September 4, 2024

By Mary Beth Bracy, consecrated virgin
Contributing Writer

On August 23, 164 faithful from around our diocese – including priests, consecrated and laity – gathered at St. Agnes’ Church and School in Lake Placid for the sold out “Unlocked” event. The all-day gathering consisted of talks, small group discussions, breakout sessions, and special times of prayer, including Mass celebrated by Bishop Terry R. LaValley. Father John R. Yonkovig, pastor of St. Agnes, co-hosted the event with the help of Gin Shaw, St. Agnes’ Parish Renewal director, and in collaboration with Father Mark R. Reilly, pastor of St. Peter’s in Massena, and Marika Donders, director of Evangelization for our diocese.

Father Yonkovig welcomed attendants, offered the opening prayer and gave the homily at Mass.

“The mark is engagement, commitment, fire and passion,” he said. “That is what needs to be unlocked, the power of the Holy Spirit… You and I are the hope that runs through the life of our Church because of Divine Renovation and Alpha. The noise is rattling, it is unfolding . . . You and I are love’s only hope in this world. With God all things are possible.”

Shaw reflected on the need for Divine Renovation and Alpha.

“You have most likely heard of a movement of Divine Renovation (DR) that is producing amazing fruit in Catholic churches in the U.S. and worldwide,” she said. “In 2014, Father James Mallon authored the book ‘Divine Renovation: Bringing your parish from maintenance to mission,’ and in 2017 he and his team from Saint Benedict Parish in Halifax, Canada formed Divine Renovation Ministries: a global, Catholic, donor funded ministry dedicated to parish renewal. Over just the last six years, 3,795 priests have connected with DR, 21,000 lay leaders who have been equipped for parish renewal and close to 5,000 parishes began using the DR model to bring parishes from maintenance to mission – the mission of our Church, which is to ‘Go therefore and make disciples.’ ”

In his remarks, Father Reilly related that “The culture props and societal supports for so much that the Church has done are no longer there.” When he read the “Divine Renovation” book around 2016 he started looking hard at making changes. His leadership team launched Alpha, a program that invites the “unchurched” for a meal, a video and a discussion around Christian themes. “I don’t want to be managing decline,” Father Reilly stressed. “We need to go on the offense and turn things around.” He has seen “hope, people that have come alive — beautiful, holy surprises. It really is bearing fruit.”

“In fact, entire (arch)dioceses have adopted the model and are seeing their parishes come alive,” said Shaw. “The DR Ministries’ logo shows a circular keychain that symbolizes the Eucharist – the source and summit of our faith, as well as the three keys – described as the three keys to Unlocking Your Parish, which are: The Power of the Holy Spirit, The Primacy of Evangelization, and The Best of Leadership. With those three keys in mind, Father Mark Reilly of St. Peter’s parish in Massena and Father John Yonkovig, my pastor at St. Agnes parish in Lake Placid are leading teams of lay people in the process of renewal. I was able to attend the DR global conference in Texas in 2022 and it equipped me to assist Father John in his efforts.”

“Our first step was to bring back our Holy Hour,” Shaw noted. “We needed to get everyone praying and fully reliant on the Holy Spirit. Our next step was to choose an evangelization tool, and our choice was Alpha. Father Mallon mentions Alpha over two dozen times in his book and believes it to be the best program for bringing people into relationship with Jesus. With that high recommendation, we started our first trial Alpha in the fall of 2022 and are now completing our 5th Alpha course this month.”

Alpha is for everyone, elaborated Shaw. “It is a great introduction to faith, or a way to take a deeper dive into one’s personal relationship with Jesus. Alpha is an experience of the Holy Spirit and through friendship with Jesus ignites an awareness of God’s love for and in each participant. We have witnessed the incredible power of the Holy Spirit in transforming the lives of every single one of the nearly 150 people that have taken our Alpha course over the past two years. Father Mark’s parish, who started the DR renewal process years ago, has just completed their 14th Alpha course and have witnessed those transformations as well.”

Kurt Klement, United States Director of Divine Renovation, brought a wealth of experience with him in parish ministry and evangelization from Dallas, Texas.

“I was impressed by the collaboration and openness within your diocese,” Klement said. “That has been very encouraging. Sometimes people aren’t as open as they are here. To have 20 priests willing to attend is a great response.”

Father Reilly echoed his enthusiasm.

“I was thrilled with the turnout,” he said. “The ceiling for the number of people who could attend was expanded. Gin and her husband handled the logistics. It left me really encouraged. I am praying that it bears good fruit.”

Three breakout sessions were offered on Alpha, Hospitality and Forming Leaders. In one of the sessions, Deacon James Crowley, chancellor of our diocese, and Sylvie Marion, business manager of St. Peter’s Parish, talked about the components of Alpha and how to begin it in parishes. The 15 sessions focus on themes from “Is there more to life than this?” to “How can I make the most of the rest of my life?” to “What about the Church?” The meetings consist of connecting with others over a homemade dinner, watching 20- to 30-minute videos, and discussing the video in small groups.

Millions of people have participated in Alpha. Three parishes in our diocese (St. Peter’s in Massena; St. Agnes in Lake Placid; and St. Mary’s in Ogdensburg) are currently offering Alpha, and they are testifying to the number of conversions that are occurring. A few lay people spoke about how it reignited their prayer life, and how they were inspired to assist others in the community.

Angie Glendinning, a Divine Renovation regional leader from Concord, New Hampshire, explained how she became involved. Her parish leadership team realized that “What we’re doing is not working, we need to change what we’re doing.” She shared sobering statistics about the marked decline in Mass attendance from 75% of Catholics in 1955 to 37% in 2019. Since the pandemic 29% of those who used to go to Mass each week no longer attend. Only 48% of Catholics believe they can have a personal relationship with Jesus and 31% believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Frustrated, Glendinning continued, she and other volunteers were spending a lot of time and energy doing faith formation and trying to tweak programs. “We only had isolated stories of success — people coming back to Church.” They visited St. Benedict Parish in Halifax, where Father Mallon had been pastor, and it “blew us away.” The volunteers there were filled with enthusiasm, knowledge, and empowerment.

“We need to check our motives and look at our methods,” she said. “The Church exists for people and not people for the Church.”

People are drawn to the beauty of the faith, the sacraments, and the challenge of the Gospel. Glendinning highlighted the success story of St. Willibrord’s Parish in Montreal. When their parish was dying, they had 30 people attending weekly Mass. After beginning the Divine Renovation program, within a few years the number of weekly Mass attendants increased to 150.

Presenters explained how recent popes emphasized the need for us to “get out of ourselves and go toward the periphery” (Pope Francis) because “the Church exists to evangelize” (Paul VI). Parishes begin by considering how to manage their discontent and dream about what is possible. Father Mallon encourages people to go before the Blessed Sacrament and write the goals down. Then, they crystalize their dream for the parish.

Klement added, “We are not just talking about a shift in strategy, it requires a conversion of heart. To know the love of the Father and experience grace, healing, and mercy. The Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost.”

Referring to Father Mallon’s book, he recalled that we are called to make disciples. Vatican II expressed the universal call of all the baptized to holiness, to mission, to go and evangelize. In his video, Father Mallon unpacked St. John Paul II’s statement that “evangelization is the cornerstone of all pastoral action, the demands of which are primary, pre-eminent and preferential.”

Divine Renovation offers parishes practical resources and help to revitalize their parishes. Presenters shared ten benefits of planting the flag of mission in parishes, ranging from improved hospitality and communication to conversions and the making of disciples. Their program helps equip and empower the laity for the work of ministry; it creates transformational leaders.

“I love the fire and passion it ignited in me,” Sarah Towler, cantor at St. Mary’s Church in Potsdam, said. “I am worried that I will forget and nothing will happen. The most powerful feeling all day was at the end [when attendants prayed in the Church for the Holy Spirit to come, sang songs of praise, and interceded for each other]. I wish there was more of that. I feel very blessed that my pastor [Father Joseph W. Giroux] invited me because it lighted a fire to worship and pray for each other. I am passionate to see the Holy Spirit do great things in my parish.”

“There should be miracles in our parishes every day,” Glendinning proclaimed. “We have to give our yes . . . Our mission exceeds our ability as human beings . . . Only the Holy Spirit has that power. He’s waiting for us to call upon Him and let Him act . . . The Holy Spirit is just as alive and well today in the Church as He was to the apostles at Pentecost. We need to rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit. He will give us the courage to give up control, conviction in the face of opposition, and trust in the value of the work, beyond ourselves.”

Shaw emphasized that the key is found in Father Mallon’s book, where he states that in pursuit of parish renewal, “We must know that it is possible. We must constantly see others who are doing it better than we are, or else we will stop being dissatisfied and become self-satisfied.”

“We sold out three weeks before the event,” Shaw added. “I’m hoping that those who couldn’t attend will pick up the book. I pray that the seeds take root and bear fruit.”

For more information, contact Gin Shaw (renewal@stagneslp.org) or Marika Donders (mdonders@rcdony.org), or visit divinerenovation.org.