A workshop for persons involved in ministry to minority groups drew more than 140 participants at a two-day session in Atlanta last week. “Minority Leadership in Ministry” was concerned with the understanding of minority cultures and ministry within the framework of that awareness.

Bishop Rene Gracida, of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee delivered the keynote address on the theme of the workshop. He recalled for his audience those leaders in minority ministry and those leaders in minority ministry and social justice in general, documenting his choices with quotations from encyclicals and other ecclesial documents. He pointed out the many failures of the Church as a whole to meet the needs and understand the problems of minorities but cited the increasing awareness of the need for involvement of and concern for the members of minority groups.

Sister Mario Barron, CSJ, from the Mexican-American Cultural Center in San Antonio, Texas, outlined the elements of Hispanic Spirituality and contrasted them with the general, spiritual concepts usually accepted as the norm. She pointed out the differences in the way the Hispanic regards the concept of Law, of interpersonal communication, celebration and ritual, as well as attitudes toward death. She developed the image of the extended Spanish family with its resulting impact on many other aspects of their culture and spirituality.

Father Donald Kapitz, vocation director for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, emphasized the need for the spirituality of the minister in his talk on the pastoral expression of the Hispanic culture. Once again contrasting the Anglo and Hispanic cultures, he stressed that the “success” and “Numbers” mentality could never replace the deep need for the real spirituality of the one who comes to bring the Good News.

In the afternoon session participants discussed needs and frustrations in their ministry and searched for identification of ways and means to more adequately serve the Spanish-speaking.

Sister Mary Shawn Copeland, OP, executive director of the National Black Sisters Conference, told the over-flow crowd attending the Black Ministry Workshop that Blacks as well as their ministers must come to terms with their Blackness and their Catholicism and that as they do so, those needs they experience and articulate will change as their understanding of their identity develops. Sister also outlined some of the problems which have occurred within communities in which Blacks have sought to live out a religious vocation.

Father Carl Fisher, SSJ, vocation director of the Josephite Fathers and Brothers, analyzed the growth patterns of the Black clergy through the last 150 years, and addressed some of the problems and circumstances which affected those patterns.

In the afternoon strategy session, the participants outlined their concerns and the problems they would like to address. Many spoke after the session of the sense of unity and interest which came from sharing mutual problems and successes as well as from hearing many different points of view. Another frequent statement was that the consciousness level had been raised: It is a far different thing to hear many people from many places expressing the same needs and concerns than to be one person trying to get the same ideas across; somehow we seem to “hear better; in a setting like this,” was a typical comment.

The workshop closed with a concelebrated Mass in the chapel of St. Joseph’s Infirmary. The choir of St. Paul of the Cross Church under the direction of Mr. Grady Belcher led the congregation in the music for the liturgy.

In his homily, Father John Adamski, vocation director for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, reminded the participants that while the workshop had been a success and many good things had taken place, it would be a sad mistake to let things stop with the end of the workshop. He urged the use of the insights gained at the workshop as one more tool towards more effective ministerial leadership for all groups within the Church.

The workshop was sponsored by region five of the National Sister Vocation Conference.