“Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you…”
—Mark 5:19
Are you ready to create a thriving, apostolic parish?
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How will you begin?
Your questions, answered.
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Why Mark 5:19?
Mark 5:19 is the first evangelization commission that Jesus gave in the gospel of Mark, to the healed Gerasene Demoniac–who wanted to follow Jesus and stay with him. Jesus said no…instead, “Go back to your own people and tell them what the Lord in his mercy has done for you.” This nameless man immediately goes to the Decapolis and tells all these people (pagans, by the way)—shocked to see him in his right mind—that “there was this man, Jesus of Nazareth, he came and healed me through the power of God!”
Mark 5:19 is the first commission meant for all of us, not necessarily because we have been demonized as this man was, but because we have all received the Lord’s mercy in concrete ways, and we are called to share that truth with our own people (pagans or not). It is the parish commission to witness to the mercy of Jesus Christ and tell them, come and see. This is the root of parish evangelization, especially in a broken, wounded world.
What makes The Mark 5:19 Project different?
There are many fine evangelization processes, programs, systems, and speakers. More than any other time in American history! What there is need of is discernment and planning for the big picture mission of your parish. We operate by these truths:
- Evangelization is most effective locally. That means families, and parishes, are best able to share the good news in a way that converts the human soul.
- Evangelization needs to be modeled and needs training. This is new to 21st century American Catholics but part of our tradition. We can do this: we need intentionality, support, and nerve.
- Evangelization is an act of love. We have the best news on earth that can save the wounded in our midst. Sharing it with sensitive conviction is an act of love.
- Our mission field demands apostolic parishes. Assessing the particular mission field of the parish is key to an effective mission.
- We have ways to get your entire parish on board. Really? Really. And this is key to your success as torch bearers and messengers of hope.
- We focus on helping you prayerfully discern which evangelization model is right for your mission field. God knows what you need. We’re here to help with that critical discernment.
- We believe God is working through the Eucharistic Revival and the year of missionary sending (starting June 2024) is where parish life will change–if we allow it.
- Finally, we have experience and expertise to focus on some mission fields others do not address: rural churches, “clusters,” working with people with disabilities, joining the evangelic mission and the social mission, working through bankruptcy, and more.
Who is behind this?
We pray the Holy Spirit! But the executive director of this apostolate is Susan Windley-Daoust, Ph.D.
Susan Windley-Daoust serves pastors and the baptized by helping them discern what it means to live according to God’s mission in a secular world. After 22 years as a college and graduate level professor of theology, she received a call to promote evangelization in a world that desperately needs good news. She is an experienced theologian, teacher, facilitator, data analyst, and spiritual director. For six years, she was the inaugural Director of Missionary Discipleship for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (MN), where she focused on speaking with people all over a diverse diocese on evangelization. She is the author of The Four Ways Forward: Becoming an Apostolic Parish in a Post-Christian World (2023 Catholic Media Book Awards Honorable Mention, and Association of Catholic Publishers Finalist), 101 Ways to Evangelize, and four other books. She is married to Jerry, they parent five children, and she likes hiking and live music. More on Susan below.