Sacred Heart School Boards

What thoughts, feelings & images arise when you hear 'evangelization'?

"... a comprehensive term for the Church's outward movement in carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ. It involves all in the Church, not just a specialised few..."
(Robert Schreiter in the New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought)

"Let us go forth to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ... I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and clinging to its own security."
(Pope Francis, EG n 49)

"The mission of the Church is to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of God begun by Jesus Christ among all peoples. The Church constitutes on earth the seed and beginning of this salvific Kingdom."
(Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n 150)

"The Kingdom aims at transforming human relationships; it grows gradually as people slowly learn to love, forgive and serve one another ...

...The Kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society, and the world. Working for the Kingdom means acknowledging and promoting God's activity, which is present in human history and transforms it ...

...Building the Kingdom means working for liberation from evil in all its forms. In a word, the Kingdom of God is the manifestation and the realization of God's plan of salvation in all its fullness."
(John Paul II, RM, n 15)

"To evangelize is to make the Kingdom of God present in our world."
(Pope Francis, EG, n 176)

Dimensions of Evangelization

• witness of life
• explicit proclamation
• conversion
• entry into & growth within the Christian community
• becoming an agent of evangelization

"The Holy Spirit also enriches the Church with different charisms. These gifts are meant to renew and build up the Church. They are not an inheritance, safely secured and entrusted to a small group for safekeeping; rather they are gifts of the Spirit integrated into the body of the Church ...

...A sure sign of the authenticity of a charism is its ecclesial character, its ability to be integrated harmoniously into the life of God's holy and faithful people for the good of all."
(Pope Francis, EG, n 130)

Sacred Heart Spirituality is...

• incarnational
• one of openness
• calls us to risk being vulnerable
• relational

Catholicity & the mission of the Church are central to the objects of a Sacred Heart school

Goal 1: Faith
is clearly & explicitly directed to evangelisation

Goal 2: Intellectual Values
affirms faith and reason are compatible

Goal 3: Action
making God's Reign present on earth

Goal 4: Community
sharing the life of the Trinity

Goal 5: Growth
becoming evangelizers

The Board is accountable for mission via the Annual Goals Report

Risk management: the biggest risk is being off mission

Formation is evangelisation and equips us for evangelisation

The Board is responsible for ensuring formation for school staff, and attending to their own formation

There is a trend towards more rigorous and extensive formation for Church governance

Recruitment as Evangelisation

• articulation of vision, mission, spirituality
• criteria for selection & recommendations
• welcome & orientation
• probation & evaluation
• behavioural indicators

Board as Symbol

• equal dignity of women & men
• cultural diversity
• skills & knowledge
• personal attributes

Is someone or something undervalued or missing?

Sandie Cornish
is the Province Director of Mission for the Society of the Sacred Heart Australia New Zealand Province


scornish@anzrscj.com.au
www.rscj-anz.org