General Directives:
Create an Implementation Team

	Implementation Plans due MADISON -- The Implementation Commission composed of 20 priests and laypersons from around the diocese will meet June 3 and 4 to go over each of the 41 clusters' implementation plans due May 15. The commission will give feedback to each cluster on their plan, either accepting it as is, asking for minor corrections, or sending it back for rework. Once the plan is accepted, the Commission will forward the plan on to the bishop for his approval. Facilitators are standing by to assist parishes in meetings, planning, or discussions; contact them, if needed. For more information: trustinginthespirit@straphael.org; Trusting in the Spirit, 702 S. High Point Rd., Madison, WI 53719; or 608-821-3010.

Most parishes in the Diocese of Madison have been diligently working on their Trusting in the Spirit Implementation Plans in anticipation of the Implementation Commission meeting the first week of June.

These plans give a concrete methodology for how the parishes within each cluster will work together to achieve the directives that the bishop placed before them last October. These are the relationship "direction" that the bishop sees each cluster moving in, be it a partnership, linkage, or in some cases, merger.

The key point is that each cluster has directives that have been derived from and are relative to their specific cluster, not any other cluster. However, there was a set of directives, the General Directives, that applied to all clusters, thus all parishes, in the diocese (see General Directives), without exception. As there have been a number of questions with regard to these directives, we will try to address them in the next couple of articles.

First general directive

The first General Directive that we'll discuss is:

"Create a Cluster Implementation Team to engage the staffs and pastoral councils in developing an implementation plan and provide regular updates to the parishes and to the diocese."   Full story ...

Forty Days for Life gearing up for next vigil

MADISON -- Madison-area Christians will join communities around the country again this fall to partake in a 40-day, around-the-clock prayer vigil outside Planned Parenthood. Madison's 40 Days for Life is seeking volunteers and participants interested in helping bring an end to abortion.

Participants sign up for shifts of one to four hours. They can sign up for a single time or on a weekly basis, fasting and peacefully praying outside Planned Parenthood. The 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week prayer vigil begins September 24 and runs through November 2.

Moving experiences

Last year's 40 Days for Life participants reported many moving experiences.

"I had two young ladies approach and say, 'I want to know where I can obtain an adoption,'" said Don, who partook in last year's vigil. "They change[d] their minds [about getting an abortion] because they had supporters. Someone who [could] help them do what was right."

Kathy, another vigil participant, said 40 Days for Life is an important way to provide a voice for the voiceless.   Full story ...