A message painted in gold above the vestibule doors of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Lake Ridge aims to energize exiting parishioners: “You are about to enter mission territory!” As their cars exit the parish grounds, another sign reminds, “You are now entering mission territory!”
There are around 60,000 souls within the parish boundaries in Lake Ridge. Father Brian G. Bashista, pastor, said that he and the rest of the parish community are responsible for evangelizing each one of those souls. But to evangelize out in the world, he said each parishioner must start with himself or herself and ask, “Am I a disciple?”
To help parishioners answer this question, Father Bashista and his staff created a program for parish evangelization: “A Clear Path to Heaven.”
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is one of many parishes across the diocese that have adopted and created parish evangelization programs to revitalize fervor in the pews. Initiative two of the Diocesan Strategic Plan reads, “Sponsor the expansion of successful evangelical programs in every parish.” Father Bashista leads the initiative for the diocese.
The goal of a “Clear Path to Heaven” is to accompany parishioners in spiritual formation, with the ultimate goal of becoming a “disciple of Christ,” or someone who fosters his or her relationship with Christ and seeks to evangelize others. The program identifies seven “stages of conversion and discipleship,” moving from spiritual passivity to fervent evangelization. The stages are: “Detached, Participant, Seeker, Intentional Disciple, Growing Disciple, Missionary Disciple and Spiritual Multiplier.”
By the time a person becomes an “Intentional Disciple,” they have had a personal encounter with Christ and a conversion, Father Bashista said. When a person reaches “Missionary Disciple,” they have “accepted the high call,” that is, they feel called to train other parishioners to become evangelizers. At this point, the parish engages the “missionary disciples” and invites them to train as small group facilitators.
Throughout our lives, Father Bashista said, we slide up and down that scale. Around 80 percent of parishioners are in the first two stages, Detached and Participant, he said. From there, the parish creates “opportunities of encounter,” that is, opportunities to help parishioners grow in their spiritual journey.
The parish creates such opportunities by offering connection and community through regular parish events, ranging from the popular Fall Festival to First Friday adoration to small group ministries. The parish’s discipleship team, Kris Fischer and Rebecca Sobus, then invites active parishioners to participate in “growth groups,” or small discipleship groups. The small groups include Family Faith Formation, Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (formerly RCIA), youth ministry, and men’s and women’s groups.
Supporting small-group discipleship is the 15th initiative of the Strategic Plan: “Identify, promote and support effective small-group discipleship programs in every parish.”
The parish’s Family Faith Formation requires participation from both parents and children. The goal is to normalize spiritual discussion among families. “We actually invite the children and the parents to take turns praying out loud, which is not something that everybody is super familiar with or comfortable doing. So, it’s a good practice,” Sobus said.
So, why reinvent the wheel of parish evangelization? Every active parishioner has a personal testimony, Father Bashista said. When parishes invest in the social and spiritual lives of parishioners, they in turn become more confident sharing their testimony in secular settings.
The program has inspired other parishes as well. Parishioner Carmen Lane brought some of its techniques to her day job as director of operations at St. Louis Church in Alexandria.
“Father (Keith M.) O’Hare had been looking for something to do here at the parish,” Lane said. “From when I first started here in 2018, he would be saying multiple times to me, ‘We need to start small groups.’ ”
So, Lane launched Evangelical Catholic — a parish evangelization program also used by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton — at St. Louis. The program trains parishioners as small group leaders. Lane gave the example that while Christ chose 12 men to be his disciples, he deeply invested in three of them as evangelizers: Peter, James and John. This is the approach we need to have with parish ministry, she said, “I love this model.”
St. Louis has hosted Evangelical Catholic multiple times, and the results are tangible, Lane said. Men and women who received the training now lead thriving small group ministries, with more parishioners joining. The parish has both men’s and women’s small groups: Band of Brothers and Walking with Purpose.
The goal of parish evangelization for Lane is “first to establish that friendship with Our Lord and then friendship with each other.”
“The loneliness in our area, really, it’s just growing faster than we realize,” she added. “And people need to be with others and learn from others and get encouraged.”
Other evangelization programs have been a staple at parishes for years. St. Mark Church in Vienna has hosted the parish evangelization program ALPHA for the last four years and introduced The RESCUE Project last year.
ALPHA is an 11-week program in which participants meet over a meal and go back to basics. The program invites participants to ask fundamental questions about Christianity such as, “Who is Jesus?” and “Why did he die for us?”
What distinguishes ALPHA is its open-minded nature, according to volunteer and parishioner Karen Asta. “We’re not there to answer questions; we’re there to open conversations for people,” she said. “Everything is said in confidence at the table.”
Asta said the program has attracted non-Catholics as well. “We have had people who are Catholic, people who are Christian, people who have no faith at all,” Asta said. “It’s an awakening for them to feel his presence and also to understand the Holy Spirit.”
While ALPHA invites those who are Catholic-curious, the RESCUE Project dives deep into the tenets of the Catholic faith. The eight-week series invites parishioners to meet over a meal, watch lecture videos and engage in small group discussions. The parish held the program for the first time last Lent and plans to bring it back. “They want to learn more,” Asta said.
For other parishes, parish evangelization starts with small groups themselves. Father Donald J. Planty, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington and leader of the Strategic Plan initiative for small discipleship groups, has overseen the formation of 10 small groups at St. Charles. The parish website even features a “Start Your Own” button to get in contact with parish leadership.
“Small groups are leaven in the lives of the participants and in the larger parish life: those who experience closeness to the Lord and others in a small group are moved to share the experience with others, and that grows the life of the parish, of its members and apostolates,” said Father Planty.
Small group leader Julia Pipan said the groups are more than just a social opportunity.
“Several of the women in my group have confided in me that our Bible study is the only community of faith that they have,” she said. The Washington area “can be such a transient area for people that enduring connection is hard to find. “I’m grateful to be able to provide an outlet of Christ-led fellowship for young ladies in our area.”
