Why Are Parishes Stuck Regarding Evangelization?
I’m pleased to announce I have an article on parish evangelization, “Stuck in Neutral: When Parish Evangelization (Still) Fails,” published in May 2023’s Homiletic and Pastoral Review. A taste below, and you can read the rest on HPR’s website:
It has been five years since the four-day United States Convocation of Catholic Leaders on Evangelization was held in Atlanta.
It has been nine years since Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel, was released.
It has been twelve years since Pope Benedict XVI established the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.
It has been nearly 40 years since Pope St. John Paul II coined the term “the new evangelization,” with its “new means, new expressions, new ardor.”
It has been 47 years since Pope St. Paul VI offered the post-Vatican II church’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Evangelization in the Modern World.
So why are our parishes shrinking, and our younger generations missing in action?
Why does parish-based evangelization so often fail? Why do well-intentioned parishes seem to be stuck in neutral, spinning their wheels, and digging themselves deeper into the dirt ruts of a road to nowhere?
Read the rest here.
