When Pope Paul VI gave us the document Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World) in 1975 he stated: Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.” Later, in 1992, the Bishops of the United States gave the American Church the document Go and Make Disciples: A Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States. In that document, they say that every person, institution, family, parish, and local, diocesan and national organization needs to focus their lives and mission on the mandate to evangelize. (# 136)
Expanding on the role of parishes, the Bishops encourage all parishes to:
- Examine all activities in light of evangelization
- Consider how to give their present ministries a clearer evangelizing focus
- Create new ministries to achieve the goals of the Evangelization document
- Develop an evangelization team
- Designate a trained person as a full-time coordinator of evangelization(#136)
The Archdiocesan Coordinator for Parish Evangelization supports parishes in proclaiming the Gospel. The motto is to make good parishes vibrant communities! Therefore, the coordinator of Parish Evangelization:
- offers workshops on evangelization, home visitation, reaching out to inactive Catholics, small Christian communities, and other topic relating to the three goals in the document (strengthening the faith of the active Catholic, reaching out to the unchurched and fostering gospel values in society and family)
- provide consultation to pastors and staff
- help develop and train parish evangelization teams
- recommend evangelization resources
For further information please contact:
Maryanne Harrington
215-587-0500
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