Here are some of the sights and sounds of the Diocese of Lansing’s recent Made for Mission Conference which brought together over 800 clergy, religious, parish staff, teachers and other lay faithful from across the diocese in order to pray, listen and discuss the next steps in the diocesan Realign Resources for Mission process.
“The goal of Made for Mission is to get the whole diocese on board with breaking out of a ‘maintenance mindset’ and actually flowing into a ‘mission mindset’ and then, once we get thoe people into the pews, helping them to grow in that relationship with Jesus,” said Father Jim Rolph, co-host of the one-day conference which took place February 24 in Howell.
The Realign Resources for Mission process was set in train by Bishop Earl Boyea in 2019. He charged a 14-member committee with the task of reviewing how the Diocese of Lansing can use its present resources to better evangelize the 1.8 million people who live within the bounds of the diocese.
After two years of prayer and study, the committee identified 24 parish groupings across the Diocese of Lansing where, they believed, greater co-operation between the parish communities could yield greater growth in both holiness and apostolate within each area.
So far, Bishop Boyea has given the go-ahead for eight of these parish groupings to proceed with implementing the Realign Resources for Mission vision in their particular area.
Hosting the Made for Mission event alongside Father Rolph was Craig Pohl, Director of New Evangelization for the Diocese of Lansing. Proceedings began with Craig giving an overview of the recent history of the Diocese of Lansing leading up to Realign Resources for Mission.
He was followed by Bishop Earl Boyea who outlined his own thoughts prior to engaging in a question and answer session with Father Joe Krupp, Pastor of Holy Family in Grand Blanc and Saint Mark in Goodrich. Bishop Boyea then took questions from the floor.
Deb Amato of the Office of Implementation for Realign Resources for Mission then gave an update on the latest developments regarding the roll-out of process across the diocese.
The business part of the day was rounded off with a talk given by the popular Catholic speaker and writer, Pete Burak, of Renewal Ministries. Fittingly, the one-day conference concluded with Holy Mass with Bishop Boyea as principal celebrant and homilist.
To find out more about Realign Resources for Mission go to: https://www.dioceseoflansing.org/office-bishop/realign-resources-mission-latest-news