Resources

 

DOW-R Missionary Discipleship Webinars

• The Art of Invitation: How do you invite someone to Mass or to consider Christianity without feeling awkward? This practical presentation leaves you prepared and ready to invite. Share with your parish, small group, staff, more. 15 minutes.

• Encouraging someone to go to confession: . Is there someone Catholic in your life—family, friend, fellow parishioner—who hasn’t been to confession in a long time? One of the best things you can do for that person is invite him or her to receive God’s grace through sacramental reconciliation. This 15 minute video gives you tips on how to be a witness, a source of encouragement, and respond to common concerns.

Books for Individual or Parish Study

• The Four Ways Forward: Becoming an Apostolic Parish in a Post-Christian World, Susan Windley-Daoust. This book synthesizes the work in the New Evangelization up to the pandemic and creates a "how to" way forward, which breaks into four movements that will help parishes become apostolic and Great Commission oriented in a secular world. Priests and diocesan/parish employees can order 20% off copies of the book through OSV books at OSVCatholicBookstore.com for consumer/individual orders and on OrderOSV.com for parish/diocese orders. Please use the discount code FOURWAYS. The book is available here.

     Discussion questions for each chapter of the book are available here. The corresponding worksheet on assessing your             parish ministry and apostolates for evangelization is available for free here. 

• From Christendom to Apostolic Mission, Msgr. James Shea. This small book explores with clarity how Catholicism in the USA has moved from a prevailing Christian imaginative vision (what Msgr. James Shea calls Christendom) to a prevailing non-Christian imaginative vision (which demands apostolic mission). The Diocese of Sioux Falls, SD has created a set of discussion questions for each chapter for personal, parish, or small group use. With gratitude, we link to those questions for your use here.

     The book may be found here, both in English and Spanish.

• Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus, Sherry Weddell (click here).

     Study guide for sale here.

• Made for Mission: Renewing Your Parish Culture by Tim Glemkowski.

     The Office has multiple copies available at a deep discount; contact Susan Windley-Daoust. Or order here. 

• Becoming Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life, Tim O'Malley.

     This text is available in a case of 100 for 2.99 a book. Bulk purchases of this book can be ordered here. Created for parish         group studies in this National Eucharistic Revival. Dr. O’Malley is also our speaker for the June 2023 Ministry Days.

• 101 Ways to Evangelize. If you or your parish are looking for an idea book on how Catholics evangelize (and why), this PDF of the small book 101 Ways to Evangelize: Ideas for Helping Fearless, Fearful, and Flummoxed Catholics Share the Good News of Jesus Christ is available to people living within the Diocese of Winona-Rochester for free printing and personal use. Click through for more information here.

Web Resources for Individual and Parish Study

• There is a rich set of resources available at Word on Fire: articles, video, podcasts, books, more that focus on engaging adult catechesis and sacralizing the culture.

• Through 2022, FORMED is available for all in the diocese at no personal cost. If you are a layperson, please check with your parish staff for passcodes.

• The diocese also continues a special relationship with Revive Parishes, which provides free missionary discipleship training across all ministries of the Church. Sign up for a free subscription at https://reviveparishes.com/winona-rochester/ .

Radical Hospitality/First Proclamation processes:

• Run Alpha training: Alpha is a process focused on inviting people who have been long away--or have never been--                practicing Christian faith. It offers deep hospitality with presentation on basic life questions, gospel responses,                        conversation, and prayer. There are many ways to learn how to run Alpha in your parish or town.   
• If you are interested in receiving training, the diocese is hosting a Run Alpha in a Catholic Context training August 27,            2022, at St. John Vianney Church in Fairmont; register here. Otherwise, click here to see online and in person training        options, or contact Susan Windley-Daoust at swindley@dowr.org .    

ChristLife Training materials:

• The diocese just has invested in purchasing the booklet and DVD set for training a parish team in offering "Discovering Christ," the first course in ChristLife, a Catholic adaptation of Alpha that comes from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. It will be in our media center early next week. If you are interested in checking it out, please contact Susan Windley-Daoust at swindley@dowr.org. There is a national training conference as well, Sept. 28-30 in Maryland (more here). You can learn more about ChristLife here, and preview some of their materials. Susan Windley-Daoust (swindley@dowr.org) would also be happy to talk to you about how it is used, and pros and cons.

The Rescue Project: 

• Acts XXIX is the parish renewal organization led by Fr. John Riccardo, and “The Rescue Project” is their new effort. This series is designed to be offered like Alpha or ChristLife (invitation, hospitality, and meaningful conversation) over eight weeks. It is not meant to replace Alpha or ChristLife: Fr. Riccardo says “Alpha first, then the Rescue Project!” The process is free and set to launch August 15, 2022. Learn more here.

Spiritual Multiplication/Small Group Discipleship:

Discipleship Quads: 

•  If you are interested in piloting a faith sharing small group that focuses on deepening discipleship and sharing the gospel   with others through spiritual multiplication, you should look at Discipleship Quads. Check their website with all the           materials.
•  If you would like to view a recording on a recent online meeting on how and why to start a discipleship quad (20 minutes   presentation, 20 minutes Q and A), click here.

Catholic in Recovery:

• We are looking to open more Catholic in Recovery (CiR) groups across the diocese! If you are in 12-step recovery (from any addiction) and interested in offering CiR in your town or parish, please contact me for information. There is also a need for creating Family and Friends support groups (think Al-Anon for Catholics). You can learn more about this movement, which is meant to work in tandem with a variety of 12 step groups, here. 

Life in the Spirit Seminar:

• Interested in running a Life in the Spirit seminar? Contact our Moderator for Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Deacon John Hust, at jhust@dowr.org .

Saint Paul Street Evangelization:

• Interested in learning more about starting a chapter of this non-confrontational, peaceful willingness to share that God is good? The training alone prepares you for conversations with friends, family, co-workers...and the outings don't have to be on a street! Think farmer's markets, big box store parking lots, football games, etc. You can request more information from our regional missionary, Deb McManimon, at deb@stpaulse.com .

Catholic Evangelization Outreach:

• Interested in teaching people how to offer witness to God's presence in their lives? and give them a platform to share with many? Catholic Evangelization Outreach is doing just that, and we've benefited from a chapter at Church of the Resurrection before the pandemic. Learn more about starting your own chapter here.

Recommended Parish Structural Renewal Organizations:

• The Amazing Parish
• Acts XXIX
• Divine Renovation Ministries
• Evangelical Catholic (more of a parish-structured spiritual multiplication process with coaching)
• M3Ministries (Deacon Keith Strohm)
• RebuiltParish.com
• Ron Huntley Coaching

Susan Windley-Daoust is happy to work with parishes on discerning visioning, creating an evangelizing discipleship plan, and implementing mission across ministries upon request.