Detroit — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron explained his goals and vision for the Archdiocese of Detroit’s evangelization initiative, emphasizing the crucial role parish members play in reinvigorating the very “DNA” of the archdiocese.

Speaking at an annual fall gathering for parish leaders Sept. 10 at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Archbishop Vigneron addressed the need to review, assess and transform how people interact with their parish. The focal point of this review will be the Amazing Parish Conference, which will take place right before Pentecost in the spring of 2016. The conference, the archbishop said, will be a gathering of representatives from parishes across the archdiocese, focusing on what changes need to be made at the parish level in order to embrace the New Evangelization.  “The evangelization initiative has to be the principal focus for all of us,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “The goal of this initiative is to transform our DNA. We have to go from maintenance to mission.”

The Amazing Parish Conference and other initiatives are building up to an archdiocesan synod in the fall of 2016, when Archbishop Vigneron will meet with ecclesiastical and lay leaders from parishes across the archdiocese to discuss the future of the Church in southeast Michigan. The synod is set to take place Nov. 18-20, 2016, right before the Feast of Christ the King and the culmination of the Jubilee of Mercy announced by Pope Francis. The archbishop said the evangelization initiative is in line with the Jubilee of Mercy, calling for Church leaders to be more forgiving and welcoming while presenting the Good News of the Gospel. “We need to pray and think about what gifts we have to offer and what we need to do,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “We decided a synod has a good structure for us, gathering leaders from parishes around the archdiocese. We’ll celebrate the synod (at the) close to the Year of Mercy with the Feast of Christ the King.” Archbishop Vigneron described the New Evangelization as part of the implementation of the Second Vatican Council and a review of how the Church operates in today’s world.

To extend the Church’s presence in today’s society, Archbishop Vigneron said it is critical the Church reaches back to its evangelizing roots, promoting a Church that is open, active and in which clergy and laypeople collaborate. Archbishop Vigneron said when he returned to the archdiocese in 2009, his primary focus was “cleaning house,” but now it’s about evangelizing and gathering disciples together in the Lord’s church. “We are inheritors of a Church principally constituted from immigration,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Our job was to welcome immigrants into this county, because a majority of the culture was Protestant.”

Archbishop Vigneron said the Church faces a similar challenge today, only instead it’s up against a secularized culture with no Christian roots from which to draw similarities. “The challenges will be great, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “We need to understand and discern: Why does God call us to come together, and what does he want us to do in communion?” In order to properly discern, Archbishop Vigneron said two important groups must be targeted in order to build for the future. “We must reach out to the sacramentalized but not evangelized, and we need to focus on you and me — the evangelizers — we need to continually meet Jesus,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Everything we do should be integrated by love. Pope Francis had declared this is a Year of Mercy, now is the time for us to share the good news.”

In his closing remarks, Archbishop Vigneron said the archdiocese’s overhaul will not stop with the synod in 2016, but will serve as a launching pad for the archdiocese as it starts a new chapter in the Catholic Church’s 314-year history in the Detroit area. “All of this review, all of these changes, is about fostering an emotional discipleship within the archdiocese,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “That is what’s needed in order for people to meet Jesus. What we need to do is review our resources, review ourselves and ask how the Holy Spirit is calling us to spread God’s mission.”