MERRILLVILLE – There’s a new team in the Diocese of Gary, and while they don’t wear cleats, shoot free throws or swing a bat, they are aiming for victory every day.
Dubbed the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization Office, the team includes director Father Declan McNicholas, who is splitting his time with his duties as associate pastor at St. John the Evangelist in St. John, and team members Sean Martin (Catechesis and Faith Formation), Rosanne Kouris (Family Life), Vicky Hathaway (Youth and Young Adults), Erica Jimenez (Intercultural Ministry) and Lisa Curley (Hospitality).
“I am spending three days a week here at the Pastoral Center and three days in St. John, and with the start of the new year I will also be taking over the Lay Ecclesial Ministry (LEM) program,” noted Father McNicholas, who was ordained to the priesthood in 2019.
The first move for the new team was swapping space in the Pastoral Center with the Communications Department to create a communal workspace more conducive to collaboration than separate offices. “If what we want to do as a team is work together, it makes sense to be in one big room where people hear each other and chime in their ideas, without blind spots,” said Father McNicholas, who hosts hour-long staff meetings around a conference table each Monday morning for planning purposes. “We don’t need to work in ‘silos.’
“The bishop and I are both adamant that we need to support our parishes in missionary discipleship, and that is what we are all about,” Father McNicholas noted. “Each team member is visiting at least two parishes in the diocese each month, looking at ‘What (from this parish) can I share with others? How can I connect with the leaders? What is going well here? What are the roadblocks and what is challenging to this parish?’
“When you get into ministry work, especially as volunteers, you don’t have time to visit other parishes to compare what you are doing – that’s our job,” he added.
To develop a vision for 2024, the team members will be goal setting during a two-day, off-site retreat in February. “Each of us will be looking at where we want to be in five years, in terms of Bishop (Robert) McClory’s Ten Principles of Missionary Discipleship, and how we can back it up. It is so easy to get caught in the weeds of your job, but what is the bigger picture?” said Father McNicholas. “As a team, it is no longer just you paddling a kayak, but six people rowing a boat together.”
Hathaway said sharing a communal space “encourages us to talk more, share more and be there for each other, and having a coordinator is helpful.”
Hathaway is taking the lead on one project that the team is already committed to this year – the Eucharistic Revival Summer. “Before and after the National Eucharistic Congress (July 17-21) in Indianapolis, we will be hosting several activities in our diocese to complement the Congress,” Father McNicholas said.
“I’ve made contact with the national Congress people so we will know what is going on each day in Indianapolis and we can help the attendees from our parishes have the best experience,” said Hathaway. “We will have at least 250 people there, and in February I will be letting our pastors know how many discounted tickets will be available.”
This month, day passes will also become available, added Hathaway, and people can register for those online on their own. “We are also hoping to provide transportation by offering coach buses that will afford easy drop-off and pick-up spots and eliminate the need to find parking,” she said.
One pre-Congress activity that the team is especially dialed into is the National Eucharistic Procession that will bring teams of pilgrims into Indianapolis from throughout the U.S. The Northern team of 10-12 permanent pilgrims will begin in Minnesota, and travel through the Diocese of Gary on July 1-5, with local pilgrims invited to join the procession and daily Masses in the morning and speakers, adoration and prayer services in different parishes throughout each day.
“I know the first day will be hosted in Whiting, with St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church hosting noon adoration and a 6 p.m. kick-off program,” Hathaway said. “We are looking to celebrate our local cultures throughout the walk, and inviting and encouraging people in our diocese to do what they can, walk, attend a Mass or program; evening events will be more sedentary.
“We are very thankful that the Procession is coming through our diocese so we can worship Christ intentionally and invite everyone to come on this adventure with Jesus, and especially the Eucharist,” Hathaway noted.
After the Congress, Father McNicholas said the diocese hopes to promote an “Invite Your Family Back to Mass” program to welcome back Catholics who have stopped attending Mass, as well as a Day of Service encompassing a number of projects. “We are also hoping to hold a couple of small group discussions about the Eucharist,” he added.
Integral to the team’s work is developing a sense of “radical hospitality” that makes each parish a welcoming place for everyone, and that led to the appointment of Curley as head of hospitality.
“I have always enjoyed putting on events, bringing groups of people together,” said the veteran of Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Winfield Community Foundation and Habitat for Humanity of Porter County activities, “Father Declan and I are looking at what is already working in our diocese and other areas around the country and I’ve been visiting parishes.
“You can do little things with very little expense or effort that nevertheless make a big difference,” Curley noted. “I took a friend to Mass with me and the priest announced that everyone (even if not receiving the Eucharist), was welcome to come up for a blessing, and my friend was so overwhelmed just by that gesture. Just offering a smile to a stranger at church can make all the difference.
“The intentionality of hospitality is the difference between hospitality and radical hospitality, and that is what we are looking for,” Curley added.,
“Our goal is not to take away from the leaders in the parishes and take over their jobs, but to support them,” Father McNicholas said. “We may go to a parish, like St. Mary in Otis, and ask, ‘What do your leaders need to be successful, how can we partner with you and how can we support your goals?”
To contact the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization, call 769-9292.