RENEW International announced that the Diocese of San Angelo will be the first in the country to launch RENEW’s newest program developed to bolster parish evangelization. Entitled ‘Be My Witness: Formation for the New Evangelization’, this process draws its inspiration from Pope Francis’ landmark document, The Joy of the Gospel. The entire process is designed to develop vibrant parishes that are “centers of constant missionary outreach” and to help parishioners see themselves as modernday disciples.
RENEW’s pastoral staff travels to the diocese in February to train San Angelo’s parish leaders to lead Phase 1 of ‘Be My Witness.’ This first phase gathers and equips pastors, parish staff, and lay leaders to assess, discuss, and address five key areas of focus for evangelizing parishes: enhancing Sunday worship, creating a welcoming environment, fostering a sense of belonging, witnessing to faith, and reaching out in a spirit of mission.
Unique to this process, the RENEW Parish Assessment tool provides parish leaders with valuable insights by helping them view the five key areas of parish life through the lens of evangelization. The parish team recruits members of the parish community, from the most committed to the least involved, to evaluate each of the five areas on 12 specific dimensions. The online assessment tool generates analyses to guide the team on current areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
The assessment results, along with learning videos and meeting guides, lead the teams on a journey of exploration and discussion. Reflecting on the pope’s vision for evangelizing parishes, the leaders develop a plan for the parish based on the agreed-upon priorities. In addition to attending trainings delivered by RENEW International pastoral representatives, parish leaders will receive ongoing pastoral support from RENEW’s staff as they develop their plans.
Speaking on this new initiative being rolled out in the Diocese of San Angelo, Bishop Michael Sis remarked that he sees ‘Be My Witness’—in Spanish as ‘Sean mis testigos’—as a great opportunity to “tune parishes into a missionary key.”
Sr. Terry Rickard OP, RENEW’s president and executive director, commented, “RENEW International has a longstanding and positive relationship serving the Diocese of San Angelo. We are honored to have this opportunity to work with parishes as they commit even more deeply to putting Christ’s evangelizing mission into action.”