From Our President You’ve heard of the Stone Age, the Jazz Age, and the Computer Age. Well, future generations may look back on our epoch as the Connection Age. Thanks to social media and easily accessible tools such as Zoom, Skype, and FaceTime, it seems that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else. In a way, this notion of a “Connection Age” fits in with RENEW’s mission to attract people to an encounter with Jesus, in the company of others, so that they might practice what Jesus taught, every day and everywhere. Our method of inspiring spiritual renewal in parishes and parishioners begins with gathering people. Until recently, this gathering took place mostly in person—as men and women in small groups in each other’s homes or at parish centers. The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented most gatherings of that kind. We do not know when the “new normal” of the pandemic will end, nor do we know whether the “old normal” will ever return. So, RENEW has pivoted quickly to use available technology to provide new ways for people to “stay connected.” We are offering online faith-sharing and prayer sessions, webinars, leadership training, best practices, email “blasts,” and blog posts. The pandemic has nudged people to use virtual means of communication—in many cases, for the first time—and RENEW has helped them in this journey. Meanwhile, we are planning and developing new resources for those who gather in the Body of Christ. In a major step, Parish Catalyst—an established program of learning communities, webinars, workshops, and strategic planning that helps parishes experience renewal—will become a featured offering of RENEW. We are also taking these initiatives: • We will introduce a series of learning modules that will give parishes all the information and tools they need to launch small-group ministries. • We are enrolling parishes in Baptism Matters, our new online and in-person program for parents preparing for their children’s baptism. • We are about to publish Dignity and the Death Penalty, a faith-sharing book that we developed with the help of Sister Helen Prejean. • We will partner with the Diocese of Jefferson City to develop a comprehensive and dynamic process to help parishes form their members in a spirituality of stewardship as a constituent element of being a disciple. • We are developing Women in Conversation, a faith-sharing program for women in the Church. • We are intensifying our outreach through more frequent email blasts, targeted marketing, and more robust social-media messages. During this period, when we are expanding and enriching our programs at the same time that we are navigating the pandemic, your financial support is critical to us and to the people, the parishes, and the Church we serve. I thank you for joining us in this mission up until now, and I hope that you will continue to support RENEW as we move into a better future.
Sister Theresa Rickard, OP President and Executive Director
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RENEW International
