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I graduated from college and got married not long after. When my wife and I moved to a different city, it necessitated joining a new parish. We struggled to make friends and form community. Few people welcomed us in. Nobody reached out to us. Other young couples ignored us (and each other). So, after a year of waiting for others to lead, we decided to take the initiative ourselves.

The hits just keep coming. More bishops who moved priests around, knowing they were abusing kids. A priest is given a leave of absence because of his affair. The mismanagement of Church funds. I sometimes ask myself when will it stop...and then I remember...

Very few people like buying cars. It is due to several factors, not the least of which is having a high-pressure salesperson hover over you. It turns many people off. The same can be said about zealous Christians who always seem to be trying to "close the deal" when they evangelize. But, there is a better way.

"Timing is everything" is a common phrase and there is a lot of truth to it. If I had met my wife 24 hours earlier than I did, she would have had nothing to do with me. Because we met the same night that I had my primary conversion. Before that, I was a wild college kid and she wouldn't have had anything to do with me. God knew what he was doing there. He also knows what he is doing in terms of reforming the Church in the USA. We are at a pivotal moment.

Many of the Old Testament prophets could be called reluctant in fulfilling their calling. I understand the feeling. I have the charism of prophecy myself and certainly don’t always like using the gift. To explain a bit better, I need to back up and fill in some blanks, before I launch into this post, which I am reluctant to make public.

The problem is - too many Catholic parishes and dioceses are aiming for the wrong thing and miss the target. Then when questions arise about why the results they expected aren’t happening, they are puzzled.

If I told you that you could transform your local parish culture in 5 easy steps, would you want to know what those steps were? Even if those steps were hard, would you be willing to work to achieve change? Would you be willing to pay a steep price to get access to these steps? If you respond “yes”, then you are easy prey to “Silver Bullet Syndrome”.

When someone describes themselves as being "raised Catholic", what assumptions do you make about them? Do you assume they go to Mass, pray, follow Church teachings, etc? That phrase could mean that the person is living like the next Mother Teresa. It could also mean...

Take a moment to answer these questions on Catholic discipleship. I recommend you write your answers down, before you move on to read the answers.

Our goal is conversion. We are supposed to make disciples. So, how do we track success and hit the right target? Here are some things we need to track + a free assessment tool to see how your parish is doing.

I recently ran across an essay which may be one of the most influential pieces of writing in the last 30 years. I heard about it previously, but had not read it until last week. After several readings, I concluded that to modern ears, it sounds like someone is writing satire. But, it isn’t. Rather, the essay was written in 1987 about how to “desensitization of the American public concerning gays and gay rights”. What is amazing is how the strategy (and tactics to achieve the strategy) were perfectly implemented. Every single goal of the essay has come to pass.

For years I ran the day to day operations of a large parish staff of well over 50 people. During one staff meeting I asked a “what if” question that changed how we operated. I asked them, “what would we do differently if we stopped making the assumption that just because folks are involved, that they are disciples of Jesus.” Our ministry direction changed after that question.

If you work in a parish, diocese, apostolate, or ministry, then you probably know what it is like to work long hours and feel the weight having to get things done. You probably have a heart for serving God and the Church. But, you may feel over-worked, under-appreciated, and stretched thin. It doesn't have to be that way.

A false diagnosis of an illness means treatments may not work and in some cases can even make the illness worse. In some ways, this is happening in Catholic dioceses and parishes. The symptoms of our problems are obvious - decline in numbers, loss of influence, fewer vocations, etc. But, many have misdiagnosed the underlying illness.

Church renewal is really hard. In fact, just the daily grind of running a parish (or diocese / ministry) can be hard. That means trying to do all of the day-to-day and still make time for growth, evangelization, discipleship, change, renewal, etc is VERY hard. Yet, it is still worth it. If you believe it is worth the time, energy, struggle, and resources, then you should answer these questions.

Have you ever actually read all of the legalize that goes with the terms of use for a new app on your phone? Did you understand it all? Even if you didn't, you probably still checked that you would “read and agree” to everything in the document. This kind of half-hearted consent is similar to what happens for a lot of Catholics every Sunday.

Many Christians aim to make disciples, but there are really two different ways of doing so - spiritual addition and spiritual multiplication. Jesus modeled for us multiplication.

I worked in Campus Ministry for 15 years. It is a place of "hellos" and "goodbyes", due to students coming and going every few months. This constant shifting landscape helped me better understand how to plan for anticipated change. This vision, anticipation, and planning made me a more proactive leader.

The local Planned Parenthood Director had quit her job and walked into the local Coalition for Life offices. It was a welcomed shock to those who heard. But, then it hit national news, because Planned Parenthood was scared. They were scared she would share inside information and that they wouldn’t control the narrative. They were right to be scared, because Abby Johnson had a new mission.

As you may know, there are some species of plants that need fires to reproduce. There are some seeds that lie dormant for many years, waiting for fire to activate them into germination. The Catholic Church in the West is similar to these plants. We have been dormant for so long that it may take God’s fire (the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit + the fire of suffering) to make us fruitful again.