Sept. 7, 2016

By Marika Donders
Diocesan director, Office of New Evangelization

Thanks to your generous support of the Bishops Fund, the Diocesan Office of the New Evangelization exists to assist parishes, groups and individuals to become aware of the need for evangelization and to assist every baptized Catholic to become a disciple who shares the faith with others. 

Following the document of the US Bishops, “Go and Make Disciples, a National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States,” the Office of the New Evangelization has three goals:
• To bring about in all Catholics such an enthusiasm for their faith that, in living their faith in Jesus, they freely share it with others;

• To invite all people, whatever their social or cultural background, to hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ so they may come to join us in the fullness of the Catholic faith;

• To foster gospel values in our society, promoting the dignity of the human person, the importance of the family, and the common good of our society, so that our nation may continue to be transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ.

To these ends, the Office of the New Evangelization offers workshops on parish evangelization and how to create parish evangelization teams and form intentional disciples who are eager share their own faith through stories and the witness of their encounter with Jesus. 

The office also suggests programs, books and other material for group study, prayer groups and individual enrichment.

The office also collaborates with other diocesan offices such as Formation for Ministry and Family Life with workshop such as the recent regional series on the World Meeting of Families or the upcoming Hospitality workshop in June of 2017.

With the idea that people cannot actively participate in events they do not know about, the Office of the New Evangelization also works to communicate the faith through social media and our new Diocesan newsletter eNotes. 

The office can also assist parishes with workshops on evangelization through social media.

For more information, how Office of New Evangelization can assist your parish, please contact Marika Donders at mdonders@rcdony.org or 315-393-2920 ext 1360 or see http://rcdony.org/evangelization.html.