|
A
FOUR-DAY
FAITH-RENEWAL
EVENT
Bringing
Christians
Together for
Worship,
Community and
Mission
This event
is co-sponsored
by 3 or more
local
congregations in
a town or city
in the U.S. or
Canada
Objectives:
 1. Provide
Christian
believers with
an opportunity
to discover,
experience, and
express our
unity in Christ.
The overarching
objective of
this event is to
respond to the
Gospel call to
reconciliation
with God and one
another. Whole
congregations of
believers from
different
traditions are
invited to
experience
afresh our unity
in Christ
through worship,
spiritual
growth, and
mission.
B. Deepen
Christians'
sense of
solidarity with
one another. By
engaging
together in an
experience of
prayer,
faith-sharing,
and fellowship
over four days,
people come to
know one another
better and
perceive each
other as
belonging to the
same body of
Christ. By
providing people
with an
experience of
how all that
they hold in
common in Christ
is much deeper
than anything
that divides
them, hearts and
ways of relating
are changed.
C. Enable the
co-sponsoring
local
congregations to
envision their
mission
differently.
Each
congregation may
have previously
envisioned its
mission and
deployment of
human and
material
resources only
in terms of its
own members.
Now, through a
significant
experience of
planning,
praying, and
acting together,
they are
prompted to ask:
"What else can
we do together?"
Gospel Call then
becomes a faith
renewal
experience which
energizes local
churches to
serve their
common Lord
together.
D. Identify
concrete ways
that the
co-sponsoring
congregations
can act together
in the future.
By the time the
mission ends, a
wide array of
representatives
from the
participating
congregations
will have been
led in a process
of looking
together at what
they are doing,
what resources
they draw upon,
and how they
might work
together to
better serve
their own
members and
respond to the
needs of the
society in which
they live.
Motivation:
A. Gains have
been made.
Tremendous
convergence has
taken place
among the
churches through
the liturgical
and biblical
renewals and the
ecumenical
movement. The
theologians have
registered
significant
progress in
resolving
centuries-old
church-dividing
questions.
Church
representatives
on dialogue
commissions have
had the
experience of
growing together
in faith. Such
opportunities
now need to be
made available
to the wider
church
membership.
B. Church
members need an
opportunity to
'receive' those
gains. The
present
ecumenical
emphasis at the
grass roots is
to provide
church members
with increased
opportunities
for sharing
faith, life, and
common mission
in the name of
Jesus Christ.
The time has now
come to take
gains in church
unity efforts
"to the pews".
Gospel Call
offers church
members the
opportunities to
see for
themselves how
their mission
outreach in
evangelization
and for justice
and peace, their
modes of worship
and spiritual
practices all
reflect a common
inspiration and
purpose.
C. The unity we
seek must find
an increasingly
visible
expression. It
is not enough
for Christian
solidarity to
exist solely at
an invisible,
mental level.
The primary
mission of the
church is to
evangelize, and
as long as local
communities of
believers live
in separation
and alienation
from each other,
the gospel of
reconciliation
they bring lacks
credibility. For
the glory of God
and in obedience
to the gospel
call to unity in
Christ, it is
important for
churches to give
a positive
witness to our
surrounding
society by
serving,
playing, working
and praying
together
wherever they
can.
D. Individual
believers need
opportunities
for faith
renewal. Gospel
Call seeks to
provide
Christians who
take their
spiritual lives,
prayer and
church ministry
seriously with
opportunities
for personal
growth, learning
and faith
enrichment.
Application:
A. Overall
picture A
four-day
faith-renewal
event designed
to bring people
into each
other's churches
where they may
listen to a
common gospel
preached by
ministers of two
different
traditions, and,
moved by the
same Holy Spirit
who dwells in
the hearts of
all, unite their
hearts, minds,
and voices in
prayers, songs,
and
intercessions to
the glory of
God.
B. Preaching the
Word of God A
preaching team
of two ordained
ministers, Roman
Catholic and
Protestant,
preaches
individually
during at least
one Sunday
service in each
of the
co-sponsoring
congregations if
logistically
possible.
C. Prayer
together in
different
churches The
service is held
in a different
church each
evening to
provide
participants
with an
opportunity to
pray together in
each other's
worship spaces.
The pastor of
the hosting
church presides;
the missioners
preach and lead
all participants
in a ritual
emphasizing the
commonality of
our faith.
D. Fellowship On
Sunday evening,
preceding the
evening service,
there is a
potluck supper,
jointly
sponsored and
organized by the
participating
congregations.
On Monday,
Tuesday, and
Wednesday,
following the
evening
services,
everyone is
invited to
gather in the
hosting
congregation's
fellowship hall
for refreshments
and socializing.
E. Christian
Education and
Faith
Development Once
during the
course of each
weekday, a
different
spiritual growth
and development
opportunity is
offered by the
missioners in
the form of a
breakfast
workshop for
people on their
way to work in
the morning, a
mid-morning
Bible study, and
a luncheon
reflection.
Similarly, these
sessions are
located in the
various churches
to provide
people with an
opportunity to
become
comfortable
entering into
each other's
churches.
F.
Follow-through
On the last
night,
Wednesday,
people who are
engaged in
similar
ministries in
the various
co-sponsoring
congregations
come together,
e.g. youth
ministry;
liturgy and
music;
administration;
social action;
Christian
education. In a
session that
begins and ends
with prayer, the
missioners lead
representatives
from the
different
parishes in a
process of
sharing with one
another what
they do, the
resources they
use, and whether
there are any
ways they could
support each
other's efforts
or act together.
When the various
reports from the
group
discussions come
in, particular
attention is
given to what
they might be
able to do
together. A list
of possibilities
is created, and
participants are
asked to arrange
them in order of
priorities. This
input provides
provides
direction for
ongoing
collaboration
between the
local churches
as they face the
future.
G. Who sponsors
it? Local
congregations.
As few as three
or as many as
eight.
Gospel Call …
• Deepens
Christians'
sense of
identity and
solidarity with
one another.
• Enables the
co-sponsoring
congregations to
envision their
mission
differently
•Identifies
concrete ways
that
congregations
can act together
in the future
• Increases
awareness of the
biblical call to
unity in faith,
worship, and
mission
If you are
interested in
this four-day
faith renewal
event for a
cluster of local
congregations in
your town or
city, contact:
Office for
Ecumenical and
Interfaith
Relations
North
American
Paulist
Center
3015 Fourth
Street, N.E.
Washington,
DC
20017-1102
Phone:
202-269-2511
Fax:
202-269-2507
E-mail:
tomryan@paulist.org
|
