach every age group.

dioceseofraleigh.org/how/vocations/

One program in my parish that has been well received is the Chalice Program for Vocations. A special chalice, set aside for this purpose, is presented to one family after Mass on Sunday. The family takes the chalice home and displays it in a prominent location. Each day the family gathers together to pray for vocations. At the end of the week the family returns the chalice and it is presented to another family. In our parish the program coordinators are the parents of a seminarian.

A complete description of it can be found here: dioceseofraleigh.org/docs/vocations/vocare/October2008.pdf
 
I really don’t know of any programs in the sense that Vocations are always spoken about.
I have a different problem, I have never heard the Church pray for the Vocation of Marriage. Catholics have the same divorce rate as everyone else and so I feel that is a very Major problem. Good, Holy marriages are the seed bed for Vocations to the Priesthood and yet the beauty of marriage is never mentioned. I have been a CCD teacher for many years and this is something I stress to the teenagers in my class but sometimes I feel like the Lone Ranger.
I think the Church is missing a vital element to it’s life and growth.
 
Something I got a lot out of was a weekend retreat to St John’s seminary in Wonersh, England. St. John’s seminary covers the Archdiocese/province of Southwark, south west England. There was an open invitation for men of any age (most were aged 18-25 ish but there were a couple of ‘grown’ men). The retreat was very good for us (apart from the fact that it was a nice retreat generally) because:
  1. We stayed in rooms in the seminary and got an idea of how that would feel
  2. We got a tour of the seminary.
  • These two were important, as the seminarians spend the majority of their time in that one building and it can be daunting to people discerning a vocation to imagine spending (nearly) all one’s time in one place. These things also helped us to learn about what seminary life is like.
  1. We had a chance to ask the seminarians about seminary life, discernment and vocations generally. I found that they were very frank, honest and friendly with us.
  2. We were able to participate in things like the office, vespers etc. and eat with the seminarians. This made us feel like (at least for the weekend) we were ‘a part’ of the seminary.
  3. The seminarians said that they had really enjoyed having us at the seminary for the weekend, and felt that we had strengthened them and their discernment.
The priest who organised the retreat is Fr. Stephen Langridge. He is the vocations director for the Archdiocese of Southwark (basically London south of the Thames and a bit more) but it was open to anyone from any diocese - we came from all over the south of England. He has written a blog post about it here. Fr. Stephen has an excellent blog here, which I would encourage you to have a look at for some ideas.

Oh, also, please pray for all of us who attended the retreat and are discerning our vocations!

-Joe
 
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