-
June 28, 2023
It's only been three weeks since we were together at Pastoral Study Days. It was such a joyous occassion to see everyone connecting or reconnecting with people from around our diocese. In addition to some wonderful time together, we were so inspired and uplifted by our keynote speaker, Julianne Stanz.
There is a lot to sift through from those two jam-packed days. Our plan is to unpack some of the great practical tools that Julianne shared with us over the summer through Good News Notes, starting with her "Big, Ugly Chart." In a follow-up conversation about the chart, Julianne and some members of the Pastoral Services team were talking about making the chart more beautiful, or aethetically pleasing. But then what would it be called?
The 4 Stages of a Christian's Journey (Julianne's Big, Ugly Chart)
There are many practical ways to use this chart as a ministry team. Here are a few for you to consider:
- Prayer - Pray intentionally for parishioners in each of these stages. Ask for their hearts to be open to grow in their journey though the process of becoming a missionary disciple. Invite the Holy Spirit, the prime evangelizer, to work through you and your team to accompany your community members as they grow.
- Annual Planning - If you haven't already, you will soon be looking at your calendars for next year and making plans. Have this chart handy at those meetings and use it to ensure that what you're planning and how you're planning on doing it is in line with the methodology.
- Long Term Planning - Invite your Family of Parishes Pastoral Council to review this and have a discussion about the needs of people in these different stages. If you are working on your pastoral plan, use the ideas and methodology to discern a comprehesive plan that accompanies people on the journey. Perhaps you may even discern that there is a particular stage you want to focus on for a period of time.
- Assessment - As you look back and review what you've done in ministry this year, and how you've done it, use these stages to help assess your work. Are your time and energy resources focused too much on one area? Can you think of people you can enourage as missionary disciples to take a leadership role in ministry?
The bottom line is, this is a handy reference chart to keep on hand. Some of the members of the Pastoral Services team have printed a copy to hang in our office as a reminder of the call to accompany people on their journey.
Want to hear Julianne talk about this again or share it with someone who couldn't be at Pastoral Study Days? She shared this resource and many others in a CCCB webinar series called Encounters of Hope, available here. You can also access Julianne's resources from Pastoral Study Days on our website.
