Black Catholic Ministry Commission Committees
Brother Booker Ashe Lay Leadership Program
The mission of the Brother Booker Ashe Lay Leadership Program (BBALP), is to provide activities and programming that focus on the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, to promote the development of lay leaders in the ministry of life-long catholic faith formation and to ensure that events and programs will emphasize the contributions of Black Catholics within the history and traditions of the Catholic Church and Holy Scriptures.
African Catholic Ministry Committee
The mission of the African Catholic Ministry Committee is to provide a vehicle for nurturing and sustaining the pastoral, spiritual and sacramental needs of the African Catholic Community in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The Committee facilitates engagement in local parish communities that foster leadership development and increases active sharing gifts of faith, culture and skills. We promote cross-cultural awareness and understanding of African Heritage and spirituality, we serve as a resource to connect newly-arrived African Catholics with their communities of origin in their area or neighborhoods and/or help them find a parish home. We provide recourses to support faith building programs including but not limited to retreats; liturgical and cultural faith immersion celebrations.
NIA – Youth Ministry and Young Adult Ministry
These two separate ministries, addressing two different age groups, provide opportunities to strengthen and enhance spiritual growth. The role, of the two committees, is to develop, within the communities, a desire to nurture one’s faith and appreciate its’ richness and foster a dedication to pass on the faith. We will accomplish this by providing programs, as well as events, to enhance knowledge about the role of our Black Ancestors in the Sacred Scriptures; our Saints, history and traditions of the Catholic Church. We intend to include and use information/ writings of current Black Catholic Theologians, Authors, Bishops, Clergy, Religious and Laity along with the writings of our Pope and our Archbishop.
We will engage the youth and the young adults through prayers services, retreats and events that will provide opportunities for prayer, socializing, leadership training, spiritual and personal growth.
Martin Luther King Prayer Service
Dr. King was a man of God who allowed scripture to guide him and motivate him. The prayer service is a way to experience his message and re-dedicate ourselves to the causes of Dr. King stood for and gave his life for. The service engages and challenges attendees to look within and access how are you living God’s call for you? How are you being Christ-like in your homes, in your communities, in your churches, in the world? The prayer service offers one of the many and varied ways of sharing Black Spirituality through spiritual music, sacred movement and scripture; shared with the greater community and offered as an expression of faith and love of God and the Church. Archbishop Listecki has been active participant at all of our services, since his arrival to this Archdiocese.
Sacred Liturgies
The ministry of the Sacred Liturgies celebrates and deepens our relationship with Jesus Christ through the bestowal of grace, communal prayer and liturgical experiences; it awakens their awareness of the spirit at work in their lives; it incorporates us more fully into the sacramental life of the Church, especially Eucharist; it nurtures our personal prayer life; and it fosters family rituals and prayer.
The mission of the Sacred Liturgies Committee is to ensure that Black Catholics in the Milwaukee Archdiocese are provided with the opportunity to experience such celebrations that will enhance their spiritual journey. These liturgical events should include the richness of our Black culture.
We will utilize the extensive contributions of our Black liturgists. We will use educational materials from the many Black authors that focus on prayer and liturgical celebrations.
The symbols and rituals of liturgy become more meaningful when given the chance to experience liturgical forums such as the Liturgy of the Hours, liturgy of reconciliation/healing, and other ritual devotions which allow for creativity and adaptation to the life experiences and cultural expressions.
The committee’s focus will strive to ensure that the Black Catholics of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee are provided with opportunities to deepen their faith through a variety of prayer experiences and liturgical celebrations that reflect their heritage as Black Catholics.
National Black Catholic Conference - NBCC
Who is the NBCC?
The National Black Catholic Congress, comprised of member organizations, represent African American Roman Catholics, working in collaboration with National Roman Catholic organizations. We commit ourselves to establishing an agenda for the evangelization of African Americans; and to improve the spiritual, mental, and physical conditions of African Americans, thereby committing ourselves to the freedom and growth of African Americans as full participants in church and society.
Aware of the challenges, we are committed to evangelize ourselves, our church and unchurched African Americans, thereby enriching the Church. We hold ourselves accountable to our baptismal commitment to witness and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ."
Click here to visit the NBCC website