"I treasure being a member of our parish family as well as the opportunity to be a part of the renewal underway."
Jacqueline Marie | August 22, 2024
Nathan Cabalfin, together with his wife Glenna, has eight children ranging from 15 years to 8 months old. Working as an engineer in Greater Vancouver, he lives a very full life – or as he describes it, “one without much downtime.”
Yet in 2022, when Father Mark McGuckin arrived as the new Pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish (learn more about Father Mark) and approached Nathan to join the Leadership and Renewal Team, Nathan jumped in and gave his yes. “I want to set an example, a model, for my children of what it’s like to be in faithful community.”
Father Mark hit the ground running – this was his second parish to move from maintenance to mission and he immediately started building a vision and working out of the three keys: relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, focusing on the primacy of evangelization, and developing the best of leadership principles.
Nathan saw first-hand what it looks like to put a parish on the path of mission. He says “there is definitely a change in the parish. There is a liveliness that wasn’t there before. A tangible example of this change has been in the hospitality on Sundays – especially in how people are welcomed in as they arrive and provided opportunities for fellowship after the the celebration of Mass.”
By 2023 the Leadership and Renewal team was leaning into the primacy of evangelization and ran their first Alpha. Nathan, who volunteered as a table leader, noticed that, “while there were familiar faces, there were also many people from outside of the parish or the established community” showing up at Alpha. “Holding Alpha has been a great way to invite people into a community. They belong and are known.” The parish went on to run their second Alpha this past winter.
The fruit is already evident: in the last two years RCIA has been full, and this past Easter a dozen adults were baptized. He reflects, “it is wonderful to experience God working in our Parish through the faithful discipleship of the Alpha team members.”
There is definitely a change in the parish. There is a liveliness that wasn’t there before."
For Nathan, the results of a missional culture have hit close to home. “This past year I attended [Alpha] with my sister-in-law,” who is unchurched. He led a different table then the one she was seated at but noticed she had a significant experience when she was prayed over at one of the sessions. He didn’t want to push for details as she processed exploring the faith. But at a family dinner a few weeks later she shared with Nathan’s wife: “I’m walking with the Lord now.” She is planning to go to RCIA this fall.
Now his sister-in-law and brother attend St. Francis de Sales: “it’s such a cool thing to have them join us at Mass now.” It has even changed the culture of the family gatherings. “We regularly have faith-based discussions which hadn’t happened before. The nature of our conversations has changed because of the Alpha experience she had and it has been a blessing to our family gatherings…we often talk about relationship with Jesus.”
Overall, Nathan says, “I treasure being a member of our parish family as well as the opportunity to be a part of the renewal underway.” He is grateful to be part of the leadership that is “guiding where the parish is going.”
Pray for St. Francis de Sales Parish in Burnaby as they run their third Alpha this coming fall.
