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Evangelization

Evangelization Overview: Phase 2

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Vision for Mission
The big picture work of creating a vision for your Family of Parishes will be the basis and inspiration for all your pastoral planning moving forward. In particular, your vision will inform and inspire your Evangelization Plan.

During Phase 2 in the Evangelization pathway, you will continue to lay the groundwork to implement a comprehensive Evangelization Plan for your Family of Parishes.

In order to do so, you will need to identify, form and train your staff to implement your vision for your Family of Parishes. This work began in Phase 1 through the creation of your Family Leadership Team (FLT), which includes the director of evangelization.

A Team Approach to Evangelization
In Phase 2, your pastor and your director of evangelization will form the Evangelization Team. The Evangelization Team will be the boots-on-the-ground staff that will bring the Evangelization vision points to life and be a large part of driving forward your vision.

No two Evangelization Teams will look the same. Your Family’s Evangelization Team should be formed around your Family’’s particular vision and needs. The goal is to break down ministerial silos, combine resources and support each other in implementing the Evangelization Plan.

Preferential Option for Marriage and Family
With that said, we are encouraging every Family of Parishes to have a preferential option for adult evangelization. In many cases, this could be realized by a new focus on marriage and family evangelization. We highly encourage Families of Parishes to discern creating a position for marriage and family evangelization on their Evangelization Teams. 

The Center for the New Evangelization (CNE) is ready to help you discern the makeup of your Evangelization Team. Beyond the resources you will find in this pathway, the CNE can help you craft job descriptions and interview guides and even help in the hiring process. Contact us at [email protected].

1.2 Evangelization – Family Visioning

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The Family Visioning Process follows Visio Day and is a comprehensive process to create a vision statement for your Family of Parishes. This process is designed to define your vision, build consensus around the vision with key leaders and assess the impacts of that vision for each Beacons principle within your Family. 

Refer to Leadership 1.2 for details on the Family Visioning Process.

2.1 Preparing to Build the Evangelization Team for the Family of Parishes

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Now that the director of evangelization has been identified, it is time to form the Evangelization Team for your Family of Parishes. These team members must be competent and qualified staff members who will report to the director of evangelization. They may be appointed from current staff or hired to fill new positions. If you’re needing to fill new positions, now is the time to create job descriptions and hire the people who will help your Family of Parishes achieve your discerned vision. 

The Evangelization Team’s main role in achieving the vision will be to attend to the following vision point: 

“Implement a simple and clear discipleship process for all ages that ultimately equips and commissions missionary disciples for personal apostolate and vocation.” 

The outcome of Phase 2 will be the accomplishment of Parameter 1: 

Evangelization Reversed

“Every Family of Parishes will have an Evangelization Team, overseen by the pastor and led by competent and qualified staff.”

Your pastor and director of evangelization will need to spend much time in prayer and discernment to determine the composition of your Evangelization Team. This is an opportunity to create job positions that are unique to your Family’s vision and priorities and that build on the strengths and charisms of the staff. No two Evangelization Teams will look the same. 

We encourage you to consult with the Center for the New Evangelization (CNE) and the archdiocese Department of Human Resources as you prepare to form your Evangelization Team. 

Resources for Preparing to Build Your Evangelization Team 

Consultation 

Consult with the Center for the New Evangelization on: 

  • Creative organizational structures for your Evangelization Team. 
  • Creation of compelling job descriptions for your Evangelization Team. 
  • Discernment of strengths and charisms of potential Evangelization Team members. 

You can contact the CNE at [email protected]. 

3.1 Prioritize Missionary Discipleship

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Healthy teams are teams that share genuine communion with our Lord and with each other. Healthy teams that share this communion are essential for the work of evangelization. Pope St. John Paul II reminds us in his pastoral letter Christifideles Laici that:

Evangelization Reversed

“Communion and mission are profoundly connected with each other, they interpenetrate and mutually imply each other, to the point that communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission: communion gives rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion.”

By attending to the spiritual health of your Evangelization Team, you will ground all you do in discernment and this work toward the following vision point:

Grounded in Discernment: The pastor, staff and lay leaders prioritize prayer, formation and discernment in order to allow the Holy Spirit to inspire their evangelization efforts.

The Center for the New Evangelization encourages you to use the following Missionary Discipleship Plans to intentionally discern how to grow together as a community of missionary disciples.

3.2 Evangelization – Formation of Associated Staff Members

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The Center for the New Evangelization (CNE)  can help your Evangelization Team grow as missionary disciples and build a healthy team. Contact us for customized workshops: 

  • StrengthsFinder – Discover your natural talents and build a strong team
  • Spiritual Gifts – Discern your team’s spiritual gifts to allow the Holy Spirit to work fruitfully through your team 

0.1 Evangelization – Confirm Vision Assessment Complete

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To prepare for Visio Day, it is beneficial to have an understanding of where your Family of Parishes stands in relation to each of the vision points in the Evangelization principle. Use the Family Vision Assessment Tool to isolate which vision points are strengths and which need attention as part of establishing a comprehensive vision for your Family. See the Vision Assessment Tool.

I am convinced that Beacons of Light, born of great hope, will enable us to form stronger parishes, centered on the Eucharist, that radiate the love of Christ and joy of the Gospel… God has abundantly blessed our first two centuries and will certainly bless the next.

— ARCHBISHOP DENNIS M. SCHNURR