Parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago are moving into the spiritual renewal phase of Renew My Church, and their leaders now can get help understanding what spiritual renewal is and their role in it with a series of workshops.
The workshops, offered by the Renew My Church office, include an introduction to spiritual renewal as well as sessions on hospitality and prayer, faith trends and becoming a missionary disciple.
Patrick B. Brown, senior manager for renewal workshops and communications, said the workshops were developed after staff members from the archdiocese working directly with parishes saw a need to explain spiritual renewal to ministry leaders,
“It has to do with the need for renewal in our churches and in our parishes,” Brown said. “We’re into this age of really secular culture, and it’s not as easy to get people engaged and involved in parish life. The idea of renewal is about more than getting people to show up to things. It’s getting people to rethink what parish life is about.”
That means parishes must be much more than places people go for Mass and sacraments; they must be communities that foster discipleship and focus on evangelization, Brown said.
“It’s shifting our mindset about parish life in general,” he said. “Everything should be through that lens of evangelization, which is what we are called to do. … Spiritual renewal is about re-orienting the focus and the resources and the attention of the parish and the church towards evangelization, which means not just growth in terms of attracting people, but also an internal growth towards a deeper spirituality; discipleship, which is about our faith being something that is continual throughout our lifetime; and the third thing is just about building more vibrant communities within parishes.”
Brian Romer Niemiec, director for parish renewal, said it’s especially important because people who practice their faith now are doing so intentionally, not because “it’s something they have always done.”
“Now, most people engaged in spiritual practices because it is relevant to their lives,” he said.
The workshops are an attempt to help parish ministry leaders draw those connections, he said.
The workshops were piloted in the winter and spring of 2025, and are now more widely available, with virtual, in-person and hybrid offerings in English and Spanish and some in Polish. They are free to participants.
Marie Dombai, pastoral assistant at St. Juliana Parish, 7201 N. Oketo Ave., recently attended the introduction to spiritual renewal workshop with new ministry leaders from her parish.
The content, she said, is similar to what she learned from Renew My Church staff when St. Juliana began working with the office as part of its co-implementation model.
“The whole idea of evangelization and spiritual renewal is something that we all need to be a part of,” she said. “Everybody’s at a different understanding of what it all means. I really do like the pool analogy of, how do we get people in the deeper end, or maybe not. Maybe they’re OK sitting on the edge. But wherever they are, we need to help people grow in their faith.”
An added benefit of the workshops, Brown said, is an opportunity for ministry leaders and volunteers from different parishes to connect.
“One of the things we’re hoping for as an archdiocese is we will be able to think about our church as a much larger community,” he said. “The church in Chicago is a network of parishes and we can lean on each other in different ways.”
The workshops are voluntary, and have been popular, Romer Niemiec said.
Brown suggested that the offerings could be expanded, especially if there is a demand for more topics.
“Our goal is to make this something that is useful for the parishes, so if there are things that they would like workshops to be offered on, they should let us know,” he said. “It all comes out of our listening and learning.”
For more information, visit renewmychurch.org/renewal-workshops.