“There’s no weekend where someone doesn’t tell me, ‘Father, this parish is so welcoming; we felt at home here. What’s your secret?’” -Father Rich Roberge
Emily Planchet | January 2026
OCIA Coordinator for Christ the King Parish
“There’s no weekend where someone doesn’t tell me, ‘Father, this parish is so welcoming; we felt at home here. What’s your secret?’” Father Rich says.
The secret is not really a secret at all; rather, it’s the fruit of almost a decade’s worth of hard work, prayer, and – of course – dependence on the Holy Spirit.
In 2016, Christ the King Parish was ripe for renovation. It was only a few years after Sacred Heart, Saint Peter, and St. John the Evangelist parishes were combined into Christ the King Parish. Hoping to invigorate the churchgoers and to unify them into one parish, Father Rich and others on staff read Divine Renovation: Bringing your Parish from Maintenance to Mission by Father James Mallon.
The book, which centres on Father James’s own experience as a parish priest in Nova Scotia, Canada, details his journey into renewal, “renovating” his own parish, and discovering what “going on mission” really means.
Based on what they read, Father Rich formed a leadership team, and they began tentative changes. Then in June of the same year, they attended the first-ever Divine Renovation conference in Canada. They were transformed by what they saw – a parish warm and welcoming, where everyone seemed excited to be there. They knew this was the model they wanted.
With the help of DR coaches, Christ the King began to focus on three key principles: the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Best of Leadership, and the Primacy of Evangelization. With these values in mind and bolstered by support of new leadership team, Father Rich created the Parish Plan for Renewal that identifies the priorities of Christ the King – with Christ always at the center.
Before Divine Renovation, about 15% of regular churchgoers were active in the parish, now it is over 40%.
This all led to a refreshed hospitality ministry. From the hospitality ministry and Alpha, Christ the King became even more welcoming and more invitational – and those in the pews had an overwhelming response.
Before Divine Renovation, about 15% of regular churchgoers were active in the parish, now it is over 40%.
“Clearly, people were anonymous, and they were used to being anonymous, and they didn’t expect that to change,” Angie says, “but then there was that tiny little adjustment of us not wanting them to be anonymous, we want them to be part of our family; we want to be a family of faith.”
Suddenly, people weren’t at the church just to worship by themselves, they were there to worship in community with each other, inspiring more and more parishioners to get involved.
Around the same time the parish had a physical renovation of the building to include elements of all three former parishes into one church. The renovation took nine months. During this time, the parish met and worshipped in a large tent on campus, which brought its own set of challenges.
But people stepped up and radical hospitality became the norm: everything from a golf cart to bring elderly people from their cars to the tent, to people volunteering to serve cold water in the hot months. Everybody gave up their comfort to sit close to one another to fit in the space. The challenge became a unifying blessing.
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Even now, with renovations done and the building reopened, the sentiment has stayed strong. “I’ve seen more parish engagement,” Father Rich observes. “More people are more deeply engaged in their faith, their relationship with Jesus, and their desire to serve the community.” Angie concurs, “they’re getting more engaged because they have an awakening of their faith.”
More ministries, more leaders, and more engagement are all great results of the work with Divine Renovation. But without a true love of Christ, this parish would disintegrate into a social club or one of any number of charities. The principles of Divine Renovation help Christ the King stay on track, even after almost a decade of work.
“The main job of the leaders of the parish is to keep the ‘main thing’ the main thing,” Angie says, “and the ‘main thing’ is evangelization; the main thing is a relationship with Jesus. What it really boils down to is we want Jesus to be known everywhere, by everyone, as deeply as possible.”
While our parish has come a long way over the years, it isn’t something that can ever be completely finished. It is ever-growing and evolving, but it’s certainly continuing“I think we’re showing that we’re a parish on mission rather than maintenance,” Fr. Rich says. “It’s tiring, it’s challenging, but otherwise, a parish will shrivel up.”
Moving forward, Angie hopes the parish will continue the outward trajectory to invite more and more people from the Concord area to step inside and find the beautiful, sometimes terrifying, but always wonderful life, lived in relationship with Jesus. “It’s about looking beyond the borders of Christ the King Parish,” Angie says, “to the greater Kingdom of God.”
