Made for Mission. Tim Glemkowski
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Название: Made for Mission
Автор: Tim Glemkowski
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Словари
isbn: 9781681924595
isbn:
If we fix this problem, we can fix our parish cultures.
Pope Saint John Paul II put it this way: “It is more necessary than ever for all the faithful to move from a faith of habit, sustained perhaps by social context alone, to a faith which is conscious and personally lived.”17
If a culture is the sum of the attitudes of actual people, it is only when a significant percentage of a parish is intentional, missionary disciples that it will really begin to approach cultural renewal. If that is not our sole goal in everything we do, we will just be shuffling around our strategies and getting nowhere.
A parish that wants to renew itself must have a singular focus on forming disciples. It must be abundantly clear to staff, laity, clergy, everyone, that the entire life of the parish, it’s raison d’être, is to form disciples of Jesus Christ, and there must also be an equally clear understanding of how that happens in the parish. It is only then that the renewal we seek can move from a surface-level reality to become the actual living culture of the parish.
This is actually great news, because it gives us a concrete place to begin our renewal efforts. Lasting change, real change, comes from this more personal focus on helping individuals walk into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, if you want large scale, macro culture change in your parish, you have to start by getting micro.
What was so markedly different about the culture of Christ the King parish that made it as formative and impactful as it is? It is not just that they did Catholic things or that they had a plan for evangelization or that there was good music. The long-time pastor, Father Ed Fride, was very clear on what happened. He said, “The spirituality of the parish, in which a personal relationship with Jesus is continually stressed, is key … a living, active relationship with Jesus Christ is encouraged.”18
When a culture is forged by dynamic, joyful, creative disciples living their entire lives for the Lord, there is a compounding factor. When a parish has hundreds, even thousands, of on-fire missionary disciples totally sold out on living a radical call to holiness and bearing fruit with their lives, amazing things can happen. If your parish was like that, how would it change the way it looked to outsiders, felt to insiders, and operated for leaders? Can you even imagine your parish operating like that? Is it difficult to even conceive of?
Does the thought even make you a little nervous?
Every parish is called to be this kind of community. Look at the incredibly fruitful culture of the early Church as described in the Acts of the Apostles. The first Christians were a joyful community of disciples bringing thousands to the Lord. The Church today still has the same vocation. This is the lofty calling every parish shares.
Becoming a missional parish, focused on seeking and saving the lost, is the “destination” for every parish in our current cultural climate. Focusing on forming disciples is the path to get there.
Beyond Buzzwords
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