Renew My Church is much bigger than anything we’ve ever done in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It is a faithful response to Christ’s call to renew His Church, a journey that is both spiritual (to re-encounter Jesus Christ as disciples and parish communities) and structural (to ensure our parishes have adequate resources for vitality).
Through Renew My Church initiatives, our parishes will re-commit our local Church to our gospel commission to make disciples, build vital communities of faith and inspire witness to bring the light and hope of Christ to a world in need. These mission imperatives guide all that we do in and through the spiritual and structural efforts of renewal.
One initiative of Renew My Church is focused on increasing the vitality of our local communities. Cardinal Cupich has asked our parish to come together with the other parishes in our grouping to start a process of reflection, discernment, and planning to consider how we can collaborate and combine resources so that we are better equipped to bring Jesus Christ to the world today.
Let’s acknowledge up front that any kind of change is not always easy, even if minimal, and renewal can be stressful. You may have heard through the media, or through friends and family of painful changes at parishes throughout the Archdiocese. The process we’re entering is meant to see how our cluster parishes can best serve our communities and how our parishes can work together to meet the needs of the communities we minister to.
Over the next few months, our parish is going to work with our neighboring parishes: Church of the Holy Spirit, St. Marcelline, and St. Matthew as part of a group to discuss, share, pray, and discern what the best structures and forms of collaboration are to create a sustainable, vibrant, and vital Catholic presence in our area.