Parish Renewal
The Office of Parish Renewal in the Archdiocese of Baltimore is one of four offices that comprise the Institute for Evangelization. “Our office ministry is one-on-one accompaniment with parishes,” says Julie St.Croix, Director of Parish Renewal for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. “In our walk with parishes, we regularly collaborate with the other offices. We engage the Office of Divine Worship to help parishes strengthen worship, liturgy, and prayer; Youth, Young Adults, and Family for sacramental formation; the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace for planning outreach and ministry to the underserved.”
The focus is to help equip people in parishes to share their faith more confidently. Julie references writing by author Tim O’Malley, who comments that parishes must be more than a place for adoration and worship. Three things are needed: Adoration/reverence, meaningful formation, and sending people out to share with others. “Most of us are used to doing things in certain ways, but things are so different from even a few years ago. We have to change what we are doing to focus more on evangelization.”
Eucharistic Congress
The Eucharistic Revival enhances and informs the ministry of the Institute for Evangelization. “Prayer has to be the foundation of all we do, and we do this through the Eucharist which sustains us. The Eucharist is an important connection point,” says St. Croix. “We are hoping people come home on fire and continue that journey!”
Enabling through technology
How can technology help? It may sound more like business, but parishes can equip themselves to measure the effectiveness of ministry efforts. Parish leaders should be aligned on what it means to be engaged in the parish and how that could be demonstrated. St. Croix suggests that an engaged disciple:
- Gives more
- Attends more
- Prays more
In addition to quantitative measurements, a qualitative review can be provided using resources that invite parishioners to reflect and share how often they pray, attend adoration, and invite others to Mass.
These behaviors can provide a reasonable baseline, which can be reviewed again after a year of intentional action to see if they were effective. St. Croix suggests that systems such as MinistryPlatform can help get out the messages that people need to hear, and the Discipleship Indicator can provide qualitative insights. “Forming small groups helps a large parish become smaller and more personal,” she said, “and the system can provide ways to stay connected before and after Sacraments and other meaningful life events.”
Watch the video to learn more about the Office of parish renewal and its Emmaus ministry.
Terry Poplava
Terry Poplava serves as General Manager, ACST Catholic. As a cradle Catholic, his faith was lukewarm until he was confronted by the intense challenge and commitment he heard in the message about Stewardship. “What do I own and what owns me?” which led him to executive roles at Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic Leadership Institute before his current focus on serving the Catholic Church at ACS Technologies. Terry has extensive experience working with churches across the U.S., supporting their planning, stewardship, and engagement efforts
