On Dec. 4, 260 priests, parish and school staff members and lay leaders from throughout the diocese gathered at Columbus St. Elizabeth Church for an Evangelization Leadership Summit.
The event was planned in response to the diocese’s recent strategic planning on the topic. The intent was to encourage and equip attendees for evangelization in response to Jesus’ mandate to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18).
Liz Christy, the new parish missionary disciple formation coordinator in the diocese’s Office of Evangelization, said the summit was an opportunity to gather ministry leaders from throughout the diocese.
“For years, the Holy Spirit has been at work in many areas of our diocese, stirring in our people the fire for the mission of the Gospel,” she said. “At this Evangelization Leadership Summit, we were given a glimpse of what it can look like when some of those people come together. There was a palpable excitement throughout the day.”
The event began with Mass celebrated by Father David Schalk. In his homily, Father Schalk, pastor of Columbus Christ the King Church, noted the importance of fidelity to prayer, whether clergy or laypeople.
Father Schalk cited his grandmother as a compelling witness of this fidelity, as she prioritized saying the rosary daily. Her wedding ring was part of a special chalice given to Father Schalk by his family and used in the Mass at the summit.
The event featured three keynote addresses plus breakout options focused on ministry topics. The first keynote was given by Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), which this year began work at Ohio State University.
Martin broke down the process of making a missionary disciple, through the sequence of “win, build, send,” which he drew from the Gospels. He reminded attendees to bring their boble with then while evangelizing and emphasized studying Scripture to learn Jesus’ method for making disciples.
Martin highlighted the effectiveness of Christ’s model: If everyone evangelizes and accompanies three people, and if those who are evangelized in turn evangelize three others, by 33 cycles 8 billion people would be reached for Jesus Christ.
He also reflected on the role parents play in being disciples for their children, citing research that found spiritual conversations among family members were a key factor in raising adults who practice the faith.
In her keynote address, Kelly Wahlquist, author and founder of WINE: Women In the New Evangelization, encouraged attendees to have confidence in evangelizing through daily life. She made sharing Jesus seem more doable with humor and relatable examples, such as having a conversation on an airplane.
Wahlquist encouraged attendees to silently pray, “Come Holy Spirit!” when engaging with someone to bring him or her to Christ.
In the final keynote address, Pete Burak, founder of id, the young adult outreach arm for Renewal Ministries, described the Holy Spirit as the “game changer” in evangelization. Burak challenged attendees to seek faith in God as the primary agent of conversion and noted that every act of faith is a miracle done by God to be received with gratitude and celebration.
He reminded the audience that conversion involves a new vision of the world, seeing it with eyes transformed by God through the Scriptures and the sacraments. That vision brings boldness and teaches us to see every situation as a time when God is acting, Burak said.
Summit breakout sessions focused on topics such as the sacraments as moments of encounter, best practices for parish staff, digital evangelization and accompanying teens in their faith.
Brooke Warren, stewardship and marriage formation coordinator at Columbus St. Matthew Church, said her takeaway from the summit was the idea of not relying on programs to do the work of evangelization. “I love the idea of parishes being creative and listening to the needs of their parishioners,” Warren said.
Bill Messerly, executive director of St. Gabriel Catholic Radio, said he appreciated Wahlquist’s reminder to focus on evangelization within one’s close relationships.
“Mary didn’t go to the whole village to share the news of Jesus, but she went to where she had a relationship,” he said. “I was struck by the example of the Visitation as a model for evangelization. I think we can be so anxious about the trends for godlessness in our culture that we can miss communicating the faith in words with those who are already closest to us: our spouses, family, children, friends and co-workers.”
Tina Burtch, director of evangelization and faith formation at Newark St. Francis de Sales Church, served on the summit planning committee and presented two breakout sessions. She said a key message of the summit was the importance of the evangelist’s relationship with Jesus as the fuel for evangelization.
“You don’t have to know everything to be an evangelist, just be authentic and share your own experience and relationship with the Lord,” Burtch said.
In addition to planning future events, the Evangelization Office hopes to support parishes in building a culture of evangelization with a toolkit that contains digital resources
“We are now scheduling meetings with pastors and their parish leadership to begin working through it,” Christy said. “These meetings and the toolkit are meant to support the work of pastors and their staff and leaders in the formation of missionary disciples.”
To hear recordings of the summit’s keynote speeches, visit www.evangelizecolumbus.com.
