Why Evangelization Stalls

‍burningheartsdisciples.org

Dear,  ‍

I once sat in a parish leadership meeting where everyone agreed something needed to change.

Mass attendance was declining. Young families weren’t staying. The energy felt flat.

Then someone asked, “So what would we actually stop doing?” 

The room went silent. 

Most evangelization doesn’t stall because leaders don’t care.  It stalls because letting go is costly.

If you've been in that room, I wrote more about it here:  Why Mission Stalls (And What Lent Reveals)

We say we want renewal. But we also want stability.

We say we want mission. But we hesitate to let structures, roles, or expectations actually die.

Lent has a way of pressing on that. 

It exposes where we are gripping something familiar. Where we are defensive instead of curious. Where we want growth without surrender.

Before new strategies, there is repentance. Before movement, there is letting go.

Before we change anything structurally, we have to see clearly what we're protecting.  

That's why the Examination of Conscience for Evangelizers exists.  It puts words to the interior resistance that rarely surfaces in meetings.  

Lent is a good time to ask what we're unwilling to lose.

Peace, 

‍Kristin Bird

Executive Director