Two women complete Ecclesial Lay Ministry formation program

Becky Cope, left, and Mary Margaret Lynch, right, pose with Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein on Sept. 20 in the rectory of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis after the two lay ministers were honored for completing the archdiocese’s Ecclesial Lay Ministry program. Cope ministers at Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood. Lynch ministers at St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Two women were honored on Sept. 20 in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis as the latest people to complete the archdiocese’s Ecclesial Lay Ministry (ELM) formation program.

Becky Cope, who ministers at Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood, and Mary Margaret Lynch, who serves at St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville, received a certificate of completion and an archdiocesan lapel pin during a prayer service at which Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein presided.

Edward Isakson, archdiocesan human resources director and coordinator of lay ministry formation, spoke to Cope and Lynch during a reflection he gave during the prayer service.

“As lay ministers in the Church, we are blessed by the people we minister to and the people we minister with,” Isakson said. “Becky and Margaret, the Church has been blessed by your devotion and we are very thankful for you.”

Archbishop Buechlein praised the ELM program, saying that it “helps assure our parishes and our archdiocese that these lay ministers are well prepared in a holistic way.”

ELM, which was launched in the archdiocese in 1999, provides theological, spiritual and pastoral formation for lay ministers in the archdiocese.

Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad provides ELM’s instructors and organizes its workshops, which take place at varying locations in the archdiocese.

Cope, 60, who serves Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish as the coordinator of religious education and volunteer coordinator, spent five years in the ELM program and said that she is sorry to see her time in it come to an end.

“It was wonderful learning [and] going through it,” Cope said after the prayer service. “But I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss going to class, and being with the other people and learning.”

Lynch, 71, began her participation in ELM 10 years ago, close to the time that the program began. She has volunteered in various ministries at archdiocesan parishes for approximately 30 years. She currently directs adult faith formation programs at St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville.

Lynch believes so strongly in lay ministry that in 2005 she helped establish a Catholic Community Foundation endowment that supports formation for lay ministry in the archdiocese.

“I just feel very driven to bring the face of Jesus to people,” Lynch said. “Right now, I’m just working with adults, but I’ve worked with teenagers and grade school kids and I’ve loved it all.”

(For more information about ELM, log on to www.archindy.org/layministry or call 317-236-1594 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1594.) †