Bishop Michael Gielen from Christchurch, New Zealand, is bringing a message of hope and practical evangelisation when he speaks at the upcoming conference for parishes, ‘The Way of Hope’ conference in late October.
His message is clear: “Transformation is possible. It can be done.”
Bishop Gielen has a proven track record of success in inspiring and nurturing parish renewal leadership within his own archdiocese, since being named Bishop of Christchurch in 2022.
“It’s the most life-giving thing to see someone’s life change because they’ve encountered Jesus,” he says of the transformation he has seen.
“To see their life changed. Their families, their marriages, the healing that happens, transforms. I want to talk about that; that when you do empower people in your parishes you become a lighthouse, a fire that attracts others and shares the light.”
At ‘The Way of Hope’ Alpha Catholic Conference, Bishop Gielen will share how tools like Alpha and Divine Renovation have become effective in helping him drive that personal renewal and community strengthening.
“I ran Alpha for the entire parish, and I said to them: ‘If you know Jesus already, you won’t mind hearing more about him. If you don’t know him personally, then let’s help you know him, and then you might want to share him.'”
The results were startling and immediate: “Suddenly we saw an entire parish renewed and coming back to church and bringing their kids, because they’re like, ‘Wow, I just experienced Jesus in a new way.'”
His cathedral parish now runs two Alpha’s annually and notes that in three former parishes, united around evangelisation, they are “seeing people come back to their faith in larger numbers than we’ve experienced before.”
Leading communities through the devastation of the 2011 earthquakes taught Bishop Gielen that rebuilding parish communities requires both physical and spiritual renewal. “There’s the human, and then there’s the spiritual,” he explains. “We’re rebuilding the physical realities, but there’s still the hunger, the spiritual need that our city carries.”
It is this leadership, experience and wisdom, that Bishop Gielen will share to those wanting to equip themselves for mission at the conference.
When reflecting on his experience in effective evangelisation, Bishop Gielen turns to Matthew 18, the parable of the lost sheep. “Will he not leave the 99 and go and search for the stray one?”
He emphasises: “This great generosity that Jesus calls from us is not just about running a good program in our diocese, but being generous, about being gracious.”
Now more than ever, Bishop Gielen is calling on the faithful, to stop “being passengers” and become leaders in their parish.
“The church has sort of done it all for us, and we’ve just, been happy passengers. So that’s the challenge for us as Catholics,” he adds.
He sees particular potential in Sydney’s faith community: “You’ve got a great, strong Catholic foundation there. But again, it’s the next generation, isn’t it? It’s winning hearts for the next generation.”
The mission for all of us is to answer our calling and in conferences like ‘The Way of Hope’, he believes: “the tools exist, the need is great, and transformation is not only possible but happening.”
The Way of Hope conference takes place on 31 October and 1 November at the Liverpool Catholic Club. For more information and registration, visit: https://www.alpha.org.au/catholicconference
