Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen called on participants of the second Ablaze Parish Renewal Conference to “put out into the deep” so that together they could build “vibrant and thriving parishes of faith” and “families of faith”.
The conference, held on November 4 –5 at Aldersgate Centre in Christchurch, attracted 280 participants, from Christchurch and other dioceses.
“My vision for our diocese is we have vibrant and thriving parishes of faith. And I reflected more on that: that we have families of faith,” the bishop said. “We can’t do it ourselves. We need to unite with each other so that we can provide our children with what they need.”
To help carry out this vision, Bishop Gielen said he is going to run the Alpha programme for all senior school leaders in the diocese as he strongly encouraged parishes to prioritise running the course, too. Alpha is a parish tool for evangelisation which helps people to connect with each other and encounter Jesus.
“Why am I asking you to do it? Because we have to be centred on him first. You can’t do anything without being centred on him first,” he said.
Bishop Gielen expressed hope that this will result in “communities of faith that wrap around people, that nourish them in all the many ways he wants to do that”.
The bishop told the participants about his early years, growing up in Tokoroa.
“In that place, I experienced a most beautiful parish family in my entire life,” he said. “It was a real place of love. The man that stands before you today was loved deeply in that place. It helped form me into the man I am today.”
He said Tokoroa produced at least seven priests, including Marist Fr Chris Skinner and his nephew, recently ordained Fr Adam Kirkeby.
Bishop Gielen said there is a need to struggle against taking parishes for granted and moving into “maintenance mode”.
He said this struggle does not belong only to the priest but also to all the members of the parish.
Bishop Gielen said it is as scary as Jesus calling the apostles to “put out into the deep” (Luke 5:4) after the apostles worked hard all night but caught nothing.
“Peter was a fisherman. Jesus wasn’t. Peter knew that Jesus wasn’t. And he knew that there were no fish out there. But he trusted,” the bishop said.
He asked the participants to do the Surrender novena and hand control over to God so that God can do his work through them.
Bishop’s Pastoral Office director Mike Stopforth said the feedback from Ablaze participants has been very positive with some expressing appreciation for the opportunity to “be around other people also mulling the same questions with similar passion for Christ and our parishes”.
“There were so many poignant moments throughout Ablaze; the silence as we prayed together in adoration at the end of the first night; people coming forward on the last evening in making a renewed commitment of faith, Bishop Michael inviting priests to stand and all thanking them for their priestly ministry and the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout the whole event,” Mr Stopforth said.
Apart from Bishop Gielen, there were two other keynote speakers. These were Dan O’Rourke, the president of the global Divine Renovation Ministry based in Halifax, Canada, and Fr Chris Ryan, a Missionary of God’s Love priest serving as a parish priest in Sydney archdiocese.
Mr O’Rourke spoke about the expansion of Divine Renovation and gave two workshops while Fr Ryan opened the conference by exploring parish renewal and why it is needed.
It was truly a blessing to be there, and witness to the power of the Holy Spirit working amongst us.
By the end of the event, that small, simple boat was crowded with 280 people setting out into the deep.
Leaving on the final night, I was left with a renewed sense of joy.
There is much to be done in the Saint making community I belong to at St Mary’s, in the Cathedral parish,
if we are to reclaim this city we live in as Christchurch.
Come, Holy Spirit!