Archbishop calls for renewed focus on evangelism

Expect evangelism to be the talk of the Archdiocese of Vancouver for the foreseeable future.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller is making it his mission to spread the Gospel across the Lower Mainland in an intentional way and is counting on thousands of parishioners to get on board.

“It was from the upper room in Jerusalem, that first Pentecost, that the apostles, with Mary and other men and women disciples, were filled with the Holy Spirit and sent out ‘to make disciples of all nations,’” he told more than 800 supporters and donors at the Archbishop’s Dinner Oct. 22.

“That day a movement was launched which has changed the face of the earth.”

Now is the time, he said, to embrace that enthusiasm anew. It starts with Upper Room, a conference Oct. 26 named after the birthplace of Pentecost and aimed at encouraging and training 1,000 local Catholics to talk about their faith and share it with others. Tickets were sold out two weeks in advance.

That conference is set to mark the launch of the Proclaim Movement, designed to empower Catholics to talk about God with their families, friends, co-workers, and neighbours and accompanied by new events, podcasts, and various digital resources.

“This is precisely the time to be bold and audacious,” said Archbishop Miller. “Let’s pray that the fire kindled in our Upper Room will become a roaring blaze in the parishes and communities throughout the Lower Mainland.”

Archbishop Miller made the remarks during his annual “state of the archdiocese” address, held at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

He also shared other highlights from around the archdiocese that show while the conference may fan the flames, some communities are already providing heat and kindling.

For example, the growing congregation at St. Paul’s Church in Richmond was getting so cramped, it built a new church this summer with a seating capacity just shy of 1,000. The number of Korean Catholics in the Tri-Cities area was also expanding so rapidly in recent years that Archbishop Miller established an independent parish for them in 2017.

Last year 15 parishes welcomed 1,100 guests to Alpha – a series of free meals, videos, and conversations about life and faith for people exploring Christianity. Discover Discipleship, a faith study series for Catholics, engaged another 500 participants at 14 parishes in conversations about faith.

In the last two years, the number of Catholic schools in the archdiocese has grown by two, thanks to the 2018 opening of the St. John Paul II Academy in Surrey and an agreement signed this week that officially recognized 28-year-old Traditional Learning Academy in Coquitlam as a Catholic school.

Existing Catholic schools are also expanding. St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Secondary opened its $25-million-dollar school rebuild this September, Vancouver College is close to completing construction on their elementary school, and Corpus Christi Parish will break ground on a double-stream school in January.

Moving to higher education, 20-year-old Corpus Christi College had 900 students enrolled in faith-based programs this year, up from nine on opening day in 1999.

Archbishop Miller also highlighted the launch of a new marriage mentorship program this year, aimed at helping Catholic newlyweds connect to their parishes and communities in a more meaningful way.

But the push for evangelism does have a few challenges to overcome.

The numbers of baptisms, first Communions, and confirmations in the Lower Mainland have not changed significantly in recent years and the number of children in the Parish Religious Education Program has dropped by 1,500 in the last seven years.

The clerical abuse crisis has cast a shadow on the Catholic Church as well, though Archbishop Miller announced at the dinner he will publicly reveal a list of recommendations and an implementation strategy in the spirit of transparency and a desire to prevent future abuse.

He ended his speech with a call for donations to a new Health Care Ethics Fund, an initiative aimed at offering ethics training to health care workers in partnership with St. Mark's College and Providence Health Care.

“In every medical and care facility, our Catholic families face [difficult] situations and decisions every day, and it’s not getting easier. Now more than ever we need our faith to illuminate the way,” said Brett Powell, the archbishop’s delegate for development and ministries.

The dinner’s fundraising goal was $400,000 for the Health Care Ethics Fund. The total amount raised was not available at press time.

The annual Archbishop’s Dinner supports a different cause each year and regularly sells out over 800 tickets.