CHAPTER 1
Transformed by Grace
L
ooking back, I find it incredible that my parents gave me such a generous high school graduation gift: a two-week pilgrimage through Europe with my father. My most memorable moment of the trip, however, was unplanned. Realizing we had a full three-hour layover at the airport in Amsterdam, we seized the opportunity to take a taxi to a beautiful old church in the Catholic Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam. Our plan was to go straight there and then grab some lunch. Sadly, when we arrived, we found that the doors of the church were not only locked but actually barred shut. A passerby told us that this priceless piece of heritage could no longer afford to stay open year-round. We had traveled to Europe specifically to visit the holy places where God had done great work in the past. Here we saw that faith communities can also find themselves on the verge of dying. It pierced my heart. Be of Good Hope
I don’t mean to discourage you. I actually want to begin this book with a spark of hope . . . and also a bit of a confession. You see, I used to believe that the Church today is incapable of renewal. I accepted the fact that we lived in a time of declin7
