About 450 people from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis gathered at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul June 7 to prayerfully consider and vote on propositions they believe the Holy Spirit is inviting Archbishop Bernard Hebda to prioritize for coming years.
The day included morning prayer and adoration of the Eucharist in the high school’s Joe Mauer Fieldhouse where the assembly was held, and an adoration chapel was set aside for people who felt called to more prayer.
The gathering was part of implementing Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” which grew out of prayer and listening sessions and other learning and sharing opportunities in the archdiocese from 2019 to 2022 and culminated with a two-day Archdiocesan Synod Assembly in June 2022.
With input from the 2022 gathering, the archbishop articulated four priorities that are being enacted now: Parishioners forming small groups, particularly under a model called Parish Evangelization Cells System (PECS); archdiocesan officials, parishes and schools educating people on the beauty, form and meaning of the Mass and encouraging more active participation in it; and helping form and inspire parents to fulfill their responsibility as the first teachers of their children in ways of the faith.
At the daylong 2025 assembly — a gathering Archbishop Hebda called for in his 2022 pastoral letter to continue listening to the faithful and discerning a path forward — members voted on the remaining eight propositions out of 12 that had received the most votes in 2022.
Every vocation in the archdiocese is being represented, the archbishop said. And fruits of the Holy Spirit continue to be unpacked from initiatives already underway, including PECS, he said. Parishioners have told him that small groups have reignited their spiritual lives, Archbishop Hebda said.
“These fruits give context for our discernment today,” the archbishop said. “And they should give you some confidence; they certainly give me confidence.”
Sarah Moon, a parishioner of St. Peter in Richfield, attended the Archdiocesan Synod Assembly 2022 and returned for the 2025 Assembly. When she received the invitation from Archbishop Hebda, she accepted without hesitation, Moon said.
Her hope from the Archdiocesan Synod, she said, is that the faithful will recognize they have a place in their parish.
“We do need them,” Moon said. “God doesn’t call perfect people. We need everyone to help our archdiocese grow and be successful in the future.”
One proposition being considered by the Synod Assembly that weighs heavily on Moon’s heart is adult faith formation, she said. It’s sad to see people stop attending Mass after they are confirmed, she said.
“I think we, as an archdiocese, can do more to let them know that there are opportunities available for them once they’ve been confirmed,” Moon said. “It’s been 22 years since I had my confirmation and because my mom was a lector, I knew that there were more roles that I could take within the Church once I was confirmed. … Having adult formation opportunities available after confirmation will hopefully give youth a reason to keep coming and saying, ‘Confirmation isn’t the end. There is more for me afterwards.’”
The day began with Bishop Michael Izen leading prayer and Eucharistic adoration. The crux of the morning and afternoon sessions was small and large group dialogue, with lay people, clergy, men and women in consecrated life and others discussing what they hope will come out of the Synod, such as a focus on evangelization, youth ministry, daily discipleship or additional faith formation for all ages.
Synod assembly members assigned randomly to tables of six discussed topics in small groups, and attendees selected at random were asked to share with the archbishop and the assembly what they believed the Holy Spirit was inviting the archbishop to prioritize.
Sunoh Choe, a 34-year-old parishioner of Holy Family in St. Louis Park and a member of the Archdiocesan Blue Ribbon Commission on parents as primary educators of the faith to their children, said he had joked to his wife that of the many people present, the odds of him being selected to share were astronomical. During the first large group discussion, Choe was one of the first people called.
“Something that came to my heart was actually the deanery proposition, of leveraging and grouping parishes to make better use of retreats that one parish might host, or other events,” Choe told the archbishop.
Choe mentioned the 2025 Archdiocesan Men’s Conference at Epiphany in Coon Rapids, noting that he had not heard about the event before it happened.
“I realized, if I’m not hearing about it, how many others aren’t hearing about it?” Choe asked Archbishop Hebda. “Maybe (deaneries) is a creative strategy for us to really fire on all cylinders and impact all the propositions.”
In a conversation with The Catholic Spirit during lunch, Choe said, “I’d love to see more collaboration across the different parishes in the archdiocese. … I think the parish that I belong to, Holy Family, is actually a really strong, vibrant parish. But I also go to daily Mass at some of the other parishes. I have friends at other parishes. … I see it as a ‘matter together’ strategy.”
Jacob Wilson, the director of evangelization at St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes, said he hopes the Synod will help stir people to grow spiritually. The propositions closest to his heart were discipleship in daily life and lay leader formation.
“They really seem like they need to go together almost as one proposition,” Wilson said. “Because if we have lay leaders who are formed, then we can properly disciple. … There seems to be a really good pairing there. If we want to disciple the best we can, then we need to reinvest in our lay leadership.”
After an afternoon session of small and large group dialogue, voting on the propositions and other activities, the Synod Assembly concluded with dinner. Archbishop Hebda will take the recommendations to prayer and discernment as he considers the needs of the archdiocese.
Assembly members were invited then to the Pentecost Vigil Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
