In the early 1980’s, during my seminary years and early years as a priest, there was a popular parish renewal program floating around the country called Christ Renews His Parish. I participated in CRHP in three different parishes. CRHP was structured like this: a group of parishioners would be invited, cajoled, or otherwise persuaded to attend an overnight retreat that began Saturday morning and ended early Sunday afternoon. Men and women went on separate weekends. To keep expenses down, the retreat would be held on parish grounds, most often in the parish school. Several classrooms would be converted into dormitories and other rooms set up for meeting and for eating. The retreat itself would be presented by the group that had attended a CRHP weekend six months earlier and had been meeting regularly to prepare for this weekend. Some members of the team served as table leaders; some prepared and served the meals; and some gave witness talks on their own faith journey. The priest chaplain would be involved in the entire process, giving one of the witness talks, celebrating Mass, and leading a reconciliation service. For many participants, it was their first real introduction to Scripture, their first experience of Mass in an intimate setting, and their first experience of Confession as something more than a recitation of familiar sins. It was a life-changing event for many people. For the first time they were able to talk about their faith openly. Many came away feeling a part of a community for the first time, not just a member of an institution. But like everything else that involves human beings, there were some pitfalls. Some criticized CHRP because so much time and energy were invested in a small group of people. Others thought it divided the parish between those who had made a CRHP weekend and those who had not (informally the “chirped” and the “unchirped”). In most parishes, CRHP ran its course, as the number of parishioners willing to participate dried up and the availability of priests willing and able to invest a whole weekend in the retreat became more problematic. (It was informally called Christ Wears Out His Priests).

While the format of CRHP may not be well suited for today’s church, the thinking behind it has been proven correct. Studies have shown that the massive decline in active participation in church life over the past forty years is mainly due to a lack of personal connection to Christ and to the mission of the parish. I hear this all the time: As long as I follow the golden rule, my absence or presence at church is not important; As long as I live by the values I learned in Catholic schools, prayer and adult formation are not important. Successful megachurches do not just depend on comfortable seating, elaborate musical productions, and great preaching to hold on to members. Newcomers are immediately funneled into smaller Bible study groups and action groups to give them a stake in the community. If we do not feel personally invested in what is happening, the temptation is always there to drift away. That is why one of the key objectives of Renew My Church is enabling people to become more personally connected to Christ and to the mission Christ left us. And that inevitably will involve investing a lot of time in a small group of people. A team of parishioners is in training now to reintroduce the Alpha course, the first step in what the Archdiocese is calling the Path to Discipleship.

 As I continue to unravel for you the results of the Lenten Survey, in which almost twenty percent of the parish participated, it is clear that we have some work ahead of us. Almost all of the respondents were weekly churchgoers. Yet only 33% strongly agreed that “the parish helps me grow spiritually by forming me as a disciple of Jesus’; 27% strongly agreed that “my parish equips me to have a conversation about my faith with family and friends”; and 22% strongly agreed that “my parish helps me grow spiritually by teaching me to read and pray with the Bible.” Only 3% said they had been on a retreat this past year and only 4% had participated in a Bible Study or prayer group.

Of course, all of this leaves out an important element of church life, service to our sisters and brothers. Once again surveys have shown that the larger the number of people who feel personally invested in their faith community, the greater the likelihood that they will become involved in ministry, service, or social action. Pope Francis likes to use the term “missionary disciples” when talking about our call to conversion. Disciples of Jesus may be simply passive, spending an hour in church each week and participating in Bible studies and retreats. Missionary disciples, though, have taken their faith formation on the road. They realize that it is the responsibility of all Christians to continue the work of Christ and to plant seeds of the Reign of God wherever they go.

                                                                          Fr. Joe