Some of you have heard me speak of Mission Ignite, which is The Mark 5:19 Project’s 10 month consulting process to becoming an evangelizing parish. I’ve had a couple of people who do this work ask, why 10 months? Why not a year? Or 2 to 3 years, as certain strategic planning processes will do? I’ve had other people ask: wouldn’t it be better to do it spaced out, in spurts? Maybe one short piece of consulting at a time (say, for three months on, three months break, three months on)? And others say, let’s just do a weekend retreat and we’ll be off to the races?
While there are all kinds of ways to do this work–there is a deliberate logic behind the 10 months. A 10 month process allows the parish to be thorough in its assessment, in its discernment and in its implementation towards evangelization, which builds confidence. And 10 months is short enough that we can work with the law of momentum…by the time we have properly discerned, there is energy to act. Let’s break down the 10 month advantage.
It’s just long enough to thoroughly convince everyone of the path forward. It’s definitely true that things that are worthwhile take time, but what the 10 month process does for parishes is it allows them the opportunity to convince themselves that the path they choose is the one worth following. It means something to look at the mission field, the resources available and the people who are at hand and determine: this path is open to us, this other path is not, this particular path is a stretch but may be good to work toward. Then to take those realities to prayer and lift them up to the Lord, spending time together as parish leadership, listening to the Holy Spirit for a proper discernment. By the end of 10 months, the team involved should be completely convinced–and frankly, excited–about their next step forward, and knowing how to do it well: and how to assess what’s going wrong, and what’s going right.
10 months maximizes initial energy. Another reason to create a 10 month process has to do with just the reality of human limitations, aka “losing steam.” It’s very common to have a lot of excitement around a new initiative, especially an initiative that promises that things will get better. But if anybody here has been involved in strategic planning, you know what I’m going to say next: strategic planning tends to go long. It’s understandable that people want to be thorough and they want to do it right. But there’s a certain point where good is good enough, and you lose something by going for the perfect. If you understand well enough where you need to go, then the time to act on that is as soon as possible. Gives people the assurance that the steam will still be there when they implement their evangelization plan. And that’s necessary, because anytime that you do something for the first time, it does take a lift. It takes a little burst of energy, but if you get to the end of your process and you’re frankly burned out and tired, there’s no energy left for implementation …even if you are utterly convinced that it is the right thing to do. 10 months is the sweet spot that allows for solid assessment, discernment and planning, with energy still on board for implementation.
It promises action on a short horizon. The final argument for a 10 month timeframe is that it promises necessary and hopeful action in less than a year. People who are paying attention in their parishes know that something needs to be done, and something needs to be done quickly. Most people in the parish are into action, not theory. You use that to great advantage when you promise them “we are going to move in this direction, concretely, in one year–and we will need you to help.” That gives the people who are chomping at the bit to ACT a promise, a hope, and a timeline–that they are going to be needed, and to get ready.
But…
Some people could say, what if we need more time?
Well, life happens, and if there is a crisis or tragedy, it is possible that a parish will need more time. For example, the pastor suddenly dies, or a genuine travesty befalls the community. Maybe 10 months is not quite enough in those cases. But extensions should not be the norm.
In 10 months you can do focused, nose-to-the-grindstone assessment and discernment and implementation planning. If it takes you longer than that, then you won’t focus on this. It’s easier to do this work all at once than it is to spread it out over five to 10 years: the condensed timeframe and forced focus is your friend. And it’s not like after these first 10 months that you’re not going to have the opportunity to go back and revisit what is working and what isn’t–you absolutely will, and should. It’s built into the process. There’s an expectation to assess in a year. But you begin acting, moving and making a change when you say we’re going to hit the ground running in one year.
That is what I love about Mission Ignite.
It gives people the opportunity to really act on the hope that Jesus Christ gives us that parishes can be the sacred lighthouse in their community, and it doesn’t need to take long. It involves building on what is already going well, filling in what is missing, and setting an expectation for sharing the goodness that God has given us with the entire town. There’s a confidence that comes with this depth of discernment.
While it may not be easy, it’s much easier on the soul than sitting and watching things go badly and knowing parish life could be better.
Bonus advantage. One last thing, less about time and more about who gets involved…the bonus of this process is that it really reignites the baptismal leadership within the parish, beyond the pastor and staff.
Mind you, the pastor has important canonical leadership of the parish, and indeed is the parish’s spiritual father. But he was never meant to do it alone, and he was never meant to do it with just staff either. Leading others to Christ is the work of all the baptized. They carry the Word of God and the hope of Christ into the places where they live, their families, their workplaces, their towns. At the end of Mission Ignite, there is a team of people who recognize in a fresh way that their baptism called them to make a difference in their localities and to carry the light of Christ into all manners of darkness.
Building up lay leaders to sacralize the world, beginning with those closest to them, is more than a side benefit of Mission Ignite. It’s the point… and it looks like a healthy, evangelizing parish.
If your parish is interested in engaging with Mission Ignite, please contact The Mark 5:19 Project for a no pressure conversation to learn more and see if the process is a good fit for your parish. We have cohorts starting twice a year.
