Evangelization & Missionary Discipleship

Events

Vitality Day: Hospitality and Welcoming

What it is: Based on the feedback from the nearly 1200 participants in our first round of Evangelization Days, the Office for Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship is offering a three-part series of Vitality Days in the coming year entitled “Hospitality: Creating a Welcoming, Inviting, and Engaging Community.” The foundational step in creating a culture of evangelization in your parish is to focus on radical hospitality and welcoming.

Who should go: All parishes are invited to send representatives who want to go learn more about leading evangelization efforts in their parish. Participants may include clergy, religious, staff, and volunteers. If the parish has established an Evangelization Lead and/or Evangelization Team, they are strongly encouraged to attend.

Please save the date for your vicariate! Please note that if you are not able to make the gathering in your vicariate, you are most welcome to attend any of the remaining Vitality Days in a different vicariate.

Vicariate III (English, Español, Polski)
St. Mary of the Angels
Wednesday, September 9th | 5:30 – 9 p.m.
Flyer (English | Español | Polski)

Thank you to all those who participated in our first round of Vitality Day workshops focused on hospitality and welcoming. Links to all our resources covered in our presentation are below. We will be announcing the dates for our next round of Vitality Day workshops soon, so please check back later.

Resources

For additional questions, please email us at officeforevangelization@archchicago.org.

Taste of Alpha

What it is: This 90-minute session will give participants an overview of Alpha and offer an opportunity for questions and answers. In addition, participants will be given next steps, if interested.

Who should go: All parish leaders (clergy, religious, staff, volunteers) who will be leading evangelization efforts and are interested in learning more about Alpha should take this first step to find out more about this tool.

Check back later for upcoming Taste of Alpha sessions that will be offered in English, Spanish, and Polish. For more details and information about Alpha, visit their website here.

For additional questions please email us at officeforevangelization@archchicago.org.

Renew My Church Summit Video and Discussion Guide

The Renew My Church Summit provided many of us a glimpse of what renewal will mean for our parishes and archdiocese — one of shared leadership in our parishes, a deeply rooted culture of evangelization, a vibrancy of prayer and sense of community, and incredible trust in the Holy Spirit to lead us forward, all centered on the sacramental life of our Church. Now we must continue to share that vision with others and invite them into the conversations about what renewal will look like in each of our parishes.

The Renew My Church Summit videos and discussion guide are resources to facilitate meaningful discussion on how your parish community can respond to Christ’s call for renewal.

To facilitate sharing and learning we have provided a set of questions that can be used to guide group discussions.

We recommend that you watch the video first and use this guide to facilitate the group discussion.

Please download your copy of the Renew My Church Summit Video and Discussion Guide.

Divine Renovation Book Reading and Discussion Guide

This is a resource for individuals, parish teams, committees, and parishioners to utilize as they read Fr. James Mallon’s Divine Renovation book and prepare for the Renew My Church process.

Renew My Church is a process of both spiritual and structural renewal with the goals of making disciples, building communities, and inspiring witness. As each of us, along with our parishes, enters this process it will be beneficial to have a common language, a broader vision, and an action-oriented mindset.

Reading and discussing the book Divine Renovation, written by Fr. James Mallon, is a great starting point. The objective of the book is to share the story of a parish and its spiritual and structural transformation, which led to improved communal and personal engagement of its faith community. The book speaks about universal principles of renewal applicable to all (such as a strong leadership team, clear plan for evangelization, inspiring liturgies, and focus on lay leadership), while at the same time providing examples specific to Fr. Mallon and his team’s parish. This guide can serve as a resource for individuals and parish teams to better understand the opportunity for renewal and prepare for the Renew My Church process.

Please download your copy of the Discussion Guide in English, Polish and/or Spanish.