What’s the Remedy?

Fr. John Riccardo

February 24, 2021

The past three weeks we’ve looked at three fundamental convictions that lie at the heart of our mission in ACTS XXIX (The World Is Crying, The Church Is Crying, You Were Born for This). If, as we argue, the Lord Jesus founded the Church to be the means by which the world’s cry can get answered, and the Church herself is crying, the all-important question is, “How do we get well?”

No one apostolate or ministry has the answer on how to do this, to be sure, but we are convinced that God has shown us some answers. We passionately believe God has revealed some critical solutions that can and do bring transformation to the Church. It’s important to say this first, however, lest in anything we share we appear more than what we are. We consider ourselves experts in nothing…save God’s mercy. We’re not all that impressed with who we are, but we are beyond impressed and confident in who God is. And He wants the transformation of the Church more than any of us do, because His desire is that all would be saved.

We do consider ourselves witnesses, however. Witnesses not only to the power of God’s mercy in our own personal lives, but to what happens when the gospel is unleashed in power and people have a life-changing encounter with Jesus. We are witnesses to what can happen when a staff—even a high functioning one—becomes a healthy team and, more than a team, a family. We are witnesses of the fruitful innovation that happens when leaders make and take what can seem like an inordinate amount of time to call and wait upon the Lord to show us the next steps, be they for a parish, a diocese, a family, or a person. And we are witnesses to what can happen when clarity and alignment come with regards to our mission as disciples and as a parish or diocese as a whole. We, as a ministry, also have the luxury of time to think and pray on behalf of those who, quite honestly, often do not have that time. We get the craziness of diocesan and parish life; we’ve been there and know it up close and personal. We believe God has given us this time to think and pray so as to better serve the Church.

In short, we believe and think that there are three essential principles that bring the transformation to the Church. Principles. Not programs, important as they are. Not best practices, as worthwhile as those are as well. For example, if we want to be healthy individuals, we need to eat well, get enough sleep, and exercise. These are principles. We all need to adhere to these if we want to be healthy. But the particular ways we put those into practice are going to be different for each of us. Some of us like to run, others of us might prefer to ride a unicycle. Some of us need 6 hours of sleep, others of us need 8. Some of us prefer a Paleo diet, others a Mediterranean one. But no matter the adaptation, the principles still apply. So it is with the Church, we think.

Furthermore, we think and believe the three essential principles form an alloy. That is, when they are all practiced and integrated together, whether with a bishop and his leadership team, a pastor and his team, or a mother and a father, they create something new.  And we want to shout them from the rooftops.

The three essential principles for the transformation of the Church are these:

●      Re-acquiring a biblical worldview,

●      It’s not enough to be a staff, and,

●      God is the Architect.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll unpack each of these in this space.

Again, we as family members in ACTS XXIX, have a pretty accurate understanding of ourselves. We know our own gifts, and we know all too well our failures, short-comings, sins, and inadequacies. We don’t think we came up with these. We think God gave them to us to give away and to help others learn how to integrate them into everything they do, especially those at the highest levels of leadership in the Church. And we’ve seen them work, again and again and again.