Recalling Archbishop Hebda’s initial vision from Synod 2022, that we be a “listening Church” and, through the Synod process, facilitate ongoing healing and unification in this Archdiocese, and recognizing the practical needs of these materials, the Synod 2025 Preparatory Commission established a series of 13 short videos (total viewing time is less than 2 hours) to help facilitate fruitful discussion on June 7, 2025. The videos review each of the top 12 propositions from Synod 2022. Each video is accompanied by a one-page summary sheet with reflection questions intended to encourage a prayerful review of each of these videos in the coming months.
Setting the Stage: Synod 2025
Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Yen Fasano set the stage for the Synod 2025: Be My Witnesses Assembly by revisiting the synodal process that brought us here, including the pastoral letter, and explaining what your next steps will be as a Synod Member.
Parents as Primary Educators
Form and inspire parents to understand and fulfill their responsibility as the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith.
- Provide groups for parents to encounter Jesus, be formed in the faith and support one another in their responsibility to pass on the faith and help their children grow in holiness.
- Equip parents with age-appropriate dynamic resources to share with their children. (Topics include Bible stories, scripture, and the lives of the saints.)
- Encourage faith formation catechists and Catholic school teachers to see themselves as co-workers with parents.
Provide accompaniment to young parents, showing them how to integrate Catholic culture in daily family life. Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Comprehensive Faith Formation
Develop an intentional faith formation plan at every parish and Catholic school in which parents encounter Jesus, grow in their faith, and are supported in teaching their children the Catholic faith and living their identity as a beloved child of God.
- Provide meaningful sacramental preparation that emphasizes a personal encounter with the living Christ.
- Create educational, prayer and retreat experiences where the whole family can be formed in the faith.
Identify, invite, form and equip catechists and Catholic school teachers to provide an authentic and credible witness of the faith and the joy of Christian life. Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Vibrant Youth Ministry
Develop at each parish (or collaboratively among parishes) a vibrant youth ministry where youth have the opportunity to encounter Jesus and be formed in the faith with Christ-centered faith sharing and fellowship.
- Include a small group ministry under the leadership of parents and other faith-filled adults who can serve as mentors, providing a safe place for youth to belong and to learn how to make wise decisions.
- Provide small group leader formation with support from the Archdiocese.
Invite and equip adult, young adult and youth leaders who can serve as authentic and credible witnesses through parish-based youth events (e.g., weekly youth nights).
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Small Groups
Create or grow a small group ministry at every parish that fosters personal relationships, builds community and provides formation to help parishioners grow as joyful missionary disciples of Christ.
- Types: Bible study, faith sharing, prayer, sacramental preparation, evangelization
- Variety of formats and common interest groups: couples, women, men, single, mixed age, similar stage of life
Parishes may collaborate with other parishes on this ministry, as desired.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Discipleship in Daily Life
Teach individuals and families the art of Christian living in the modern world to be a witness of the abundant life for which God created us.
- Offer basic discipleship training, including the application of discernment of spirits to daily decision making (e.g., prioritizing relationships, career decisions, financial stewardship, time management).
- Educate on the true meaning of the Lord’s Day and encourage all to reclaim Sunday as a day of worship, fruitful leisure and rest to help cultivate a personal relationship with God and solidarity with others.
Provide a variety of opportunities for each person to discern his or her God-given call, and to embrace it as his or her personal journey to holiness.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Adult Faith Formation
Create or strengthen an intentional formation plan at every parish to help adults and families in all stages of life to live and witness to the faith in our culture today.
- Teach the fundamentals and fullness of the faith – i.e., Scripture, Mass and Sacraments, prayer, and the moral life.
- Nurture the faith journey from encounter and conversion to missionary discipleship.
Make helpful resources available, especially greater promotion and access to the Archdiocesan and national formation resources (e.g., Catechetical Institute, Latino Ministry Institutes, Called and Gifted program, university courses/certificates).
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Regional/Deanery Cooperation (Young Adult Ministry)
Recognize that vibrant young adult ministry is difficult for any individual parish to create and sustain and consider a move toward a model of regional collaboration.
- Parishes within deaneries work together to provide social and faith-based events to help young adults encounter Jesus Christ, be formed in the faith and find meaningful Christian friendship. (A deanery is a geographical grouping of approximately 10-15 parishes.)
- The Archdiocese supports regional young adult ministry efforts, including coordinating with apostolates.
- Send young adults back to their parish to engage in its life and mission.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Education for the Mass
Educate God’s people on the beauty, form and meaning of the Mass, with special emphasis on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Include how individuals and families can prayerfully prepare for an encounter with the risen Christ in Word and Sacrament.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Reverent Liturgies with Active Participation
Celebrate prayerful liturgies that inspire the faithful to offer their very selves in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass.
- Homily: Invest the resources necessary for the preaching of relevant, educational, and inspirational homilies that equip the faithful to joyfully live out the faith.
- Help clergy to prepare homilies that touch the head, heart and imagination of the people and encourage them to be witnesses to Jesus in their daily lives.
- Ensure clergy have sufficient time to devote to such preparation.
- Music: Offer sacred music that lifts hearts and minds to God and encourages active participation of the faithful.
- Lay Liturgical Ministers: Form lay liturgical ministers (e.g., lectors, communion ministers, altar servers, music ministers, ushers) to cooperate with clergy in assisting in the liturgy with devotion.
Congregation: Foster a community that is rooted in sacramental life through which faith is nourished, strengthened and expressed.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Welcome and Hospitality
Foster an intentional culture of welcoming and hospitality that seeks to encounter people where they are and open wide the doors to Christ for them.
- Be especially mindful of those who are new, those who are feeling disconnected from the Church, and those who are from different cultures.
Cultivate awareness among the faithful that all are ministers of hospitality who can help their neighbors feel they belong.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Lay Leadership and Formation
Encourage and empower laity to work collaboratively with clergy in parish leadership.
- Provide formation for clergy and parish staff that enables them “to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry.” (Eph. 4:12)
- Provide formation for parish staff and lay leaders that includes an encounter with Jesus, conversion and discipleship, so that they may serve the parish community faithfully and effectively.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
Build Parish Community
Provide opportunities for parishioners to connect in order to foster relationships, support one another in their walks with Christ, and deepen a sense of belonging within the parish.
- Host events and social gatherings, including after Mass.
Form small groups (based on the interests of the parishioners) that unite them more deeply in faith.
Use this one-sheet to aid in your reflection.
