About Gospel Living
Our mission is to equip parishes to fulfill their mission:
forming and equipping intentional disciples to bring the Good News wherever they go.
forming and equipping intentional disciples to bring the Good News wherever they go.
This is not a program, but an entire approach to being parish.
We have a Roman Catholic perspective and utilize the extensive teachings and tools the Church has to offer. Our approach is first and foremost rooted in the person of Jesus and the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
We have a Roman Catholic perspective and utilize the extensive teachings and tools the Church has to offer. Our approach is first and foremost rooted in the person of Jesus and the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
The Mission of the Church
The Church's mission is to evangelize: to bring the Good News to the world, transforming it into the Kingdom of God. It has three parts:
- We begin in conversion, committing to a personal relationship with Jesus and following as disciples.
- We witness, living all aspects of our lives by the counter-cultural values of the Gospel.
- We share our faith with others, inviting them to "come and see" for themselves.
The Mission of the Parish
Regardless of whatever mission statement they may write, all parishes have the same mission as the rest of the Church. The role of the parish is to form and equip intentional disciples.
This means being focused on what happens outside the walls of the parish rather than inside. It means inviting active and inactive Catholics, and those who don't know the Church to meet Jesus and join in our mission. It means connecting our Scripture and Tradition to the specifics of daily life and providing practical tools. It means that everything a parish does should be at the service of our mission.
This means being focused on what happens outside the walls of the parish rather than inside. It means inviting active and inactive Catholics, and those who don't know the Church to meet Jesus and join in our mission. It means connecting our Scripture and Tradition to the specifics of daily life and providing practical tools. It means that everything a parish does should be at the service of our mission.
But How?
The Gospel Living approach is based on the goals and objectives offered by the U.S. bishops in their pastoral plans for evangelization (Go and Make Disciples) and adult faith formation (Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us). These plans emphasize the goals of conversion, witness, and sharing.
Daily Life
The Gospel Living approach is built around discipleship and daily life. Daily life is where we primarily encounter God and pray. Daily life is where we witness to the world through our actions. Daily life is where we share the Gospel with those who need to hear it. Daily life is what makes the Gospel "relevant."
Our faith informs the way we work, what we buy, what we do with our money, our relationship with the poor and vulnerable, how we act as citizens and neighbors, how we use our time, how we invite others to experience Christ, and much more.
An effective daily life approach must be:
Our faith informs the way we work, what we buy, what we do with our money, our relationship with the poor and vulnerable, how we act as citizens and neighbors, how we use our time, how we invite others to experience Christ, and much more.
An effective daily life approach must be:
- Applied: connecting the dots between our faith and the specifics of daily life, rather than abstracts and "spiritualized" interpretations that let us off the hook.
- In Depth: teaching full concepts, rather than a shallower take on isolated lectionary readings.
- Equipping: offering practical tools for how to live by the Gospel, instead of just high-level concepts.
The Formation Approach
The bishops state that "a comprehensive, multi-faceted, and coordinated approach to adult faith formation is necessary." We empower parishes to creatively take this approach so that parishioners notice and respond.
Comprehensive
We have sought out the most helpful teachings from Scripture and the Catholic Tradition to best form intentional disciples for their daily life ministry. These topics fall into three categories:
Multi-faceted
For each topic, we offer resources, ideas, and guidelines for formation across parish life: preaching, liturgy, children's activities, small faith groups, handouts, videos, social justice activities, social media, take-home activities for families, parish dialogue, and even how the parish leadership can model through internal policies.
Coordinated
The most powerful way to offer this formation is to focus on each topic for a single Sunday or over the course of months. The topic is reinforced at the same time throughout the parish, allowing the parish to truly learn together and go deeper. We offer recommendations for aligning this learning with the lectionary cycle and secular calendar.
Comprehensive
We have sought out the most helpful teachings from Scripture and the Catholic Tradition to best form intentional disciples for their daily life ministry. These topics fall into three categories:
- Gospel values: Here we start with Scripture and Tradition, and connect them to daily life. These core themes inform discipleship, offering the context and depth that makes individual Scripture readings more meaningful. These include Call & Vocation, Sabbath & Jubilee, Stewardship, and more.
- Aspects of daily life: Here we start with daily life and reach back into Scripture and Tradition to learn how our faith informs us. These include Work & Occupation, Money, the Environment, Food, Time, and more.
- Tools: These are practical tools to equip us for discipleship. These include the Daily Examen, Rule of Life, Talent & Gift frameworks, tools for discernment, and more.
Multi-faceted
For each topic, we offer resources, ideas, and guidelines for formation across parish life: preaching, liturgy, children's activities, small faith groups, handouts, videos, social justice activities, social media, take-home activities for families, parish dialogue, and even how the parish leadership can model through internal policies.
Coordinated
The most powerful way to offer this formation is to focus on each topic for a single Sunday or over the course of months. The topic is reinforced at the same time throughout the parish, allowing the parish to truly learn together and go deeper. We offer recommendations for aligning this learning with the lectionary cycle and secular calendar.
Transforming the Parish
Everything a parish does should contribute to its mission to evangelize and be an act of formation. This takes discipline to be intentional and say no to what is not essential. A mission-oriented mindset can change everything a parish does, from the budget and announcements to what events are planned. We suggest ideas for transforming each aspect of parish life to focus on mission.
Targeting Disciples
A key element of this approach is to focus energy into formation that will actually reach potential disciples. This formation is not just for the 5% of your parish who come to parish events during the week. This means working intentionally and creatively, including the following:
- Understanding schedules, lifestyles, and the barriers that keep people from participating.
- Ensuring that your offerings are very effective at supporting ministry in the world, and then promoting them by clearly communicating how they do so.
- Offering formation opportunities where people already are present: as part of weekly liturgy, immediately following liturgy, for parents when they bring their children for religious education, etc.
- Especially considering inactive or less-active Catholics and those who have never experienced the Church, and offering what they would be most likely to participate in.
- Learning what barriers keep your active parishioners from inviting others, and how you can overcome them.
