Journeys
from Landings International
Welcoming Returning Catholics
A Paulist Ministry of Reconciliation
www.landingsintl.org • 202-269-2550 • 2015
Lisa McRae (welcomer), Chuck Smith (welcomer) and Silvia Rodriguez (returnee) participate in a Landings
session at St. Andrew the Apostle in Silver Spring, MD.
Revised Landings materials are a hit!
Compassion, community, catechesis, healing and prayer:
terms that characterize the work of Landings as the program
answers the call of Pope Francis to welcome returning Catholics. Landings is a program that invites all Catholic parishes to
reach out to Catholics who have been away from the Church or
who struggle in their relationship with God and the Church. In a
welcoming and non-judgmental way, small groups of lay Catholics join with returning or inactive Catholics to share their spiritual
journeys and explore their Catholic faith.
By setting up a Landings program at your parish, you can
provide a safe harbor or “landing” place for returning Catholics to
explore their faith and their future with the Church.
To begin a Landings program at your parish, you will need to
order the Landings Packet. The Landings Packet includes the
following revised curriculum materials:
• Landings Coordinator’s Guide
• Landings Participant’s Journal
• Landings Training Guide
• Landings Training DVD
The Landings Packet of materials provides a step-by-step plan
Contents
The ‘Gift’ of Landings ............... 3
Q&A from the front lines........... 4
Welcome new parishes! ............ 5
to develop the Landings program at your parish, a training guide
and DVD to train the Landings lay welcoming committee, and a
journal with faith topics for the participants/returnees. The Landings Packet costs $59.95 and is available to order through Paulist
Press, 1-800-218-1903.
“Landings provides people in the pews with the training and resources they need to welcome people back to the Church,” Father
Kane said,
Also, did you know that Landings is now available in Spanish?
ReEncuentro, a Spanish translation of the Participant’s Journal,
is culturally sensitive for its readers. Many parishes and dioceses
have expressed interest in this publication, which they plan to
use in their outreach to Hispanic populations. ReEncuentro costs
$9.95 and is available to order through Paulist Press, 1-800-2181903.
Kiefer Thompson, Landings coordinator at St. John the Baptist
Catholic Church in Draper, UT, declares, “I am so appreciative of
the wonderful training manuals and the gift of compassionate and
nonjudgmental team members that were able to welcome these
Catholics back home.”
Make it rain!
Donate online at
www.landingsintl.org
Your support matters!
Scan the QR
Code to visit
the Landings
web site!
From the desk of the director
Looking back with
an eye to the future!
Business cards:
A secret weapon!
Business cards. Those 2 x3 ½ cards are ubiquitous in the business world, so Karen Vittone, Landings coordinator at the Shrine
of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, D.C., developed
her own Landings business cards.
An emergency room nurse for many years, Karen is aware of
the importance of names and contact information. With both the
Landings and parish logos on her unique card, she presents it as
a Landings conversation clincher. Karen tells us that she’s landed
many participants that way. Yes, she even carries the cards in her
evening purse! Do you want to take a page from her book and
develop your own? Contact us to receive electronically the Landings logo!
Laura Beh joins Landings staff
Laura Beh has joined the Landings International staff as a
coordinator. A graduate of Georgetown University, Laura has
served as a welcomer for her parish Landings program and
as president of her parish sodality. An avid tennis player,
Laura lives with her family in Washington, D.C.
Landings has been a hallmark ministry of the Paulist Fathers.
We celebrate a 27-year legacy of reaching out to our brothers
and sisters in the Church, who for one reason or another felt
estranged in their relationship with God and/or the Church.
Our newly-revised
Landings program has been
very well received in the
United States, and the list
of parishes is growing. Pat
Watson and Laura Beh in
our D.C. office made great
strides in expanding and
strengthening this ministry.
Our parishes continue to
adopt Landings as we add
areas of the country where
it is just starting.
In a cooperative venture, Paulist Press has also published
Landings in a Spanish language version, so we can now
reach out to the Hispanic community!
The Reconciliation Workshop last summer in London was
very successful in bringing renewed interest to this ministry.
A new Landings office opened at the Farm Street Church in
the fall under Jesuit leadership. We are expanding outreach
through the UK.
In December, I visited Tony See in Singapore. Tony
is a dynamic layman who brought Landings to Singapore.
There are now three churches engaged in Landings ministry.
Within four years, 275 men and women have returned to the
Church in Asia. We are singularly blessed by such active
engagement!
At present, we are holding information sessions in five locations throughout the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and
two follow-up training sessions as we increase the presence
of Landings in the archdiocese.
I invite all Catholic parishes and communities to reach
out to Catholics who do not regularly share in the Eucharist
or struggle in their relationship with God and the Church,
and to draw them into welcoming and reconciling communities of faith. The timing could not be better. Pope Francis
has repeatedly stressed the need for the Church to be more
hospitable and welcoming.
Landings Staff
Director: Father Thomas A. Kane, CSP
Coordinator: Laura Beh
Administrator: Patricia Watson
Thomas A. Kane, CSP
Director, Landings International
Father Thomas Kane, CSP, director of Landings International, meets with Tony See, of Landings in Singapore and Catherine Lee of the Singapore
Diocesan Office for the New Evangelization.
The ‘Gift’ – A Landings Retreat
By Tony See
In Landings Singapore we settled on the theme of “Gift” for our
retreats. In welcoming the returning Catholics, we aim not merely
for them to return into the pews, but to embrace a new level of
faith expressed in the proclamation of the Good News in the life
they live.
From the welcome and mercy we ourselves experienced as
participants of Landings, we identified that God is keen to give
us the “Gift” of His Love. However, we recognized that not every
participant in Landings will rediscover faith in the form they left it.
Often, this re-connection is a new experience of God’s love which
is empowering and leaves the participant wanting more.
We tweaked the 10-week process to facilitate this empowerment.
We hold the retreat on the eighth weekend, leaving two more weekly
sessions for the participants to reflect on their new-found faith and
posing the invitation to journey on in community.
For the eight weeks prior to the retreat, we shared and listened,
gradually delving deeper into our personal lives. At the retreat, we
strive to make sense of what had been happening to us.
We share about the “Gift”, sub-dividing into topics of “Knowing (the
Gift)”, “Receiving”, “Being” and “Celebrating” and later to “Unpacking”
and “Sustaining”. Here we examine our previous misconceptions of
God and introduce God as our loving Father. We acknowledge receiving His love through His always-open invitation to reconciliation.
We understand we must live true authentic Christian lives to sustain
all we have embraced, and celebrate the Mass with a new purpose
that it gives us strength to take our next step forward.
¿Habla Español?
Even if you don’t speak Spanish, the message of the new Landings video, ReEncuentro, is profoundly understandable. The video, currently on
the Landings website homepage, contains a Landings program explanation and testimonies in Spanish and was filmed at St. Paul’s College
and at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, D.C. The National
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception graciously granted special permission to integrate a mosaic photo from the Shrine’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel. The video conveys a powerful message and invitational
outreach to Hispanics everywhere to consider Pope Francis’ message to
return to an active practice of their faith.
Sister Brenda Query, IHM
S
Virginia Beach parish holds 41st Landings session, and counting!
ister Brenda Query, IHM, is the director
of adult faith formation at St. Gregory
the Great Church in Virginia Beach, VA.
Born in Norfolk, VA., Sister Brenda attended Old Dominion University before
making her 1974 vows with the Sisters,
Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
She has served at St. Gregory the Great
twice, from 1995-2001 and then returning
in 2011. Sister Brenda totals 41 Landings
groups and approximately 178 returnees at
St. Gregory from 1997-2015.
Q. How were you first introduced to
Landings?
A. I attended a diocesan workshop that
offered information about several programs
to welcome back inactive Catholics in
1996. The presentation on Landings made
me feel it was the perfect program for the
community at St. Gregory.
Q. When did the first Landings group
start, and have you done anything else
with Landings outside of the parish?
A. The first Landings group started in
1997. Then, in the late 1990s, Father Jaq
Campbell, CSP (founder of Landings),
asked me to serve on a panel that presented Landings to the Diocese of Charleston,
SC, to share first-hand what it was like to
implement Landings at the parish level.
Q. What was the program like when you
came back to St. Gregory?
A. I came back to St. Gregory in 2011, and
Landings was still going strong even though
it had been 10 years. A great joy for me is
that the current team members have all been
through the program as participants and
have returned as welcomers. One man even
came up to me after Mass and said, “I’m
Frank, and I was in the first Landings group.”
Q. What is your most effective means of
attracting participants?
A. The most effective means of attracting
participants is by a personal invitation from
a parishioner. Weekly church bulletin and
announcements after Holy Communion,
brochures in the commons area and yard
signs around the parish grounds are effective tools for reminding parishioners that
Landings is a vital ongoing ministry at the
parish.
Q. What is your advice for parishes
starting a Landings program?
A. The parish staff should be fully informed
about Landings and its goals. The start
date should be well publicized. Committed
volunteers should be identified and trained.
Sister suggests the pastor and the parish
clergy need to fully support the program
because they are first line of evangelization.
Sister Brenda Query, IHM, speaks with some of the Landings coordinators at St. Gregory the Great Church in Virginia Beach, VA.
Making Landings across the U.S.
Eight parishes begin Landings ministry
St. Joseph’s Catholic Community
Capitola by the Sea, Capitola, CA
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church
Potomac, MD
In September 2014, St. Joseph’s held their first Landings session
and welcomed seven Catholics back to the Church. Then in April
2015, two of the returnees became welcomers. A second Landings session is welcoming six more Catholics back home. Jim
Barrington and Dave Andrews are the Landings coordinators.
Our Lady of Mercy trained five team members and started their
first Landings session in March 2015. They have four participants
and scheduled a Mass and potluck celebration for May 19. Anna
LaNave, the Landings coordinator at OLOM, looks forward to the
next session in October 2015.
St. Columba Catholic Parish
Durango, CO
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
Wilmington, NC
St. Columba welcomed four returnees in the fall of 2014 and one
in the spring of 2015. The parish had a good response by using a
banner outside the church that depicted a drawing of the Father
welcoming the Prodigal Son home in a warm embrace. Larry Pederson and Graziella Morris are the Landings coordinators.
Immaculate Conception welcomed one Catholic back to the
church in spring 2015. Richard Wallace, the Landings coordinator looks forward to the next session in the fall.
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
Draper, UT
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church
Glen Allen, VA
St. John the Baptist started training in November 2014. It resulted
in six trained Landings team members. They had bulletin flyers
and altar announcements during Advent. St. John the Baptist
started their first Landings session in January 2015 with eight
participants. “It’s been a beautiful and inspiring experience,” said
Landings coordinator Kiefer Thompson.
St. Michael the Archangel started their first Landings session in
April 2015. They have eight participants and report that things are
going quite well. Ken Feldt, Landings coordinator, had business
cards printed and found that to be an effective way to reach out.
St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church
Silver Spring, MD
San Juan del Rio Catholic Church
St. John’s, FL
St. Andrew the Apostle’s first Landings session started in February
2015 with five participants. A returnee spoke at the Easter Masses as
a testimonial for Landings. The parish looks forward to holding their
second session in the fall. Lisa Longacre is the Landings coordinator.
San Juan del Rio is looking forward to starting their first Landings
session in May 2015. They have trained the team and are preparing for six participants. Michael Shurr, the Landings coordinator, is
looking forward to the first session of Landings.
Landings
Newly Revised Evangelical Program
Landings, a lay ministry program for returning Catholics, is an evangeliza-
tion and reconciliation process that will help you and your community welcome inactive Catholics wanting to take another look at the Church. In a
welcoming and nonjudgmental way, small groups of active lay
Catholics meet for eight to ten sessions with returning Catholics to
share their spiritual journeys and explore their Catholic faith.
The program includes:
• Landings Coordinator’s Guide
• Landings Participant’s Journal
• Landings Training Guide
• Landings Training DVD
Landings is for Returning Catholics. This Paulist evangelization process will help you and your faith community welcome
inactive Catholics who want to take another look at the Church
and to celebrate their sacred moment of return by giving them a
“safe place to land.”
Landings is simple, yet subtle in its effects. Since 1989, the layoriented process has successfully brought
returning Catholics back to active participation in the faith.
Landings is a lay ministry. Your staff will not be burdened with
another program. This program trains and engages active
lay Catholics to welcome those who are wounded, searching, and wondering.
Landings encourages storytelling. Each person’s journey is special and sacred
in the eyes of God. The meetings focus on sharing faith stories and reflecting on
Catholic themes.
• Participant’s Journal 9684-5 80 pp. $9.95 net Paperback
SPANISH EDITION 4846-2 80 pp. $9.95 net Paperback
• Coordinator’s Guide 9685-2 32 pp. $19.95 net Paperback
• Training Guide & Program Guide 9686-9 32 pp $19.95 net Paperback
• Training DVD 9687-6 $19.95 net
• Landings Packet 9688-3 $59.95 net
*The LANDINGS Ministry Certificate
is required for all groups participating in
a LANDINGS ministry.
The cost is $100 and includes ongoing
support from the LANDINGS staff.
For more information on starting a Landings program in your parish, or participating in one,
please contact Paulist Press: [email protected] • Customer Service: 800-218-1903