Getting Started
Just starting out as a parish on a Gospel Living approach may seem daunting. There is also a chicken-and-egg problem, where your leadership needs to become educated so that you even know where to start. However, it may make sense to take steps to have the whole community, including the leadership, become educated together. Here are some tips for simple things you can do to get going.
Don't Stress
Gospel living can be introduced in a way that is sustainable for your parish leadership, one step at a time. Start with some steps that are the easiest to do, such as using "packaged" resources that will start the formation process. It is better to start somewhere with some intentionality than to be paralyzed with inaction. Work smart, not stressed.
Get the Guidelines
Be sure to review the general Guidelines we offer for parish life.
Announce
Tell the parish what you're attempting to do, even if you're not entirely sure what your plan is. If you're not sure, tell them that. Ask them to pray for the effort. They will appreciate the transparency and honesty. What is most important is to communicate the mission of the parish and everyone's role in it. Ideally, ritualize taking this new step as a parish during Sunday liturgy.
Start With the Basics
Start with the more basic Gospel values and daily life topics, because they are easier to understand and have the most available resources. Some suggestions:
- Mission = Discipleship = Apostleship = Evangelization. The first step is getting the mission across.
- Stewardship is one of the best places to start because it is inherently about daily life, is intuitive to understand, connects to so many parables, and has a wealth of available resources.
- Voluntary Simplicity has worked well as an introductory topic in a parish setting to our experience. Its breadth can be somewhat overwhelming and its connection to Scripture is not as obvious, but it also has extensive associated resources.
How To Select Topics
Whether you pick a topic from our site or choose one of your won, these selection criteria can be useful:
- Connection to intentional discipleship/evangelization: conversion, witness, sharing (and maintaining some balance across these).
- Liturgical calendar (readings, seasons).
- Available resources (how much can you can re-use easily).
- Topics that particularly connect/resonate with the community.
- Secular calendar (e.g. Labor Day, Thanksgiving).
- How topics might build on each other.
Use Existing Structures
A great way to start is to utilize your existing ministries and structures, and adjust them to focus on mission.
- Sunday Eucharist: This is when all your active parishioners show up. They are a captive audience, and you don't have to work to get them to some other event. Why start tacking on extra programs at different times to promote mission if you are not first utilizing regular liturgies for this purpose as effectively as you can?
- Preaching: Homilies are being preached every Sunday, so make sure they are focusing on Gospel Living topics. Read our preaching tips and check out our calendar for lectionary-based recommendations. Preaching is one of the most effective ways to have a big impact, as you have a captive audience of all of your active parishioners and this part of the liturgy is the most flexible.
- Mailings: If your parish is already sending any mailings to its parishioners, utilize these to deliver your message (especially in announcing your mission). A mailing gets more attention than a bulletin announcement.
- Bulletin: Use a corner of your bulletin to start offering formation. For example, look at the bulletin resources offered by the International Catholic Stewardship Council, especially Stewardship By the Book. The pamphlet Sustaining and Strengthening Stewardship also offers formation formatted as short bulletin text. However, don't set your expectations too high about the impact of the bulletin if your parishioners don't actually read your bulletin regularly.
- Small groups: If your parish already has regular or seasonal small groups for faith-sharing and discussion, simply have them use one of the many small-group resources on a Gospel Living or daily life topic. A great place to start is the six-session Disciple As Steward, which explores the U.S. Bishops' pastoral letter on stewardship.
Plan Ahead
Strongly consider looking ahead about six months and drafting a high-level plan. You don't have to do detailed planning, but pick some high-profile initiatives and consider how mission can be incorporated into anything you regularly do, including any upcoming liturgical seasons.
Some ideas:
Think creatively about how you can make people notice that your are doing something differently.
Some ideas:
- Take a little time to look ahead at the lectionary readings and see if they suggest.
- Celebrate a "convocation" at Sunday liturgy to announce and commit to the new direction.
- Choose a feast day or holiday on which to emphasize the daily life connection (Labor Day for occupation, Mother's/Father's Day for parenting, Pentecost for sharing our faith in the world).
- Do something noteworthy the next Easter or Christmas to make "twice-a-year Catholics" take notice.
- Put in place a feedback loop (see general Guidelines)
- Consider your marketing approach (see "Think Like a Startup" under general Guidelines)
Think creatively about how you can make people notice that your are doing something differently.
Address Intentional Stewardship Early On
One of the best ways to get attention early on is to talk about money, and do it differently. Read our recommendations around money and time/talent and put them into play earlier rather than later.
Header photo by NASA (Public Domain).