Igniting the fire: Three-day mission in Silverton first in the U.S.

By Mary Owen

Energizing congregants’ faith is the focus of an upcoming parish mission at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Silverton.

“We hope to encourage parishioners to share their faith more deeply, that they would look for ways to generate that spirit of evangelization in their daily lives,” said Mark Dol, an event organizer and a director for the Catholic Institute for World Evangelization (ICPE) in Stayton.

The parish mission is 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 13 – 15. Sign-ups aren’t required, and community members regardless of faith are invited, St. Paul’s pastoral associate Michael Goldrick said.

“Usually parish missions are led by clergy, but this one will be led by a group of lay people,” Goldrick said.

The Rev. William Hammelman jumped on the opportunity of hosting the organization’s first parish mission in North America, Goldrick said.

“It’s not often that our town, Silverton, gets to host the first American anything,” he said. “We hope the mission will inspire people to become more active in service to their community.”

The mission complements the parish’s 2010 theme, “Igniting the Fire Within,” he said.

Dol said the mission offers a three-fold approach to deepening faith: people are chosen and loved by God; have Christ as their Redeemer; and because they are redeemed, have something to share. These facets are revealed in the evening topics.

“The message will be brought forward through song, mime, personal witness and short teachings and preaching,” Dol said. “It should be a dynamic presentation of the basic Gospel message.”

“To Know Christ” is the theme of the parish mission, dedicated to ICPE’s mission of “training, formation, serving the Church, and affecting the world for Christ.”

Formed by a group of Catholic lay men and women on the island of Malta in the early 1980s, ICPE spread to other countries. There are mission centers in India, Poland, Germany, Korea, Italy, India, the Philippines, Singapore and Stayton.

“Through the living testimony of ICPE missionaries, thousands of lives have been touched by the love of God and are living a life of discipleship with Jesus,” claim ICPE leaders.

“Maybe some of our parishioners will decide to become involved in a similar type of work,” Goldrick said, calling the ICPE missionaries “amazing people. I’m really impressed with their simplicity and their desire to be a light in the world that is sometimes not so bright.”

ICPE Mission USA opened in Stayton in late 2009, with coordinators Dol and Clint Bentz. Dol, his wife Patricia and son Joshua serve as missionaries for the organization along with Karol and Karolina Fromont from Poland. ICPE’s ministries are discipleship school, outreach to the Hispanic community, and ministering to youth.

“We serve the local Vicariate by running and coordinating their youth ministry program,” Dol said. “We are offering a Bible study program at Regis High School this year, and so far the interest has been great.”

If St. Paul’s parish mission sparks the same interest, Dol and his coworkers plan to host missions in other local parishes.

“We plan to go door-to-door with invites for this parish mission, especially targeting those who are registered in the parish but not attending church anymore,” he said. “We hope this will generate a sense of parish renewal and bring a new energy and dynamism to the Silverton community.”

ICPE Mission USA leaders will host a World Mission Sunday event Oct. 24 at St. Paul’s.