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The March issue of Today’s Parish has arrived! This issue focuses on the catechumenate and initiation. One question I asked in my “From the Editor” column is: “How do you evangelize?” Please click on comments and share your thoughts.
Click here to read Margie Sullivan’s article from the March issue, “Ritual moves us from ordinary life to holy ground.”
Catechumenate leaders are fond of saying, “The RCIA is not a program; it’s a process.” But what does that really mean? I’ve encountered a lot of folks who talk about “process,” but what they are actually doing looks and feels very programmatic.
I’ll give you an example. I went to college in southern Missouri. It was not uncommon for a stranger to stop me on campus and ask if I knew Jesus as my personal savior. Now, on the surface, this seems like a process question. It seems like the evangelist is truly concerned about my relationship—my personal relationship—with Jesus.
But here’s the tip-off that this question was part of a program. First of all, it is a template question. Every good southern evangelical asks it, pretty much verbatim. Next, it didn’t really matter what my answer was. Yes, no, I don’t know, or (never say this unless you’ve got an hour to kill) I’m Catholic—it didn’t matter. The evangelist had a set pattern of replies, all designed to get me to “accept Jesus.”
For some of these folks (not all), it didn’t really matter who I was as a person. Whatever my own life of grace might have been like up to that point had no influence over their encounter with me. They knew what they were going to say and what they wanted me to say before they ever met me.
I worry that we have a similar evangelical program going on in a lot of our RCIA groups. When I can, I ask RCIA teams if they know what they will be teaching about on the third week of September (pick a week at random). A lot of them can tell me, even though they currently have no inquirers. They know what they are going to say before they have even met those they hope to evangelize. And they know what they want the inquirer to say back. Just open the ritual book to the Rite of Acceptance and read the example responses of the candidates. These examples have become the rote replies of thousands of inquirers, regardless of the lives of grace they may have lead up to that point.
So how do we move away from program and toward process? A first step might be to define “process” a little more. If the RCIA is a process, what is the process for? Becoming Catholic? That’s not what the rite says. The rite of Christian initiation is a process of seeking God. It is a process of living the way of faith and conversion (see RCIA 1).
If that’s so, then we might say the RCIA is not a program; it’s a relationship. Our job is not to read from predetermined templates. It is to explore the mystery of grace at work in the individual inquirer standing before us.
How do you evangelize? How do you help your parishioners evangelize? How do you equip them to make accommodations and adjustments when they are faced with an actual inquirer? Please click on the comments link, and share your thoughts.
A couple of months ago, the board of directors of the National Pastoral Life Center made the decision to cease publication of Church magazine. I’ve been a reader of Church for most of the time I’ve been in ministry, and it was sad to see the doors close. The silver lining, however, is that Today’s Parish Minister will be fulfilling the remainder of the outstanding Church subscriptions.
Today’s Parish Minister and Church are different magazines, but our goals are very similar. Both magazines share the mission of supporting parish leaders with solutions to the many challenges facing parishes today.
If you are a Church reader, just now joining Today’s Parish Minister, welcome! I hope you’ll contribute your thoughts and let me know how we can continue improving. It’s great to have you on board.
Thanks to all of you who recently completed the reader survey for Today’s Parish Minister. I’m excited about
implementing some of your great ideas. Some of the topics you said you would like to see more of included: liturgy, parish council, hospitality, and stewardship.
I had heard the liturgy suggestion before the survey, and I started the “Liturgy tip” column last year. If you turn to page 5, you’ll see eight suggestions for first Communion. Tony Meadows also tackles first Communion in “Diary of a parish priest” on page 28.
Many of you know that Today’s Parish Minister started as a resource of parish councils, and I try to maintain that tradition both implicitly and explicitly. In this issue, I asked Leisa Anslinger to write an article specifically for parish councils, “Focus on talents, renew your parish” (page 12). She gives council members and other parish leaders some great advice on how to increase parishioner involvement in the parish. Leisa’s article is a great study piece for councils, especially if you pair it with Cathy Rusin’s “The good steward” column (page 16). In this issue, Cathy gives us some excellent pointers on how to use surveys to create a greater sense of parish identity and ownership among parishioners.
I was glad to see the suggestion for more articles on hospitality. That’s an area of parish life that most of us could spend a lot more energy on. If your parish is ready to ramp up its hospitality efforts, check out the two dozen suggestions from Simone Brosig in “Christian hospitality: The key to effective stewardship” (page 10).
You’ve noticed by now that this entire issue is focused on stewardship. I’ve kept that theme for the October issue for several years now. So if you don’t find something immediately useful in this issue (and I can’t believe you won’t!), look through your October issues from past years. In this issue, besides the articles I’ve already mentioned, be sure to read Michael K. St. Pierre’s column “Tools for evangelization” (page 6). He says:
The concept is simple enough. Healthy organizations feature healthy participants.
A healthy parish understands giving, promotes giving, and highlights giving.
Then he goes on to offer three fresh, innovative ways to reimagine the “time-talent-treasure” mantra.
Also, be sure not to miss Deborah McCann’s moving description of how a parish fundraiser became “Eucharist” for her and her family. She generously shares her own story to give us five simple steps to creating that same sense of community in our own parishes (page 17).
Well, as I said, you’ve presented some exciting ideas. I hope this issue responds to some of them, and I’m looking forward to exploring a lot more of them in the future. One strong message I got from the survey results is that you are passionate about the work you are doing in your parishes. Whether you are on staff or you’re a volunteer, you’re working hard to be good shepherds and leaders in your communities. I am moved by your dedication, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the great work you are doing.
Blessings on all your efforts on behalf of the church.
Staypressed theme by Themocracy
