We are midway through our diocesan efforts to Tell Anew the Story of Jesus. Naturally we have focused our early efforts on structural issues – dollars-and-cents and bricks-and-mortar. In two years, the number of parishes in the Diocese of Portland has gone from 135 to 93; cluster pastoral and finance councils are taking the place of parish councils; a number of clusters have hired Pastoral Life Coordinators and Business Coordinators.

The New Evangelization demands that we revise not only our understanding of parish but also how we operate within the new organization. If we revise our definition of parish, it stands to reason that we must revise how we operate within it. Moreover, if the parish is then part of this new structure – the cluster – we will need guidelines for working together to tell the story anew.

Pastoral Council and Finance Council Policies and Norms have been updated and are available here:

Pastoral Council & Finance Council Policies & Norms

The New Evangelization calls for renewal in all areas of our parish life – including worship, faith formation, family life, support for global missions, and social justice. We have developed a “tool” to assist you in assessing your efforts at evangelization – to assist you in taking stock of who is present, who is absent, and what you are and are not doing to minister to them. It will also help you to look back at the history and early mission of your parish community, consider what it is today, and contemplate what you wish it to become.

This tool is based on the U.S. Bishop’s 1992 document “Go and Make Disciples,” which focuses on the spiritual formation of the parish, a formation oriented to evangelization. It revolves around the call to holiness, the call to welcome and invite, and the call to transform the world in Christ.

A Tool for the New Evangelization