Hispanic lay ministers attend national conference

Intermountain Catholic

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More than 60 people who are in the Emaus lay ecclesial ministry formation in the Diocese of Salt Lake City attended the National Association for Lay Ministry conference in Las Vegas. Courtesy photo

LAS VEGAS — On May 30 a group from Diocese of Salt Lake City Emaus program, which is the Spanish version of the lay ecclesial ministry formation program, went to Las Vegas to attend the 2013 annual conference of the National Association for Lay Ministry (NALM).

"This was a great opportunity for all the people who are in the program to see how a national conference is held," said Maria Cruz Gray, director of diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry.

The group traveled by bus, but because it was filled to capacity others followed in their own cars.

Before starting on the road, the attendees received a blessing from Father Eleazar Silva, parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.

More than 60 people from the Salt Lake diocese attended the conference.

"We were the only diocese that had that kind of representation," said Susan Northway, the diocesan religious education director, referring to the fact that the Emaus attendees were the largest group at the conference.

"After their arrival in Vegas, they rested and the next day attended the general conference," said Gray.

Dulce Jimenez-Abreu, director of the bilingual programs of Sadlier Religion, offered a post-conference presentation especially for the Emaus attendees.

The conference was titled "Liderazgo para la nueva evangelización" (Leadership for a New Evangelization.) It allowed those attending to ask questions such as "Who are the leaders that we need to work in a new evangelization?," "What are their characteristics?," "How can we attract other leaders?," and "Where are we going?"

"It was wonderful and they had their own session on Saturday," said Northway.

Gray said that the conference was a great opportunity for the people in the Emaus program, they were also able to mingle and meet other lay ecclesial ministers from all over the United States.

"This is the first time that the group traveled together; I hope this helped them to see how, as leaders, they have to adapt and collaborate in different environments and with different people," said Gray.

Emaus is a four-year formation program and this group is in the third year.

"This is the practical year of the program; it’s based more on practicing than on studying," said Gray, adding that when a person decides to become a lay minister, he or she needs to go out, they need to leave their comfort zones, they need to say, "This is for God, and here we go."

"We all dream and want to be servants of God and it’s by sharing with others that we learn the most," said Gray.

Gray said she is in conversations with different priests throughout the diocese, evaluating the needs of each parish, so she can distribute the Emaus ministers among them to practice their knowledge during their practicum.