May 14, 2007

At a special ceremony on Sunday, May 20 the Most Reverend Edward P. Cullen, D.D., Bishop of Allentown will commission 77 people from around the five-county Diocese of Allentown as Pastoral Ministers.

The commissioning ceremony, a first for the Diocese of Allentown, is scheduled for 3 PM at the Cathedral of Saint Catharine of Siena at 18th and Turner Streets in Allentown.

A Pastoral Minister is one who is responsible for a specific area of pastoral duties, such as visitation of the sick or Rite of Christian Initiation, parish outreach and the like. A Pastoral Minister is under the direction of the Pastor, Pastoral Associate or other pastoral member.

Each of the 77 people to be commissioned has completed a three-year course of formation and study offered by the Diocese's Institute for Lay Ministry.
Bishop Cullen has said, "The Institute for Lay Ministry exists to fill an essential need: to educate, to form and to qualify committed laywomen and laymen to fulfill their baptismal call to service."

Although a first for the Diocese of Allentown, a number of nearby dioceses have similar programs including the Dioceses of Philadelphia, Trenton, Brooklyn, Harrisburg, and Scranton.

Contact: Matt Kerr
610-871-5200, Extention 265

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