Since the 1960s, the Church began calling for a “New Evangelization” as the Bishops began to recognize a phenomenon occurring in Europe. Within the twenty-first century, we have come to see our American bishops heralding the call and taking steps to initiate a New Evangelization within their own dioceses. In turn, their pastors started taking steps like their Bishops to develop Offices or Committees of Evangelization.

Are These Offices or Committees of Evangelization Set Up To Fail?

In the early years of NEM, I began to examine the structures of parishes and dioceses to determine how to implement the New Evangelization. What I found in most places was a silo system of ministry where the staff not only didn’t work together, but also had uniquely distinct goals they were trying to accomplish.

If I asked them to define what evangelization was, I would get a wide variety of definitions and approaches for it. This meant that they were often times working against each other to achieve goals that were not unified. They simply looked at their own particular task (Sacrament prep, Youth Ministry, St. Vincent De Paul…) without ever seeing how their part played in the overall vision of the Church.  

This call by the bishops revealed a serious problem within our churches and dioceses. Many of those working in ministry had little to no understanding of what the process of evangelization is or how to accomplish it (the same is true with discipleship). In response, bishops and pastors rightly responded by establishing Offices or Committees of Evangelization to study and develop strategies for accomplishing the mission.

A major problem I see with these offices and committees has to do with their role in the structure of the Church or diocese. I believe that if a diocese or parish has ten initiatives that are currently established (like Children’s Religious Education, RCIA, Youth Ministry, Adult Ed…), and tries to add Evangelization as the eleventh initiative (Committee or Office), it is dead on arrival.   “Why?”

Most diocese and parish staff have little to no training in evangelization and see no real need to learn because the job of evangelizing has just been given to those in the office or committee. They are free to continue to create individuals who are not evangelized within their own initiative.

To become effective in the New Evangelization, evangelization must undergird every other ministry in the Church. Every ministry must be about the business of evangelizing those within their sphere of ministry. From outreach to the poor to the Knights of Columbus to the Finance & Parish Councils to Music Ministry to Religious Education, all must do the work of leading people into a nuptial relationship with Jesus Christ. Only then will our efforts to form disciples become fruitful.  

Next blog we will unpack this further.