Idea: Four Day Faith Renewal Event
Submitted by: Paulist Fathers
This event brings Christians together for Worship, Community and Mission and is co-sponsored by 3 or more local congregations in a town or city in the U.S. or Canada.
Objectives:
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.
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.
Application:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Who sponsors it? Local congregations. As few as three or as many as eight. I f 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
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