“Take off my name” campaign

As the deadline approaches to turn in the petition to put abortion on our state constitution, it is looking more and more likely it will succeed in getting the required number of signatures. Based on the accounts of Life Defense Fund volunteers who were present while petitioners were collecting signatures, deceptive practices were sometimes used to convince people to sign. Many of those who signed may now want to have their name removed.

Thankfully, our South Dakota Legislature recently passed a bill that will allow people to fill out a form to have their name removed. Find below a bulletin blurb you can include in your weekend bulletins and a flier that could be inserted. Help us keep this bill off the ballot!

Bulletin Blurb: Did you sign the abortion petition being circulated in South Dakota? Do you now wish you hadn’t signed it and wish you could remove your name? A recently passed law now makes it possible for you to remove your name from this petition, which could keep it from getting onto the ballot this November. Keep South Dakota’s babies safe by giving them the dignity and life they deserve as children of God. Visit www.takeoffmyname.com to learn more.

take off my name flier

 

 

Gift of Hope Concert

Consumed By Fire with Seph Schlueter

Friday, April 19
7:00 PM
St. Michael Church, Sioux Falls

Tickets: ccfesd.org/events/gift-of-hope

More Info:
Enjoy a night of live music from contemporary Christian band Consumed By Fire with special guest and rising artist Seph Schlueter. This night will be full of great music, worship, and inspiring stories, all supporting the important work of The Lourdes Center. We hope you can join us!

Get your Tickets

Already have your tickets? Invite a friend to join you!

About the Beneficiary:
People of all faiths, ages, and walks of life who have experienced grief, despair, abuse, loss, or pain of separation can receive help, hope, and healing from the ministry of The Lourdes Center. Concert-related expenses are financially sponsored or donated, allowing 100% of all proceeds to go to benefit of the Gift of Hope Fund.

Discipleship and Evangelization

Upcoming Events

D-Camp 2024 – Broom Tree
June 16-19 (High School) – SOLD OUT
July 7-10 (High School) – SOLD OUT
July 11-14 (Junior High) – SOLD OUT

Confirmation Retreats
June 22, 2024 – Vermillion
July 27, 2024 – Elkton

Star of the North Regional Eucharistic Congress
May 17-19 – Bemidji, MN

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage
May 17 – July 16

National Eucharistic Congress
July 17-21 – Indianapolis, IN

More Info

National Eucharistic Procession
As part of the National Eucharistic Revival, there will be eucharistic processions happening from the four areas of the country, joining together at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. You are invited to join part of the routes and make your own eucharistic pilgrimage. Come as a family, youth group, men’s/women’s group or individually. You can find all the details here.

 

Confirmation Retreats
Lumen Christi is offering two Confirmation retreats this summer: June 22 in Vermillion and July 27 in Elkton. These retreats are focused on deepening the understanding and preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. For more information and to register, visit our webpage at: https://www.sfcatholic.org/youth/confirmation-retreats/ 

Bulletin Blurb: Lumen Christi is offering two Confirmation retreats this summer. Check out the dates and register today by visiting: https://www.sfcatholic.org/youth/confirmation-retreats/

 

D-Camp 2024 – Sold Out
Please encourage your students to join the waitlist. Parents will be contacted if a spot opens up. For more information, please visit our D-Camp webpage.

 

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Trainings

CGS – Level I Part A Training
If you know someone who would like to become a CGS catechist, please let them know that Level I training is being offered in our diocese. Immaculate Conception Parish in Watertown is hosting the training. Dates: June 5-7 and 10-12, 2024. Cost is $235. To register or if you have questions, please contact Grace Tschakert at coordinator@icparishwatertown.org or 605-886-4049.

CGS – Level II Part A Training
If you know a CGS catechist who has completed Level 1 Part A and Part B and would like to begin Level II training, please let them know that one is being offered in our diocese. St. Lambert Parish in Sioux Falls is hosting the training with formation leader Carolyn Kohlhauss. Dates: June 3-8, 2024. Cost is $235. You can register here. Only a few spots remain! If you have questions, please contact Jodi Reel at stlambertcgs@sfcatholic.org or 605-336-8808.

 

Gallup CliftonStrengths Inventories – Attention Pastors
 As you begin to put together your pastorate leadership teams, we wanted to remind you that we have an amazing opportunity for you to help your team members understand their own gifts and the gifts of the team.

The diocese maintains a Gallup access platform that makes it easy to invite your team to take the CliftonStrengths inventory and generates reports for each individual as well as the team as a whole. We also have two trained Strengths coaches on staff to help you interpret what the results mean for each person as an individual and as a team. 

Inventories are $60 per person. Coaching is free. 

If you would like to use this tool to help empower your team, please go through the diocese instead of contacting Gallup on your own. For more information or to set up the inventories for your team, please reach out to the Office of Discipleship & Evangelization, 605-988-3714 or disciplehip@sfcatholic.org.

PCL Email List
If you are new or newly diving into our offerings, we invite you to join the PCL email list. You can sign up on the diocesan For Parish Leaders webpage.

New PCL Portal 
We are excited to announce that we have created a new PCL portal that will hopefully serve as a one stop shop for all the active PCL’s (Parish Catechetical Leaders are DRE’s, youth ministers, RCIA coordinators, those involved with leader discipleship and evangelization initiatives in a parish or pastorate… anyone involved in passing on the faith) in the diocese. Those who are currently on the PCL email list have all been sent an invitation to join this platform and create your account.

This portal houses many useful resources, the Power Hour recordings, RE curriculum guidelines and suggestions, and much more.

If you are an active PCL in the diocese and have not been added to this portal, please reach out to our office to request access. We can be reached either by phone at 605-988-3714 or by email at discipleship@sfcatholic.org

Weekly “Power Hour” for Formation Leaders – Tuesdays at 1 p.m.
Each week during the academic year, we hold a Zoom call for Parish Catechetical Leaders (PCL) from around our diocese. The goal is to offer an opportunity for growth in both spiritual and professional development and to have a space to bounce ideas off one another and inspire and encourage one another in our shared mission (we do so by alternating between a “public office hours”-style format and a format with presentation and discussion on a predetermined topic). Power Hours are held from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesdays. Zoom invitations are sent to the PCL email list weekly.

Fiat Dinner for women discerning God’s call

Do you know a young woman discerning God’s call in her life? The Sioux Falls women’s discernment group, Ecce Ancilla Domini, is hosting a Fiat Dinner for young women seeking God’s call. The dinner will be held on Sunday, May 5 from 4-8 p.m. at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery (707 W 4th St.) in Sioux Falls. The evening will feature Mass, dinner and talks with Bishop DeGrood and the PES Sisters. To RSVP, visit sfwomensdiscernment.org.

 

Open positions around the diocese

Are you interested in being a part of “Team Blue”?  We are hiring!

Join us as we partner with the Bishop, pastors, school administrators and the multiple entities that work to further the mission of the Church.

Check out the Diocesan Job Board at:  http://sfcatholic.hireclick.com/jobboard

Our current open positions include:

Chancery Offices:
  • Administrative Assistant for Discipleship & Evangelization Office
  • Graphic Design & Multimedia Specialist
Catholic Community Foundation for Eastern SD:
  • Director of Development
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Business Systems Administrator
The Lourdes Center:
  • Clinical Counselor
PLUS many more open positions in the parishes and schools

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

Providing a healthy and safe environment in our parishes and schools is a ministry to which we are all called. To foster our common diocesan vision of Lifelong Catholic Missionary Discipleship Through God’s Love, the diocese will be marking Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. Please note and share with your parish, school or ministry the following events.

This year, 8.5″ x 11″ full color posters are being mailed to your location in April.  These posters explain how to report abuse and show information on the Catholic Church’s efforts nation wide to protect children and the vulnerable. Please post them and send in a picture of it posted at your location to Alison in the Safe Environment Office: aconemac@sfcatholic.org.

The Rosary for Healing this year is a beautiful video recording of one of our diocesan families (the Hofflander family) leading the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary for Healing. The Rosary video will be posted to our SFDiocese YouTube channel and will be linked on the diocesan website Safe Environment homepage. Please join us in prayer this month!

April 6 (Saturday) 4:00 p.m. – Live-streamed Mass with Bishop DeGrood will be prayed for healing of victims/survivors and all affected by abuse.

Attached is a Rosary for Healing booklet and a novena for healing that can be provided to groups (especially prayer groups) in your parish. See attached Novena for Protection and Healing from Abuse to be used to post or insert into your bulletins.

Diocese of Sioux Falls Novena for Healing 2024

Rosary-for-Healing

Media to post on your website or share on social media, along with a date for a live streamed Rosary for Healing, will be forthcoming.

All parishes are encouraged to include an introduction/announcement in their bulletin in the month of April introducing the local coordinator at your parish, school or ministry.

Please plan to participate with us in prayer for the safety and wellbeing of all children, that they may flourish as healthy, happy and holy Catholics within our communities. Contact Safe Environment Coordinator Alison Conemac (aconemac@sfcatholic.org) with your questions.

Broom Tree Retreat and Conference Center Events

Silent Retreats:
Women’s: April 18-21, July 25-28, October 3-6
Men’s: April 4-7, September 19-22

Day of Recollection: Broom Tree Days of Recollection begin at 10 a.m. and include conferences, time for adoration, Mass, and an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The day ends in mid-afternoon. Because lunch is served, we ask that you please register. A prayerful donation is requested.

2024 Days of Recollection
April 9 – “Through Gratitude and Joy,” directed by Fr. Joe Vogel
May 7 – “Our Eucharistic Revival as a Church and People,” directed by Fr. Mike Wensing
July 23 – TBA, directed by Joshua Burks with Fr. Andrew Dickinson
August 13- TBA, directed by Fr. Bob Lacey

Healing Retreats
October 11-13
Undone: A Healing Retreat- directed by Fr. Scott Traynor
This retreat will assist participants in becoming aware of Jesus’ desire to bring restoration in their lives.

Couples Retreats
April 12-14, directed by Fr. James Mason

November 15-17, TBA

During this retreat, couples will have the blessed opportunity to spend time together receiving from the very heart of God. The environment at Broom Tree makes for a perfect couples get-away: no TV, no radio, no phones or computers, just beautiful, peaceful surroundings, good food, and all the time and good direction you need to experience renewal in your marriage. Register early.

Vocations

Do you know a young man who has expressed interest in discerning a vocation to the priesthood? Do you know a young man who you think would make a great priest and might be open to investigating the possibility of this call in his life? As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is compiling a list of such men with the intent of keeping them informed about various vocations promotion opportunities such as retreats, mission trips, Operation Andrew Dinners, seminary visits, and so on. If you know of someone who we should add to our list, please contact Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or 988-3772 or Father Tony Klein at frtonyklein@sfcatholic.org.

Looking for a vocation’s resource? Vianney Vocations offers a workbook promoting vocations that is designed for grades 8-12. It could serve as a great resource for a post-Confirmation class. Check it out: Learn to Discern- HS Vocations Workbook 

Called by Name

Discern

2024 JPII Vocations Camp: July 30 – August 2

2024 JPII Camp Flyer

2024 JPII Vocations Camp

2024 St. Maria Goretti Camp (Vocations Camp for girls ages 12-16): June 5-7

2024 St. Maria Goretti Camp Flyer

St. Maria Goretti Camp

Prayer for Vocations

Looking for a good prayer to use for an increase in vocations? Here’s one many of our parishes have been using for years.
Lord Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father and Mary Immaculate, grant to our young people the generosity necessary to follow Your call and the courage to overcome all obstacles to their vocation in life. Give their parents that faith, love and spirit of sacrifice which will inspire them to offer their children to God’s service and to rejoice whenever one of their children is called to the priesthood or religious life. Let Your example and that of Your Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph encourage both young people and parents and let Your grace sustain them. Amen.

Chancery Updates

  • The USCCB recently sent out a link to their Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship resources on their website. It might helpful to many parishes as we approach Election Day in November. You can find many helpful resources here: https://www.usccb.org/offices/justice-peace-human-development/forming-consciences-faithful-citizenship.
  • If you are part of a parish/pastorate staff and find the Ministry Forum helpful, please check with others on staff to make sure they are getting it. It’s always helpful when everyone has all the same information! If there is someone who wants to be added, please have them reach out to me at rkranz@sfcatholic.org.
  • Are you an RCIA instructor who knows someone with a compelling conversion story? Or do you just know someone whose faith story really resonates with others? If you do and you think they might be interested in telling their story in the Bishop’s Bulletin or on the Catholic Views podcast, please share their name! Check with them first to make sure they’re okay with being considered for an interview. Then email me (Renae) at rkranz@sfcatholic.org with your thoughts and their contact information.

Discipleship and Evangelization

Upcoming Events

Aquinas Lecture
March 19  at 7 p.m. – Cathedral of Saint Joseph, Sioux Falls

D-Camp 2024 – Broom Tree
June 16-19 (High School) – 85% full
July 7-10 (High School) – SOLD OUT
July 11-14 (Junior High) – 99% full

Star of the North Eucharistic Congress
May 17-19 – Bemidji, MN

National Eucharistic Congress
July 17-21 – Indianapolis, IN

More Info

We’re Hiring! – Administrative Assistant
If you know someone in the Sioux Falls area who is passionate about the Catholic faith and would love to dive into a support role on a dynamic team, please share this link. The person would join Grace and Audrey in supporting Father Scott, Dr. Chris, Brenda and Hector in the Office of Discipleship & Evangelization. 

 

Gallup CliftonStrengths Inventories – Attention Pastors
 As you begin to put together your pastorate leadership teams we wanted to remind you that we have an amazing opportunity for you to help your team members understand their own gifts and the gifts of the team.

The diocese maintains a Gallup Access platform that makes it easy to invite your team to take the CliftonStrengths inventory and generates reports for each individual as well as the team as a whole. We also have two trained Strengths coaches on staff to help you interpret what the results mean for each person as an individual and as a team. 

Inventories are $60 per person. Coaching is free. 

If you would like to use this tool to help empower your team, please go through the diocese instead of contacting Gallup on your own. For more information or to set up the inventories for your team, please reach out to the Office of Discipleship & Evangelization. 605-988-3714 or disciplehip@sfcatholic.org.

 

Annual Aquinas Lecture
Join us for the 5th Annual Aquinas Lecture featuring Larry Chapp and his exploration of holiness in an age of unbelief. Program begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19 at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls. No entry fee, but registration is encouraged. Register here. (This event is sponsored by the Benedictine Leadership Institute at Mount Marty University, the Cathedral of Saint Joseph and the Diocese of Sioux Falls.)

 

D-Camp 2024 – Filling up Fast
We just have a few spots left for the 2024 summer D-camps. Have your students register today to reserve their spot. A waitlist will be started once camps are full.

If your parish would like to sponsor your youth to attend D-Camp, please reach out to our office at discipleship@sfcatholic.org, and we can set up a discount code for your parishioners to use when they register.

For more information, please visit our D-Camp webpage.

 

Lumen Christi Summer 2024 Team Requests – Closing March 15
Requests for Lumen Christi 2024 summer teams are open! We can take 5 more requests. We encourage each Pastorate to offer Lumen Christi in at least one of the parishes or open it up to your pastorate as a whole.  It is a great and very fruitful opportunity for the youth in your area.  If you would like a team, please submit your request to us at the Lumen Christi webpage by March 15th.

We will do our best to accommodate your preferences. You will receive a confirmation email as soon as the 2024 Lumen Christi missionaries have been hired and the calendar has been finalized. This will probably be around March 2024.

 

Do you know a great Lumen Christi recruit? – Last Call for Men
We are nearing the end of the recruiting season for Lumen Christi Summer 2024, and we are still looking for 3 passionate and dedicated college-aged men who have a burning desire to share their faith with youth throughout our diocese. If you know someone from your pastorate who has a deep desire to evangelize and catechize, we invite you to encourage him/her to apply to be a missionary. For more information, please visit the Lumen Christi webpage.

 

PCL Email List
If you are new or newly diving into our offerings, we invite you to join the PCL email list. You can sign up on the diocesan For Parish Leaders webpage.

New PCL Portal 
We are excited to announce that we have created a new PCL portal that will hopefully serve as a one stop shop for all the active PCL’s (Parish Catechetical Leaders are DRE’s, Youth Ministers, RCIA coordinators, those involved with leader discipleship & evangelization initiatives in a parish or pastorate… anyone involved in passing on the faith) in the Diocese. Those who are currently on the PCL email list have all been sent an invitation to join this platform and create your account.
This portal houses many useful resources, the Power hour recordings, RE curriculum guidelines and suggestions, and much more.
If you are an active PCL in the Diocese and have not been added to this portal please reach out to our office to request access. We can be reached either by phone at 605-988-3714 or by email at discipleship@sfcatholic.org

Weekly “Power Hour” for Formation Leaders – Tuesdays at 1 p.m.
Each week during the academic year, we hold a Zoom call for Parish Catechetical Leaders (PCL) from around our diocese. The goal is to offer an opportunity for growth in both spiritual and professional development and to have a space to bounce ideas off one another and inspire and encourage one another in our shared mission (we do so by alternating between a “public office hours”-style format and a format with presentation and discussion on a predetermined topic). Power Hours are held from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesdays. Zoom invitations are sent to the PCL email list weekly.