More than 2,000 parish and school leaders from the Archdiocese of Chicago gathered for the first Renew My Church summit Oct. 1 and 2 at the Rosemont Convention Center. The goal was to inspire Catholics to go out and make new disciples for Jesus Christ and move parishes “from maintenance to mission.”

The two-day event — with a third day for parishes that have already been through the restructuring phases of Renew My Church — featured Father James Mallon, author of the book “Divine Renovation: Bringing Your Parish from Maintenance to Mission” (Twenty-Third Publications, 2014) and leader of Divine Renovation Ministries, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Divine Renovation’s goal is “to inspire and equip 35,000 parishes to become missional, and through them to bring 2 million people to Jesus every year within 10 years.”

The archdiocese has partnered with Divine Renovation for coaching and guidance for parish communities during the evangelization phase of Renew My Church.

Addressing the gathering at the start of the event, Cardinal Cupich said this is a time for leaders in parishes to “imagine what it means for you to find your place in the church.”

“I look at this as a moment of grace to remind us what we are about as church,” he said. “We’re doing this for the next generation of Catholics.”
Catholics in America traditionally have not gone out and evangelized but relied on ethnic and family traditions to keep people in the pews. That doesn’t work anymore, Mallon told the gathering. 

“We as a church are called to engage the world. We’ve got to go to the culture,” he said. 

This means changing parish cultures to focus less on programs and more on the mission of the church to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ, he said. It requires parish teams to lead differently and put mission before busy-ness and people before tasks. 

During sessions, Divine Renovation staff offered some examples of how to do that. After parishes go through the restructuring phase of Renew My Church, they will be matched with Divine Renovation coaches to help guide them through the process. 

It all starts with trust in the Holy Spirit, Mallon said during one session.

“Unless the church is constantly renewed by the Holy Spirit we will always return to the Upper Room,” he said. “We need to call on the Holy Spirit again and again.”

While it will be many months before all parishes go through the process, the archdiocese is asking parishes to start working on evangelization efforts by sending leaders to evangelization days and to training events. 

It all sounds good to Mariagnes Menden, principal of St. Nicholas of Tolentine School.

“I have a lot of excitement and a lot of joy for this entire process,” said Menden. “I’ve seen the hope that’s there, that the Holy Spirit is doing something very special, very powerful within our archdiocese.”

It will take work, though.

“It’s going to be a journey but I think that we’re ready for this now and it’s on fertile ground,” she said.

Martha Galvam agreed.

“We need to make disciples. This is the way to do it,” said the St. Nicholas of Tolentine parishioner. “Making disciples is urgently needed in our time.”

Archdiocesan staff from the Office for Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship will accompany parishes through each step and know one size doesn’t fit all.

“Every parish is distinct. It has its own communities, its own charisms, its own spirituality,” said Elizabeth White, the office’s director. 

Renewal programs the archdiocese has implemented in the past had formal steps parishes had to follow, but this doesn’t. 

“It’s coaching you and helping guide you to use your gifts and strengths where you’re starting from,” White said. “It’s all about who you are and what you have to offer and helping you become the best version of yourself.”

It’s also helping parishes look at their internal cultures to make sure they are focused on the mission of the church, she said.

“I hope people got a sense of hope, that these last months in the church have been pretty dark but they see that there’s a lot of light. There’s a lot of faithful people at their side who really love Jesus Christ and this church of his and that they’re very committed to spend the time and effort to figure out how to bring their faith to generations to come,” she said. “I think that’s incredibly hopeful.”