DIVINE RENOVATION AT EPIPHANY:THE NEXT 150 YEARS
The Church of the Epiphany has had a long and proud history of over 150 years. It was founded in 1868 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2018. At times it has been a dynamic spiritual, social, and missionary presence in our Gramercy neighborhood. It has served thousands of good people and their families, and we are grateful to stand on the shoulders of wonderful parishioners, clergy, nuns, and teachers who made Epiphany a point of light for so many.
AFTER OUR 150th ANNIVERSARY: THE NEXT CHAPTER
As Epiphany began its next chapter in 2018, we considered how we might make that journey together. We sought to become a welcoming church, inviting women and men, young and old, rich and poor, people of all races and sexual orientation to worship with us as we seek a deeper relationship with Jesus, and to serve our sisters and brothers with love. We believed that the Holy Spirit was inviting our church to grow, and we wished to cooperate in that effort.
We recognized that many were angry and suffering, disenchanted and despairing from the abuses and of the Church and its leaders. We recognized culpability and embrace justice for those injured, even as we strive for greater holiness, humility and sanctity.
We believed in God’s ongoing presence and revelation in our world, and with Pope Francis, we sought to discern God’s will in our lives and for us all.
We chose to commit ourselves to one another in worship and prayer, in fellowship, to serve our sisters and brothers everywhere with compassion, and to be good stewards of our church through ministry and financial means.
To move our church in those directions, we subscribed to the vision of Fr James Mallon, author of Divine Renovation: From Maintenance to Mission, that we are called to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus as his disciples and to share our faith as his apostles.
Why Divine Renovation: THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH
As in every age, the Church is called to continually re-examine the “signs of the times” to discern the needs of our people today and how we can best live out the mission that Christ has given to us in light of the concrete, present realities of our place and time. In addition to considering how the call to renewal will relate to the concrete demographic and socio-economic factors of our local Church, another pressing dimension to consider is the wider shift in how people relate to the Church and to their faith. National studies show that Catholics today are disengaging from their faith at an alarming rate. For those who remain, studies before the pandemic showed that only 23% of Catholics attend Mass regularly; about half (49.5%) go to Mass at least once a month. Sadly, this trend has accelerated over the years. Even if we look at the relatively recent past, 35% fewer people attended Mass regularly in 2019 than in 2000.
CHALLENGING STATISTICS
We do not need official statistics to tell us this; even before the pandemic, each Sunday we saw increasingly empty pews in churches that once were full of Sunday worshippers. This is not just a temporary downturn. 36% of today’s 24- to 39-year olds (the generation known as the “Millennials”) claim to have no formal religious affiliation, comprising a group sociologists call “the Nones.” Among the Millennials who do identify as Catholic, only 17% attend Mass weekly. This disengagement from the Church is set to continue with the generation that is currently aged 9 to 23 (the generation known as “Generation Z”), as studies have found that 85% of today’s eighth graders will stop practicing their faith by the time they reach the age of 23.
SPIRITUAL CRISIS
As we consider these trends, our concern lies not only with what statistics tell us or what people report on surveys, but with what those trends reflect in the spiritual lives of our people. As Catholics, we know that the practice of our faith flows from the heart of our relationship with Jesus Christ and renews it at its core. Apart from Christ and his Church, our spiritual lives wither (Jn 15).
So, it should be no surprise that along with declining Mass attendance, people are reporting a decline in their relationship with God. Recent studies have shown that many Catholics report that they do not know who God is and do not have a meaningful relationship with him. Studies also show that people have doubts about certain core aspects of our Faith, such as belief in the Eucharist. Again, what is most concerning about these figures is the spiritual void they reveal as people disconnect from the foundations of their faith and grow distant from God and his Church.
These trends are not only local; they reflect profound social changes occurring on a global level. As Pope John Paul II observed, “Even in countries evangelized many centuries ago, the reality of a ‘Christian society’ which…measured itself explicitly on Gospel values, is now gone.” The age we live in today is characterized by secularism, consumerism, indifference to religion and a general distancing of life from faith. The root causes of these social-historical movements are multifaceted and complex, and so it is not easy to pinpoint simple causes of these trends without deeper socio-cultural analysis. Nevertheless, it is clear that there has been a fundamental “change of age”—as bishops of Latin America have identified it. We are witnessing a loss of the cultural elements that once supported institutional religion and the regular practice of the faith, such as the bonds of family and cultural background and a society that reverenced the place of Sunday worship.
BECOMING A MISSIONARY CHURCH
Rather than retreat from the world, this is a time for the Church to increase its mission in the world. We have now entered what is being identified as a “New Missionary Age” where, despite numerous challenges, “the horizons of a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel” are opening before us, as Pope John Paul II stated. In response, the Church must approach her mission in traditionally Christian spaces with a “renewed missionary impulse, an expression of a new, generous openness to the gift of grace” that invites people to encounter Jesus Christ and to become his disciple. In this era of missionary outreach, as Pope Francis teaches us, we are called to be a “Church which goes forth”—“forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel.”
As we undertake this work of renewal, we are reminded of the account of how St. Francis of Assisi received his calling to work for the renewal of the Church. As St. Francis was praying before the crucifix in the dilapidated Church of San Damiano, near Assisi, he heard Christ speak to him from the Cross, saying, “Go, repair my house.” At first, St. Francis took the message literally. So he started rebuilding the physical building around him, brickby-brick. However, soon he understood that Christ was calling him not to reconstruct a material structure, but to renew the Church itself. This account, and the image of that crucifix, have been a guiding light for us in this time of renewal. Just as the crucified Christ gave St. Francis the mandate to renew the Church, we pray that Christ will inspire us to have the discernment necessary to know what we need to rebuild and what needs to be made anew in service of renewing his Church.
WHAT WE MUST DO IN THE CHURCH, AND AT EPIPHANY: BECOME A DISCIPLE, A LEARNER
The first mission imperative is to make disciples—that is, to carry out in our time the Great Commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). While Christ gave this mission to his disciples at the end of the Gospel, the call to invite others into discipleship was also present from the beginning; the first apostle, Andrew, no sooner heard Jesus’ call to discipleship than he immediately found his brother, Peter, and “brought him to Jesus” . Indeed, those who encounter Christ naturally desire to share that encounter with others.
First, we are made disciples. Disciple means “learner”. To be a disciple means to be one who is always seeking to learn more from the master. A disciple of Jesus is someone who recognizes that to know Jesus is a task that lasts a lifetime; you can never reach ‘the bottom of the well’ in your relationship with Jesus. But before we can invite anyone to encounter him, we ourselves must have truly begun the journey of encountering him; it is only within a profound and ongoing encounter with Christ that we can ask what the right methods are for bringing others to him. Likewise, before we can share him with others, we must have received his Word ourselves.
Second, as Christ makes us his disciples, he works through us, to continue making disciples of all people, “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) This is not an optional addition to our Christian calling, as Pope Francis teaches: “every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries,’ but rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples,’” and “in virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples.”
DECISION TO CHANGE
At Epiphany, we knew that we could no longer simply ‘maintain’ the existing institutional aspects of our faith; we felt called by the Holy Spirit towards a missionary transformation marked with vitality and hope. In addition, we recognized that we could no longer rely on a ‘clerical’ model of church, where all decision-making is entrusted exclusively to ordained clergy. The mission that is given to us by Jesus needs to be shared by every baptized member of our family.
We also recognized that true parish vitality requires intentional prayer, well-prepared pastoral leadership, a commitment to engage and commission parish leaders and parishioners, and most importantly, a strong willingness by all to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the work of renewing our parish. Moreover, we recognized that sustained renewal requires healthy structures that support a culture of spiritual growth and evangelization. In an exploration of parish vitality throughout the world, we discovered five core elements that seed parish renewal : joyful proclamation of our faith in Jesus the Christ; radical hospitalit;, vibrant and transformative liturgies; readiness-based formation; and outward-reaching pastoral care. To that end, Epiphany began its own transformation, beginning in 2019, with three goals:
1 to bring parishioners to a personal relationship with Christ
2 to create disciples who will grow in their faith
3 to transform Epiphany into a missionary parish
A NEW EPIPHANY
Church of the Epiphany has organized itself on the Divine Renovation model as proposed by Fr James Mallon, focusing on five areas of renewal: Discipleship, Evangelization, Worship, Ministry, and Fellowship.
The first steps of Epiphany’s renewal included creation of an institutional structure including:
The Pastoral Council (PC) whose task is to define and map out a long-term strategy for the Parish, and set priorities within this new model. A subcommittee of the PC provides essential focus on Stewardship:
The Stewardship Team (ST), which envisions, encourages and invites parishioners to offer their time, talents and treasure as missionary disciples.
The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) which is responsible for implementing the strategies defined by the PC, and to make the day to day management of the parish really workable.
Every member of the SLT serves as a Facilitator for ministries in one of Epiphany’s 5 Church Systems (Discipleship, Evangelization, Ministry, Worship and Fellowship), providing support, encouragement and direction for ministry coordinators and participants.
The Finance Council who helps guide our finances and align our expenditures towards our vision.
The Staff Team (including Pastor and Associates, Communication Director, Director of Faith Formation and Mission, and others) which supports our sacramental and growing missionary activities and life in the parish.
ALPHA
We have enthusiastically embraced the pastoral tool of the Alpha Course, encouraging all new and veteran parishioners to participate. It is an 11 week course that is intended to ground each participant in a new, deeper discipleship relationship with Jesus. It is also a wonderful instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to create fellowship and service leadership within the church family.
