Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples

I recently read this book and LOVED IT!It is NOT a step-by-step how-to book on how you can implement the principles from Sherry Weddell's first book, Forming Intentional Disciples (sorry!), but rather, an invitation for readers to use their Catholic imagination to dream about what a Parish transformed by a group of intentional disciples might look like. Those looking for a blueprint of what to do will be sadly disappointed. Those who are looking for evidence that this model works and can bear immense fruit in a variety of different contexts and through a variety of different applications will find precisely what they are looking for!While I don't have time to write about what I loved about each chapter, here is a snapshot of what's inside:The first chapter looks at what does it look like when a whole generation - of clergy and laity - form a spiritual community that actively supports its members in using their charisms for the building up of the kingdom of God? Hint: it unleashes immense spiritual power for the transformation of the world!!!The second chapter looks at the spiritual power of prayer to transform a community. In fact, prayer is crucial if evangelization is to be effective. Since the Holy Spirit is the principle agent of evangelization, intercessory prayer is "initiated by the Holy Spirit so that we might dispose ourselves to the divine will and earnestly pray for its manifestation here on earth" (p. 36). In other words, prayer becomes the necessary first step- the catalyst - by which the Holy Spirit first begins to set his plan in motion.Chapter three speaks about the co-responsibility of the laity in the mission of the Church. For too long, the laity have seen themselves as the passive recipients of the ministry of the Church, rather than as its primary agents. Changing this mentality changes everything.The golden nugget of the fourth chapter are the two lists contrasting characteristics of a maintenance-driven Parish and a mission-driven parish. I wish every Parish staff would spend a whole day reflecting on this! To be honest, I skipped chapter five... or I don't remember it. (sorry!)Chapter six talks about fire-side chats. So often in ministry, we don't know who we're working with, or, we only know them cursorily. This is about investing in people, sitting down, sharing a meal, and really getting to know our people - and their gifts - and then fostering the type of relationship with them that allows us to form them for mission - to send them out into the world. This and the chapter on prayer were the two best take-home points for me!!!Ok, running out of time, but this book rocks. Lots to ponder, lots to think about. Stop reading these reviews and just buy it already. You won't regret it!

If you are saturated from trying to understand Intentional Discipleship and the New Evangelisation at the conceptual level and have been asking, “Yes, but WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?”, this is the book for you!In Sherry Weddell’s first book, “Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus,” Sherry laid out for us why Intentional Discipleship makes a crucial difference in the lives of Catholics and gave us a map of what the ‘developmental path’ to Intentional Discipleship looked like. Sherry also shared how parishes can start the process to become an evangelising parish that is effective in making intentional disciples.In this much awaited sequel to Forming Intentional Disciples, readers are given the privilege of hearing from seasoned evangelisers who have been applying the principles of Forming Intentional Disciples in pastoral ministry for years and whose parishes are already seeing disciple-bearing fruits.The writers range from the lay to the ordained and include parish priests/formators to lay pastoral workers and a youth minister with experiences spanning from the local parish to the regional and national level in the USA.These pages tell the stories of how dedicated intentional disciples can become highly creative and unique instruments of the Holy Spirit in making passionate disciples through different ways. Though not explicitly stated, each of the ‘success stories’ told here are coloured by the different charisms of the main evangelists in each context - evangelism, intercessory prayer, leadership, administration, knowledge and teaching are just a few that leap from the pages.You will read about re-imagining the Parish Pastoral Council (Chapter 3: Co-Responsible for the Mission of Christ), creative intercessory prayer (Chapter 2: Praying It Forward), ‘disciple-shaped youth ministry’ (Chapter 7: Rethinking Youth Ministry), spiritual conversation and accompaniment (Chapter 6: “Fireside Chats” and the Formation of the Laity), and transformation from a maintenance-oriented parish to a mission-oriented one (Chapter 4: Intentional Disciples - Bearing Spiritual Fruit That Sustains). Framing these chapters and setting them into context is Sherry Weddell’s thought-provoking and inspiring introductory chapter, “The Generation of Saints.”This book is highly-recommended for all Catholics, and especially more so for those who are at the spearhead of the New Evangelisation in their parishes and communities.

I read this book thinking about how the parish would benefit from my reading. I ended up thinking how many people, prayers and activities were already there and I needed to be more 'intentional' in what I observe. Bobby Vidal, one of the writers of this thoughtful book states on p. 68 :"An individual person grows in receptivity to God when surrounded by a community that collectively strives to care for the whole cycle of the life of grace...If we are to cooperate with God in his work of renewing and transforming parish life, then we need to understand where a community is and where it needs to go."Throughout the book, Weddell, gives us both practical and theologically meaningful ways to help us accomplish the task of transforming our communities to deeper believers in Christ and His way of being in the world. The parish's culture points to the realization that more and more there is a need to deepen their personal relationship with Christ and therefore bringing a deeper sense to the devotions and Mass that we all participate in. This too affects our activities to assist the economically poor and disenfranchised in our community in a way that is different from just doing the 'activity'.Intentionality is the word that is pivotal to this book. Consistently and constantly asking ourselves what is the purpose of our lives in Christ. Although I am new to Weddell, I will pick up others of her books so that I can continue to transform my life and that of my parish so the world may be alive with the joy of being a disciple of Jesus...

Bought this and its sister book for my wife. Whilst highly recommended by the Bishops of England and Wales, do look around as there are more practical resources out there. What this does is provide a helpful challenge for those parish priests struggling to come to terms with being a shepherd. It poses the obvious challenges: identifying the rams in your parish and turning them into good sheep dogs! The point being made is that a successful parish is one that recognises the movers and shakers and brings them on board under a single vision of discipleship. This is a hard message and the leadership of a flock is not something taught well in seminaries nor indeed in the best MBA courses - it is something learnt through coaching and mentoring whilst doing as every flock will react differently to its leader. Some helpful case studies and overall these books make an important point that is well and entertainingly argued but they offer only a small part of the solution. Happy to provide recommendations on other sources for those interested

Every Catholic Parish should read this book - it is written for the US audience but the lessons can be easily adapted in the UK.

I gained tremendous insight about our call to 'make disciples when I read Sherry Weddell's Forming Intentional Disciples, and then this book demonstrates what can happen when a parish begins to 'make disciples'.

Excellent book that does not try to be a 'one size fits all' approach but carefully builds on the ideas presented in 'Forming Intentional Disciples'. Every Catholic Christian needs to read this book if they are serious about evangelisation

This book takes the original idea into parish practice and makes it available and possible for any parish to develop. But it's not a one-man job...you need a team.