“'Lord, if it’s you,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.'
'Come,' He said."
Matthew 14: 28-29
Jacqueline Marie | Sept. 16, 2024
Choosing to step out into parish renewal is akin to casting off from the shore – leaving the familiar sands of of maintenance mode for the unknown waves of renewal. That first step often feels more like a giant leap.
Father Petr is the parish priest of St. John of Nepomuk, a suburban parish on the outskirts of the city of Brno in Czechia (the Czech Republic). This year, he started the journey of leading his parish from maintenance to mission and joined the first-ever cohort of Czech priests benefitting from Divine Renovation’s coaching.
Zuzana, a lay leader in the city, initiated the process by going to the diocese and asking the priest in charge of pastoral care, Father Pavel, if he could invite Divine Renovation to come help bring parish renewal to their region. Father Pavel was on board and a Kickstart coaching cohort was formed. Zuzana volunteered to be the English translator between DR and the priests.
Father Petr’s priesthood has often been in isolation, as Zuzana explains: “Father Petr is used to being alone, because he was alone being ordained a deacon, alone being ordained a priest, in his year, in the seminary he was also alone” as others around him left priestly formation. So being able to be in a coaching cohort with brother priests was a welcome change.
Since Kickstart, Father Petr has jumped into parish renewal with both feet. He found that the first place where coaching helped “was in creating the leadership team.” The parish had been a conglomeration of different groups lobbying the priest for their interests, but he wanted a Senior Leadership Team with a united vision. He gathered people that excelled at communication and collaboration from each ministry group to create his leadership team.
He says: “first of all, I had a meeting with each of them individually to explain what my goal was in creating a team,” then he walked them through what he had learned in coaching and invited them to ask questions.
“I was really surprised that I found people who are really excited by all of this [renewal]...the people have long dreamed of this.”
“My biggest worry was that the mentality in the Czech Republic was not ready yet for the people (laity) taking leadership roles.”
But he was met with enthusiasm from the people he had invited to the team: “I was really surprised that I found people who are really excited by all of this.” As he has met with his new team to talk about a missional focus, he has discovered that “the people have long dreamed of this.” He continues with an example, “for instance we have a lady who is in her late sixties, when we [SLT] came to the conclusion that we needed a catechesis team, she said, ‘Ok! it has been my dream for a long time I really want to do this! I will lead the team.’”
This has been such an encouragement for him, “and now they [SLT] are creating a team for evangelization as well…so the hope is very big.”
He has found that the principles of DR have helped him “to put a structure to what I was thinking…I had it in my head, but it was not defined, and it is not defined in the Czech Church. So, it helped me to get a structure and implement the things I already wanted to do.”
He has been delighted to discover that “there are people in my parish who think missionally” even though, “it is not a habit (trend) in the Czech Republic.” Two of his new leadership team members have a passion for evangelization and are “always saying ‘ok we have to reach the people outside and bring them to the parish!’.”
Father Petr knows the journey of parish renewal is not a short path. But he is reminded of his original passion that brought him to his priesthood: “to be close to God, and to be close to people” and a focus on renewal has brought new hope to his vocation. When asked why renewal is worth the perseverance he says, “I continue because I am convinced that if we grasp it correctly – then the parish will move forward. I also feel that now, it is already happening, and what is happening actually, is that the people are more open towards each other…it is making them more open towards the people outside.”
Being part of Kickstart has equipped Father Petr to step off the shore and set sail on the waves of renewal and bring people into relationship with Christ.
