Does Your Parish have a Clear Path of Discipleship?

By Andy Dejka, Office of Evangelization and Catechesis

In July of 2018, the world watched as 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for 18 days in a cave in Thailand. Their dramatic rescue was an incredible display of coordination and disciplined leadership that required 10,000 rescuers to adopt a common strategy. With lives hanging in the balance, and the urgency of the mission clear, the team leader responded to the challenge with bold, decisive action – every boy survived.

In the same way, the work of the parish is a rescue operation for the salvation of souls. Is our sense of mission clear and urgent? Are our ministries coordinated around a common strategy to make disciples? Do we act with bold and decisive leadership?

For your parish to fulfill its mission, you need a clear path of discipleship – a simple, strategic, and synchronized process for helping every person reach full maturity in Christ:

1. Simple

People need clarity to step forward confidently. When parishes are over-programmed (advertising a multitude of options for spiritual growth), they can inadvertently prevent people from making a decision. With so many choices, a person wonders: Where do I begin? This phenomenon is called “decision paralysis”, and it suggests there is an inverse correlation between the number of choices and the likelihood of taking action.

By contrast, a discipleship pathway outlines a simple process of growth with only a few steps. It extends a clear invitation and makes it easy for people to commit.

2. Strategic

The purpose of the Church is to make saints (CCC, 824) – so, all parish activity should in some way strategically advance that purpose by enabling people to grow in holiness. Individual members of the parish community, at every level, should be trained to meet people where they are and accompany them deeper into the love of Christ. In other words, we need to think in terms of steps and movement. This means that every program or parish initiative should lead somewhere and help people move along the path of discipleship. To orient us in that movement, the Church lays out the “process of evangelization” (General Directory for Catechesis, 276), which lists the stages of spiritual growth and allows us to respond as effective guides along the way.

A discipleship pathway answers the strategic question: How does my parish accompany individuals through the stages of spiritual growth?

3. Synchronized

Because God desires that we should “not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16), all parish programs should collaborate to help people grow in the life of Christ. This requires coordination and detachment on the part of parish leaders. Silos, turf wars, and competition for volunteers are major obstacles that can disrupt a discipleship pathway and inhibit spiritual progress. Instead, shared responsibility for the overarching process of evangelization unites leaders in the common mission of making missionary disciples.

A discipleship pathway prioritizes (1) people, (2) process, (3) programs. When your programs serve your process, and your process serves your people, then your people become who God made them to be.

Reflection Questions:

• How are the ministries you are involved with contributing to the mission of the Church?
• Where do you see opportunities for ministries to collaborate in making disciples?
• What would it take for your parish to build a clear path of discipleship?