Stories of parish renewal
from around the world.
“God Opens a Window”: A Story from Canada
Five feet of fresh snow cover the Northern Canadian town of Sault Ste. Marie, blanketing St. Veronica’s Church in a Christmas Card-worthy outline. But for Joanne, Christmas here has been less than picturesque, filled with the painful reminder of her mother’s death.
In 2015, two days after Christmas, Joanne’s 65-year-old mother, Susan, died suddenly, leaving Joanne without close family nearby as she raised her young daughter, Sophie as a single mom. Joanne’s mother was a devout Catholic and had made sure her children were baptized and received their sacraments but following mom’s death Joanne found it difficult to feel anything but anger at God. She recalls being filled with despair and grief, telling God “I needed her,” “it’s not fair,” and “you can just leave me alone.”
Then two years ago, again at Christmastime, something new was in store for Joanne.
Five feet of fresh snow cover the Northern Canadian town of Sault Ste. Marie, blanketing St. Veronica’s Church in a Christmas Card-worthy outline. But for Joanne, Christmas here has been less than picturesque, filled with the painful reminder of her mother’s death. In 2015, two days after Christmas, Joanne’s 65-year-old mother, Susan, died suddenly, leaving Joanne without close family nearby as she raised her young daughter, Sophie as a single mom. Joanne’s mother was a devout Catholic and had made sure her children were baptized and received their sacraments but following mom’s death Joanne found it difficult to feel anything but anger at God. She recalls being filled with despair and grief, telling God “I needed her,” “it's not fair,” and “you can just leave me alone.” Then two years ago, again at Christmastime, something new was in store for Joanne.
Die Tage vor und an Weihnachten - für viele Menschen eine sehr schöne Zeit. Wir bereiten uns vor, auf die Geburt Jesu. Für viele Menschen ist Weihnachten...
In 2018, Švč. Mergelės Marijos Ramintojos bažnyčia (Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Peacemaker) in Vilnius, Lithuania, started its first Alpha. Today, their Alphas are so fruitful that over 60% of participants identify as unchurched — and even as they run the course twice a year, they still need to put people on a waitlist. But the history of this church is much older and more convoluted than their present-day evangelistic fruitfulness would suggest.
Father Jochem Van Velthoven has been intensely pursuing parish renewal for the last three years at Catharina Parochie in Oosterhout, Netherlands. He has established a leadership team, set in place a regular cycle of Alpha for evangelization, and even created “The Journey of Hope” a program facilitated by his lay leaders to pass on the missional principles he learned through DR to his parishioners. But on June 16th, Father Jochem could not get out of bed.
