West Vancouver parish sees fruits of evangelization efforts

WEST VANCOUVER—One hundred people turned up for a weekly faith study at Christ the Redeemer Parish, a sign pastor Msgr. Gregory Smith believes shows local evangelization efforts are working.

“We have, for a long time, made the Alpha course a very important priority at our parish and we’ve had a number of successful Alphas every year: some bigger, some smaller,” Msgr. Smith told The B.C. Catholic.

“This year, we decided to go big or go home.” The parish sent invitations to every family in the parish boundaries, Catholic or not, to Mass on Christmas Day. At that Mass, and on several following occasions, the pastor talked about Alpha during his homily.

“As a result, we had the largest Alpha we ever had.” An estimated 160 people joined Alpha at the start, and after the first few weeks, three-quarters of them were coming back regularly.

“We’ve never had such a response,” said Msgr. Smith.

He decided to harness that energy. Once the weekly Alpha program had run its course, the parish offered Discovery, a six-week faith formation program by Catholic Christian Outreach. About 75 Alpha alumni signed up.

We've had a number of successful Alphas every year: some bigger, some smaller. This year, we decided to go big or go home.

“We hit a sweet spot with the combination of Alpha and Discovery being very flexible and meeting a number of needs,” he said.

The parish launched the Discovery program in August for all parish leaders, including lectors, parish and finance council members, and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.

“To have strong parish leadership, you need to have well-formed leaders, and the first aspect of their formation is their spiritual lives,” said the pastor.

Discovery group leader Nicole Bitelli said the focus is on encouraging people to grow their relationship with Jesus.

“There are the teachings of the Church and the rules and what you should do and shouldn’t do, which are important to know, but behind all of that, and what will drive a person to live their faith and love their faith, is that personal relationship with Jesus,” said Bitelli.

“That’s what we’re trying to pass on.” The parish’s faith study groups have an average of six members; Bitelli’s includes five ladies who meet over tea on Wednesday mornings.

“Talking about your faith and talking about Jesus is truly food for the soul,” she said. “It’s so easy to get distracted with the world and lose focus.”

Bitelli said once parish leaders have gone through the faith formation program, they will be equipped to run it themselves and reach out to the wider parish community.

“It’s such a dynamic parish, full of energy and good will,” she said. “I honestly think I have felt and seen, in the last year or two years, the Holy Spirit truly at work in our parish.”

Roy Gordon, chairman of the parish pastoral council, said about two or three Alpha participants join RCIA every time the program ends. The parish also encouraged all leaders to read Forming Intentional Disciples by popular Catholic speaker Sherry Weddell.

“What it really brought us to understand is the importance of starting closer to home, with what I call the retired Catholics,” or those who “come out of obligation, not out of wanting to or a sense of gratitude,” he said.

I honestly think I have felt and seen, in the last year or two years, the Holy Spirit truly at work in our parish.

All of this is in response to the priorities outlined by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, last year. He listed four goals for the archdiocese: Make Every Sunday Matter, Get Closer to Jesus, Strengthen Marriages and Families, and Develop Parish Leadership.

“In the case of the four archdiocesan priorities that were presented, we found that they corresponded to where our hearts were, where our earlier efforts had been, and where we wanted to go,” said Msgr. Smith. “We’re sailing along on the diocesan tide quite happily.”

The pastor already has plans to reach out to the community at large again next Christmas.

“We’re going to try to do a Christmas concert for the neighbours,” he said. “We’re focusing on two pillars: evangelizing beyond our building, and strengthening the people in our building.”