By Maryangela Layman Román, Catholic Herald Staff

ST. FRANCIS — Fr. Javier Bustos likens the emerging John Paul II Center to the parable of the mustard seed. He sees a project that began small, as a simple dream, but has taken root and continues to grow.

The center which, according to its mission statement, will provide adult catechesis and formation to the faithful of southeastern Wisconsin, will officially open July 1. It will be located in space the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will rent from the School Sisters of St. Francis on South Layton Boulevard in Milwaukee.

Its goal is to help enrich faith and deepen a sense of discipleship and support Catholics in spiritual growth while guiding them to live their faith through service to the church and the greater community. Specifically, it will offer diaconate formation; preparation and formation for lay ecclesial ministry; programs that prepare, support and strengthen marriage and family life and enrichment opportunities for Catholics to learn about their faith.

Just the beginning

Fr. Bustos, who was asked last spring to lead the planning for the center, was named its first director by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan in January.

“If we use the Gospel parable of the mustard seed – that was the leading parable of the John Paul II Center creation – we need to identify the mustard seed, with the vision of the tree,” said Fr. Bustos in a recent interview with your Catholic Herald. “We have the vision of what it might become in the future, and all these projects are so big, and we hope it will be even bigger, but we are aware this is only the beginning.”

Archbishop Dolan announced his idea for the center last April after announcing that academic formation of priests would no longer take place at Saint Francis Seminary.

“My intent for this initiative was to offer an expanded lay formation program, which is essential because of the increasing need for well-trained lay faithful throughout our 10 counties,” wrote the archbishop in a late January announcement about the center e-mailed to priests and parish staff.

Addressing a need

The idea for the center was definitely Archbishop Dolan’s, said Fr. Bustos, “but the need was there. We needed either a center or to strengthen what we had. We needed to rethink the way we did lay ministry formation, not that what we did was wrong, but what we did was not enough. We needed to expand, to be more creative to respond to new challenges.”

Fr. Bustos, a native of Venezuela who was ordained a priest of the Milwaukee Archdiocese in 2001, had returned to the archdiocese in spring 2006 after three years in Rome where he completed studies for a doctoral degree in moral theology. He will defend his thesis this spring. During last year’s spring assembly for priests, Archbishop Dolan asked him to lead the creation of the center.

While surprised by the request, Fr. Bustos said he embraced the challenge, seeing it as an opportunity to work with laity.

He spent his first two months meeting with people throughout the archdiocese. After talking to people ranging from representatives of ethnic groups to parishes in all locales of the archdiocese, Fr. Bustos put together a proposal for the center, and assembled a team to help him make it a reality. The team, which consisted of 22 people ranging from parish consultants, members of the archdiocesan Lifelong Faith Formation office, and Saint Francis Seminary staff, met for the first time last September.

Confronting challenges

The group faced several challenges, according to Fr. Bustos, including:

Regionalization: “We need to expand, we need to go out there, we need more mission work to serve people in their counties,” said Fr. Bustos.

Use of technology: The center recognized the need to make use of online education and video conferencing. “This is not new, it’s happening all over the place,” said Fr. Bustos of the technology, “but unfortunately it’s going to be new for us.”

Finances: Funding the center will be an ongoing challenge, said Fr. Bustos, noting that some staff members will be hired in subsequent years to meet the budgeting challenges.

Using available resources: Making use of existing resources through Catholic colleges, universities, schools and parishes will be key.

Perception of lay ministry: While conducting interviews throughout the archdiocese, Fr. Bustos said he encountered pain, grieving among people who were disappointed that the lay ministry formation component of Saint Francis Seminary no longer exists. He challenged people to help the new initiative, which will provide needed lay leaders for the community.

Shifting the focus to serve all levels: In the past, the focus had primarily been on graduate level formation, but Fr. Bustos said lay leadership is broad and formation must be offered on various levels.

How the center will function

The team, which grew to include subgroups working on specific issues, settled on four units for the center:

The Ministry Formation Institute: to provide ministry formation for the permanent diaconate program and non-degreed lay ministry. Deacon John Ebel, formerly associate director of the seminary’s certificate division, was named director of this institute in mid-March and Manuel Maldonado Villalobos, associate director of child ministry and catechetics, is associate director.

The Pentecost Mission: which will provide faith formation to average Catholics, Catholic school teachers, catechists and those considering a vocation, especially in lay ministry. The one-year Pentecost Mission program, which will be offered in regions (north, south, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties) will also serve as the first year of the four-year diaconate formation program. Formerly, the diaconate formation program was a five-year commitment. It has been reduced to four, and participants may do the first year in their own region. Fr. Bustos noted there will be a small fee for the offerings which will be in English and Spanish. Maria Borda Wiesner, formerly coordinator of Saint Francis Seminary’s certificate division Hispanic/Latino component, was named director in mid-March.

The Emmaus Project: ongoing education and formation for individuals involved in specific ministry, Catholic faithful with an interest in learning more about the faith and parish ministry teams. Much of the work will be done in conjunction with other institutions in the diocese, said Fr. Bustos, including Catholic colleges and universities. Programs such as Theology on Tap, opportunities for people in their 20s and 30s to discuss faith issues in social settings, and the Pallium Lecture series, will fall into this category. Randy Nohl, director of Lifelong Faith Formation, was named director of this unit in mid-March.

The Nazareth Project: formation and support for adults entering into and living the sacrament of marriage. Specific areas of ministry include engaged ministry, newly married, marriage, parenting and separated and divorced. Applications for the directorship of this project are being accepted.

According to Kathleen Hohl, communications director for the archdiocese and a member of the team planning the John Paul II Center, an online ministry coordinator will likely be hired for the 2008-09 school year.

The John Paul II Center offerings will be solely geared for adults, noted Fr. Bustos, who added that the archdiocese will be creating an office for catechetical and youth ministry separate of the center.

“This is the beginning,” stressed Fr. Bustos, when describing plans for the center. “Hopefully, we’ll see the fruits from this in five years, maybe 10. We’re going to need the support from the community, the prayers of the community, so people can see they are a part of this.”

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