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Saint
Willebrord Parish |
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The role of
Evangelization at St Willebrord Parish |
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I had received various flyers in the mail about a breakfast gathering to talk about diversity. They went from my desk into the waste basket. I had talked enough about diversity in the past. But then a person I know called and personally invited me and I accepted. It was a moving experience for me and I was once more aware that there is so much more that I need to know and do in this area. That personal invitation made all the difference. |
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Recent statistics have shown that the attendance at Sunday Eucharist is declining rapidly. In fact only about thirty per cent of Catholics in the Green Bay Diocese attend Mass. In other places it is lower. Likewise, donations are down in many Catholic parishes and dioceses across the nation. A new buzzword has taken center stage in all the dioceses around the country. That word is Evangelization. It is not a new word nor a new concept. However, it has taken center stage in an effort to save the Catholic Church. How can we evangelize the people who have left and those who never came? What can we do to once again fill our churches? Dioceses are establishing heavily funded Evangelization departments. Programs are being developed to send to parishes. National Evangelization workshops are being held. Everything is in place except for the lack of people to evangelize. It is similar to sending out myriads of flyers to the people and then waiting for them to come. Usually they end up in the recycle pile. I would like to summarize the history of the RCIA here at St. Willebrord to emphasize a different strategy. 25 years ago I came to St. Willebrord and one person came to the door one day after school. She was attending a school of cosmetology in the next block. She was going to be married in another city and wanted to receive some preparation. After talking with her a while I discovered that she was not baptized and her fiancé was a practicing Catholic. I invited her to consider a process to investigate the Catholic Church and perhaps to become a member. She agreed as she said, AI know I am looking for something. I had some familiarity with the RCIA process and with adaptations we worked through the process and rites with one person. The numbers grew from that first group of one to now when there are 47 people in the RCIA process waiting to receive the sacraments at Easter. There are already 6 more who are beginning preparation for next year. What is our strategy? It is quite simple. It is based on personal invitation and personal contact. The RCIA program with various adaptations is a wonderful program within which we can accomplish our goals. Whenever a staff member comes in contact with someone who is part of some event in our parish we always talk to them about any needs they have as to the sacraments and then invite them in a very gentle way to our program. Many times they do not accept immediately but later will come back. There are also many members of our parish who are a wonderful advertisement for us and personally invite friends or relatives to look into what we do here. Of course the people who have come through the program also are personally inviting others not only through their example but also through personal invitation. Then we trust that God will do the rest. Likewise, if a person has been away from the church for many years we likewise invite that person to try the RCIA program to get an update. In the RCIA program several people from our parish walk with the catechumens and candidates personally. They are part of the classes. There are people praying for each member of the classes during their time of preparation. There is much attention given to each individual. We also have a fine sensitive staff personally involved in the process. I believe this is a model that can be successful anywhere. There is not a need for large diocesan offices, for a plethora of programs, for millions of dollars spent on these projects. People respond to personal invitation and personal contact. This only can come from each parish, its staff and members. Example and word of mouth are the tools to success. Likewise the trend to mega churches adversely affects the whole process of bringing people into the Church. Once again, it is the personal contact that has to be emphasized. Any other method cannot be as effective. |
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