Want more information?
Fr. Dwight Longenecker
Chaplain of
St. Joseph’s Catholic School
Father Longenecker’s Website
864.234.9009, ext. 114 or 864.679.4118
Send E-mail »
Page Download(s)
file size: 320KB
Center for Evangelical Catholicism
Vision
June 2005
By their Baptism, all Catholics are called to become followers of Jesus Christ. Becoming Christ-followers is not merely a matter of obeying a set of rules or believing a system of doctrines. Discipleship, rather, is a Way of Life in which Jesus Christ transforms every dimension of our lives by His Gospel.
Through this grace-filled process of spiritual transformation, we become Evangelical Catholics who are Christian disciples by conviction rather than just Church members by convention. Being an Evangelical Catholic involves knowing the Gospel, believing the Gospel, living the Gospel, and sharing the Gospel with others. Having experienced the freedom and the joy of being transformed by the Gospel, Evangelical Catholics pursue an intensive, intentional and radical living out of their Baptismal promises in communion with Jesus Christ and His Church.
In order to help all the men and women of St. Mary’s Church in Greenville , South Carolina become Evangelical Catholics, we have established the St. Mary’s Center for Evangelical Catholicism. The Center exists to evangelize, establish and equip adult Christian disciples for their Baptismal vocations in the world.
The Center is housed within St. Mary’s Church under the guidance of the pastor, Father Jay Scott Newman. Directed by David Tiede Hottinger , the Center accomplishes its vision through the active involvement of lay leaders who are passionately committed to helping the parishioners of St. Mary’s become more like Jesus Christ — one day, one step at a time.
The St. Mary’s Center for Evangelical Catholicism
- Evangelizes adults by providing them opportunities to experience transformation in Christ through encounters with the Word of God, the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the lives of Christ-centered, faithful disciples.
- Establishes Evangelical Catholic disciples in Christ-like maturity and holiness of life by teaching them all that Christ commanded within an intentional network of spiritual friendships, small groups, study cells, and communities of care.
- Equips Evangelical Catholic disciples to participate in the Church’s apostolic mission by helping them to discern and live their unique vocation to be lay apostles in the world.
The goal of adult formation at St. Mary’s Church is to help adult Seekers to become Evangelical Catholic Disciples of Jesus Christ and to help prepare Disciples to carry Jesus Christ into the world as lay Apostles. The Center has been created as an entity within St. Mary’s Church to help our large parish to prioritize and streamline the work of evangelizing, establishing, and equipping mature seekers, disciples, and apostles.
What the St. Mary’s Center for Evangelical Catholicism Is
- A service to all St. Mary’s parishioners who want to live more intentionally as disciples of Jesus Christ.
- An "outside-of- the-box" response to the pressing spiritual needs of our parish and the mandate of Jesus’ Great Commission to His Church. We know of no similar initiative in any Catholic parish in the United States .
- An in-house resource that will serve the lay leaders, staff, and clergy of St. Mary’s by providing them with ideas, materials, training, consultation, coaching, and education.
- A means to keep the leadership of St. Mary’s focused on the Great Commission and the need to form adults to live the apostolic mission given to them in their Baptism.
- An entity that will someday be able to help share the fruit that is being born at St. Mary’s with other Catholic parishes and institutions who are looking for models and resources.