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1 Journeys from Landings International Welcoming Returning Catholics A Paulist Ministry of Reconciliation Lisa McRae (welcomer), Chuck Smith (welcomer) and Silvia Rodriguez (returnee) participate in a Landings session at St. Andrew the Apostle in Silver Spring, MD. Revised Landings materials are a hit! Compassion, community, catechesis, healing and prayer: terms that characterize the work of Landings as the program answers the call of Pope Francis to welcome returning Catholics. Landings is a program that invites all Catholic parishes to reach out to Catholics who have been away from the Church or who struggle in their relationship with God and the Church. In a welcoming and non-judgmental way, small groups of lay Catholics join with returning or inactive Catholics to share their spiritual journeys and explore their Catholic faith. By setting up a Landings program at your parish, you can provide a safe harbor or landing place for returning Catholics to explore their faith and their future with the Church. To begin a Landings program at your parish, you will need to order the Landings Packet. The Landings Packet includes the following revised curriculum materials: Landings Coordinator s Guide Landings Participant s Journal Landings Training Guide Landings Training DVD The Landings Packet of materials provides a step-by-step plan to develop the Landings program at your parish, a training guide and DVD to train the Landings lay welcoming committee, and a journal with faith topics for the participants/returnees. The Landings Packet costs $59.95 and is available to order through Paulist Press, Landings provides people in the pews with the training and resources they need to welcome people back to the Church, Father Kane said, Also, did you know that Landings is now available in Spanish? ReEncuentro, a Spanish translation of the Participant s Journal, is culturally sensitive for its readers. Many parishes and dioceses have expressed interest in this publication, which they plan to use in their outreach to Hispanic populations. ReEncuentro costs $9.95 and is available to order through Paulist Press, Kiefer Thompson, Landings coordinator at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Draper, UT, declares, I am so appreciative of the wonderful training manuals and the gift of compassionate and nonjudgmental team members that were able to welcome these Catholics back home. Contents The Gift of Landings... 3 Q&A from the front lines... 4 Welcome new parishes!... 5 Make it rain! Donate online at Your support matters! Scan the QR Code to visit the Landings web site!

2 From the desk of the director Looking back with an eye to the future! Business cards: A secret weapon! Business cards. Those 2 x3 ½ cards are ubiquitous in the business world, so Karen Vittone, Landings coordinator at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, D.C., developed her own Landings business cards. An emergency room nurse for many years, Karen is aware of the importance of names and contact information. With both the Landings and parish logos on her unique card, she presents it as a Landings conversation clincher. Karen tells us that she s landed many participants that way. Yes, she even carries the cards in her evening purse! Do you want to take a page from her book and develop your own? Contact us to receive electronically the Landings logo! Laura Beh joins Landings staff Laura Beh has joined the Landings International staff as a coordinator. A graduate of Georgetown University, Laura has served as a welcomer for her parish Landings program and as president of her parish sodality. An avid tennis player, Laura lives with her family in Washington, D.C. Landings has been a hallmark ministry of the Paulist Fathers. We celebrate a 27-year legacy of reaching out to our brothers and sisters in the Church, who for one reason or another felt estranged in their relationship with God and/or the Church. Our newly-revised Landings program has been very well received in the United States, and the list of parishes is growing. Pat Watson and Laura Beh in our D.C. office made great strides in expanding and strengthening this ministry. Our parishes continue to adopt Landings as we add areas of the country where it is just starting. In a cooperative venture, Paulist Press has also published Landings in a Spanish language version, so we can now reach out to the Hispanic community! The Reconciliation Workshop last summer in London was very successful in bringing renewed interest to this ministry. A new Landings office opened at the Farm Street Church in the fall under Jesuit leadership. We are expanding outreach through the UK. In December, I visited Tony See in Singapore. Tony is a dynamic layman who brought Landings to Singapore. There are now three churches engaged in Landings ministry. Within four years, 275 men and women have returned to the Church in Asia. We are singularly blessed by such active engagement! At present, we are holding information sessions in five locations throughout the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and two follow-up training sessions as we increase the presence of Landings in the archdiocese. I invite all Catholic parishes and communities to reach out to Catholics who do not regularly share in the Eucharist or struggle in their relationship with God and the Church, and to draw them into welcoming and reconciling communities of faith. The timing could not be better. Pope Francis has repeatedly stressed the need for the Church to be more hospitable and welcoming. Landings Staff Director: Father Thomas A. Kane, CSP Coordinator: Laura Beh Administrator: Patricia Watson Thomas A. Kane, CSP Director, Landings International

3 Father Thomas Kane, CSP, director of Landings International, meets with Tony See, of Landings in Singapore and Catherine Lee of the Singapore Diocesan Office for the New Evangelization. By Tony See The Gift A Landings Retreat In Landings Singapore we settled on the theme of Gift for our retreats. In welcoming the returning Catholics, we aim not merely for them to return into the pews, but to embrace a new level of faith expressed in the proclamation of the Good News in the life they live. From the welcome and mercy we ourselves experienced as participants of Landings, we identified that God is keen to give us the Gift of His Love. However, we recognized that not every participant in Landings will rediscover faith in the form they left it. Often, this re-connection is a new experience of God s love which is empowering and leaves the participant wanting more. We tweaked the 10-week process to facilitate this empowerment. We hold the retreat on the eighth weekend, leaving two more weekly sessions for the participants to reflect on their new-found faith and posing the invitation to journey on in community. For the eight weeks prior to the retreat, we shared and listened, gradually delving deeper into our personal lives. At the retreat, we strive to make sense of what had been happening to us. We share about the Gift, sub-dividing into topics of Knowing (the Gift), Receiving, Being and Celebrating and later to Unpacking and Sustaining. Here we examine our previous misconceptions of God and introduce God as our loving Father. We acknowledge receiving His love through His always-open invitation to reconciliation. We understand we must live true authentic Christian lives to sustain all we have embraced, and celebrate the Mass with a new purpose that it gives us strength to take our next step forward. Habla Español? Even if you don t speak Spanish, the message of the new Landings video, ReEncuentro, is profoundly understandable. The video, currently on the Landings website homepage, contains a Landings program explanation and testimonies in Spanish and was filmed at St. Paul s College and at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, D.C. The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception graciously granted special permission to integrate a mosaic photo from the Shrine s Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel. The video conveys a powerful message and invitational outreach to Hispanics everywhere to consider Pope Francis message to return to an active practice of their faith.

4 Sister Brenda Query, IHM Virginia Beach parish holds 41st Landings session, and counting! Sister Brenda Query, IHM, is the director of adult faith formation at St. Gregory the Great Church in Virginia Beach, VA. Born in Norfolk, VA., Sister Brenda attended Old Dominion University before making her 1974 vows with the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She has served at St. Gregory the Great twice, from and then returning in Sister Brenda totals 41 Landings groups and approximately 178 returnees at St. Gregory from Q. How were you first introduced to Landings? A. I attended a diocesan workshop that offered information about several programs to welcome back inactive Catholics in The presentation on Landings made me feel it was the perfect program for the community at St. Gregory. Q. When did the first Landings group start, and have you done anything else with Landings outside of the parish? A. The first Landings group started in Then, in the late 1990s, Father Jaq Campbell, CSP (founder of Landings), asked me to serve on a panel that presented Landings to the Diocese of Charleston, SC, to share first-hand what it was like to implement Landings at the parish level. Q. What was the program like when you came back to St. Gregory? A. I came back to St. Gregory in 2011, and Landings was still going strong even though it had been 10 years. A great joy for me is that the current team members have all been through the program as participants and have returned as welcomers. One man even came up to me after Mass and said, I m Frank, and I was in the first Landings group. Q. What is your most effective means of attracting participants? A. The most effective means of attracting participants is by a personal invitation from a parishioner. Weekly church bulletin and announcements after Holy Communion, brochures in the commons area and yard signs around the parish grounds are effective tools for reminding parishioners that Landings is a vital ongoing ministry at the parish. Q. What is your advice for parishes starting a Landings program? A. The parish staff should be fully informed about Landings and its goals. The start date should be well publicized. Committed volunteers should be identified and trained. Sister suggests the pastor and the parish clergy need to fully support the program because they are first line of evangelization. Sister Brenda Query, IHM, speaks with some of the Landings coordinators at St. Gregory the Great Church in Virginia Beach, VA.

5 Making Landings across the U.S. Eight parishes begin Landings ministry St. Joseph s Catholic Community Capitola by the Sea, Capitola, CA In September 2014, St. Joseph s held their first Landings session and welcomed seven Catholics back to the Church. Then in April 2015, two of the returnees became welcomers. A second Landings session is welcoming six more Catholics back home. Jim Barrington and Dave Andrews are the Landings coordinators. Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church Potomac, MD Our Lady of Mercy trained five team members and started their first Landings session in March They have four participants and scheduled a Mass and potluck celebration for May 19. Anna LaNave, the Landings coordinator at OLOM, looks forward to the next session in October St. Columba Catholic Parish Durango, CO St. Columba welcomed four returnees in the fall of 2014 and one in the spring of The parish had a good response by using a banner outside the church that depicted a drawing of the Father welcoming the Prodigal Son home in a warm embrace. Larry Pederson and Graziella Morris are the Landings coordinators. Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Wilmington, NC Immaculate Conception welcomed one Catholic back to the church in spring Richard Wallace, the Landings coordinator looks forward to the next session in the fall. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Draper, UT St. John the Baptist started training in November It resulted in six trained Landings team members. They had bulletin flyers and altar announcements during Advent. St. John the Baptist started their first Landings session in January 2015 with eight participants. It s been a beautiful and inspiring experience, said Landings coordinator Kiefer Thompson. St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church Glen Allen, VA St. Michael the Archangel started their first Landings session in April They have eight participants and report that things are going quite well. Ken Feldt, Landings coordinator, had business cards printed and found that to be an effective way to reach out. St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church Silver Spring, MD St. Andrew the Apostle s first Landings session started in February 2015 with five participants. A returnee spoke at the Easter Masses as a testimonial for Landings. The parish looks forward to holding their second session in the fall. Lisa Longacre is the Landings coordinator. San Juan del Rio Catholic Church St. John s, FL San Juan del Rio is looking forward to starting their first Landings session in May They have trained the team and are preparing for six participants. Michael Shurr, the Landings coordinator, is looking forward to the first session of Landings.

6 Landings Newly Revised Evangelical Program Landings, a lay ministry program for returning Catholics, is an evangelization and reconciliation process that will help you and your community welcome inactive Cath olics wanting to take another look at the Church. In a welcoming and nonjudgmental way, small groups of active lay Catholics meet for eight to ten sessions with returning Cath olics to share their spiritual journeys and explore their Catholic faith. The program includes: Landings Coordinator s Guide Landings Participant s Journal Landings Training Guide Landings Training DVD Landings is for Returning Catholics. This Paulist evangelization process will help you and your faith community welcome inactive Cath olics who want to take another look at the Church and to celebrate their sacred moment of return by giving them a safe place to land. Landings is simple, yet subtle in its effects. Since 1989, the layoriented process has successfully brought returning Catholics back to active participation in the faith. Landings is a lay ministry. Your staff will not be burdened with another program. This program trains and engages active lay Cath olics to welcome those who are wounded, searching, and wondering. Landings encourages storytelling. Each person s journey is special and sacred in the eyes of God. The meetings focus on sharing faith stories and reflecting on Catholic themes. Participant s Journal pp. $9.95 net Paperback SPANISH EDITION pp. $9.95 net Paperback Coordinator s Guide pp. $19.95 net Paperback Training Guide & Program Guide pp $19.95 net Paperback Training DVD $19.95 net Landings Packet $59.95 net *The LANDINGS Ministry Certificate is required for all groups participating in a LANDINGS ministry. The cost is $100 and includes ongoing support from the LANDINGS staff. For more information on starting a Landings program in your parish, or participating in one, please contact Paulist Press: info@paulistpress.com Customer Service: