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The Parish Mandate: Becoming an Evangelizing Parish

Parish Objective One: Commitment

Each parish will orient all of its ministries around evangelization, the essential mission of the Church.

Strategies

  • Make evangelization the essential mandate of the parish mission statement.
  • Create a parish “Evangelization Plan” uniquely crafted for the specific, individual needs of the parish.
  • Make evangelization a line item in the parish budget.
  • Appoint a parish liaison to the Office for Evangelization.
  • Educate all parishioners about Go and Make Disciples and encourage all parishioners to accept Jesus' mandate to evangelize.
  • Sponsor an annual parish mission to advance the evangelizing efforts of the parish and to invite all parishioners to ongoing conversion to Jesus Christ and His Church.
  • Offer regular prayers for the Holy Spirit to anoint all parishioners in their mission of evangelization and their discipleship in Jesus Christ.
  • Allocate adequate personnel and resources to advance the evangelizing efforts of the parish.
  • Survey the parish members and evaluate parish ministries to affirm current evangelizing efforts and discover unmet needs.
  • Offer workshops to help parishioners recognize and use their gifts to build God’s Reign.
  • Organize parish staff and parish organizations around the mission of evangelization.
  • Participate in the Stewardship Programs of the Archdiocese.
  • Organize and support a Parish Evangelization Team.

Visible Signs

  • Evangelization appears as a primary mandate in the parish mission statement.

 
  • The pastor leads and encourages all parish ministries and operations to participate and collaborate in evangelization.

 
  • The parish supports a Parish Evangelization Team.

 
  • Every parish ministry bases its mission on spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.

 


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Parish Objective Two: Believe

Each parish will help its parishioners develop a deeper holiness and nurture a personal intimate bond with Jesus Christ.

Strategies

  • Provide vibrant Sunday and daily Eucharistic Liturgies through the employment of trained liturgical ministers - song leaders, choir directors, choir members, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, presiders, hospitality ministers, etc.
  • Present sacramental preparation sessions and liturgical celebrations of the Sacraments in a way that encourages parishioners to encounter God's love and presence in a personal way.
  • Train and orient all “official" ministers in evangelization and its implications for their particular ministries.
  • Promote, sponsor, and provide information about local adult faith formation events.
  • Provide education and formation on the various forms and ways to pray.
  • Offer an annual parish mission with an evangelizing perspective.
  • Offer seasonal and regular prayer services, prayer groups, and other means to invite individual and communal prayer.
  • Organize and present days of reflection.
  • Invite parishioners to perpetual adoration of the Eucharistic Lord.
  • Create ways to welcome and invite to the Church non-Catholic parents of children who attend Catholic schools.
  • Offer Scripture Studies and Scripture Studies groups to assist Catholics in understanding and reading the Sacred Scriptures.
  • Develop, promote, and support small faith-sharing groups and small Christian communities as part of parish life.
  • Offer catechesis on the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation.
  • Offer formation and catechesis on Church teachings, history, and documents to all age levels and all life situations.
  • Offer regular and seasonal times for individuals to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 

Visible Signs

  • Eucharistic Liturgies are a priority in scheduling, planning, budgeting, etc.
  • Parishioners are invited to be part of the various ministries of the parish.
  • Parishes offer and support programs on prayer, Sacred Scripture, small faith-sharing groups, small Christian communities, etc.
  • Individual sacramental Reconciliation and Seasonal Communal Penance Services are routinely celebrated.
  • Parishes regularly provide and inform parishioners of diverse opportunities to grow in their faith.
  • Homilies include evangelizing elements

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Parish Objective Three: Share

Each parish will create and sustain a welcoming community that reaches out to share the Good News of Jesus with everyone, especially with inactive Catholics, the marginalized, and the unchurched.

Strategies

  • Provide workshops, retreats, and reflection days that form and train parishioners to recognize, articulate, and share their personal faith experiences with others.
  • Implement the parish initiatives of Dwell in My Love (Cardinal George’s pastoral letter on racism) and Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity (U.S. Catholic Bishops).
  • Establish a parish welcoming ministry.
  • Offer multicultural parish and neighborhood events.
  • Provide social events that welcome newcomers and invite established parishioners to meet.
  • Offer multicultural prayer and liturgical celebrations.
  • Establish a home visitation program by neighborhoods.
  • Offer ecumenical prayer services, social events, and joint work projects.
  • Offer hospitality events to bring together parishioners and foster fellowship.
  • Sponsor outreach programs to inactive Catholics in the local community.
  • Celebrate special times and seasons of “life passages” of parishioners and families.
  • Offer catechetical sessions to update the faith and understanding of inactive Catholics.
  • Recognize and act upon potentially evangelizing moments like funerals, weddings, baptisms, confirmations, etc.
  • Target and invite Christmas/Easter Catholics to renew their faith and participation in the parish.
  • Conduct racial justice and ethnic sensitivity workshops.
  • Sponsor outreach sessions to parishioners and Catholics in times of birth, separation, illness, divorce, death, and other life transitions.
  • Provide outreach initiatives to promote the Catholic faith to the local community.
  • Provide opportunities for dialogue with unchurched individuals and families.

Visible Signs

  • The parish is a place of welcoming, invitation, and outreach.

 
  • Hospitality is visible in all ministries, activities, and operations.

 
  • The parish offers ministries that address the life transitions of its parishioners and other Catholics and people in the local area.

 

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Parish Objective Four: Transform

Each parish will motivate its members to participate in the transformation of society and culture by living and proclaiming the Gospel of Life.

Strategies

  • Offer family ministry initiatives to inspire parents, children, married couples, single parents, and heads of households to develop strong, faith-filled families who witness to love and communion with God and with each other.
  • Educate, form, and encourage parishioners to value the arts and the messages the arts provide in discerning the Holy Spirit's call for transformation.
  • Organize and sponsor social outreach programs and ministries to provide care to the needy of the community.
  • Sponsor art appreciation events in an effort to evangelize through the arts and thus transform the community.
  • Collaborate with neighboring, local parishes in outreach ministries.
  • Educate, form, and offer support groups for workers on the spirituality of the workplace and networking for social justice in the workplace.
  • Educate and aid parishioners to discern the wise creation, use, and consumption of only such contemporary media and entertainment that witness to the Gospel of Life values.
  • Offer adult formation and education on the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

Visible Signs

  • Parishes are leading and encouraging individual Catholics to practice their faith by witnessing to the Gospel in all areas of their daily lives:family, neighborhood, parish, workplace, the political arena, the arts, etc.
  • Parishioners are involved in legislative advocacy to encourage civic responsibility in creating or changing legislation that is compassionate and just.
  • Liturgies incorporate justice themes, especially during the liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent, and highlight feast days of saints that have been models of justice. Homilies emphasize justice.
  • Parish leaders are involved in community organizing or community-based economic development projects supported through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
  • Global solidarity is encouraged in the parish community through twinning with a parish in another country, or being involved in Catholic Relief Services’ programs like Operation Rice Bowl or the Work of Human Hands.
  • Fair and affordable housing is defended and supported in your neighborhood.

 


Reflection Questions

  • Of what importance is the Parish Mandate? How does the Parish Mandate relate to the Personal Mandate?

  • How does your parish implement the strategies to commit, believe, share, and transform society? What resources does it need?

  • What visible signs appeal to you the most? Why?

 


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