Our call to make disciples of all nations has its origin in the Great Commission our Lord bestowed upon the Eleven in the final moments before his Ascension. It is a call which has echoed and re-echoed down the centuries to every bishop, priest, deacon and member of the baptized. It is a call which needs to be rooted in each age and in the specific circumstances of each local Church.
Evangelization must be the driving focus of parish life and all of our structures must flow from this mission. With Families of Parishes, we seek to address this challenge, renew our parish structures and continue our transformation into a missionary archdiocese.
The structures we inherited for our parishes served us well in the past, but we know from Synod ’16 that parishes need to be realigned for mission. These new Families of Parishes will collaborate by sharing resources — including priests, deacons, and staffs across parish lines — to further advance the mission Christ has entrusted to his Church.