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Parish leaders make New Year’s resolution during retreat
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
December 20, 2007
While some people are just beginning to think about their New Year’s resolutions, staff members at several parishes kicked off the new liturgical year with their own commitments in the form of a renewed emphasis on evangelization.
Dozens of Church employees identified concrete ways they could improve themselves and their parish during a Dec. 5 Advent retreat for parish staff. Leaders from 25 parishes attended one-day retreats this month, days after commencing the new liturgical year.
“Our hope is that parishes recognize each staff member’s role in evangelization,” said Ryan Hanning, coordinator of Adult Catechesis for the diocese. His department coordinated the retreat, held at St. Paul Parish.
Mary Ann Ronan, director of faith formation at St. Paul’s, facilitated the retreat. She also serves as president of the board of directors for the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership.
Ronan talked about the importance of a minister’s own ongoing conversion or evangelization and a deeper appreciation of God’s Word. She said that while parish leaders are good at catechizing, nurturing and educating others, they need to continue growing in faith themselves.
“When Jesus was forming the disciples, it was constant,” Ronan said.
Ongoing formation will lead to more effective ways of ministering to those seeking conversion within the Church, she said.
Ronan called it “a great need” for parish staff to re-evaluate their methods of welcoming parishioners. This is especially important when ministering to returning Catholics.
She cautioned parish staff not to jump right to asking new churchgoers if they’re registered or if new parents have signed up for baptism classes.
“We lay out the rules rather than the welcome,” Ronan said. She challenged parish leaders to ensure it’s the other way around.
Open arms
Pat Schay, family ministry manager at St. James Parish in Glendale, agreed. She said parish leaders should welcome others with open arms, not blank registration forms.
The Advent retreat backed the parish’s idea to upgrade its monthly new member breakfasts. It held the first one Dec. 16. Staff sent formal invitations to all parishioners to make new members feel more a part of the community.
Making newcomers feel welcome will be especially important this Lent when Phoenix becomes a test market for Virtue Media’s new “Catholics Come Home” campaign, which aims to bring lapsed Catholics back to the Church. The diocesan office for adult evangelization is coordinating the catechetical materials for the campaign.
Ronan also challenged parishes to be more efficient in their outreach by modifying their staff meetings.
Staff members from Blessed Sacrament Parish in Scottsdale will change the staff meeting place. They will now meet at one big table instead of multiple smaller tables.
Staff at St. Thomas More Parish in Glendale decided to spend more time together in fellowship. Parish leaders will also celebrate the positives in their workplace. Employees will write down something that went well at work and put it in a community box to share at the next meeting.
Hanning said these changes will help renew parish leaders individually and better model their commitment to evangelization as a staff.
Once parish leaders work together more effectively to change lives within the Church, conversion can then flow into society, Ronan said.
“When we change lives, we change the world,” Ronan said. “That’s what evangelization is.”
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