Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus

Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus

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<i>How can we transmit a living, personal Catholic faith to future generations? By coming to know Jesus Christ, and following him as his disciples.</i><p>These are times of immense challenge and immense opportunity for the Catholic Church.</p><p>Consider these statistics for the United States.</p><ul><li>Only 30 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing.<li>Fully 10 percent of all adults in America are ex-Catholics.<li>The number of marriages celebrated in the Church decreased dramatically, by nearly 60 percent, between 1972 and 2010.<li>Only 60 percent of Catholics believe in a personal God.</ul></p><p>If the Church is to reverse these trends, the evangelizers must first be evangelized-in other words, Catholics-in-the-pew must make a conscious choice to know and follow Jesus before they can draw others to him. This work of discipleship lies at the heart of Forming Intentional Disciples, a book designed to help Church leaders, parish staff and all Catholics transform parish life from within. <br>Drawing upon her fifteen years of experience with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Sherry Weddell leads readers through steps that will help Catholics enter more deeply into a relationship with God and the river of apostolic creativity, charisms, and vocation that flow from that relationship for the sake of the Church and the world.</p><p>Learn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion, how to open a conversation about faith and belief, how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the Great Story of Jesus, how to help someone respond to God's call to intentional discipleship, and much more.</p><p>And be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.</p>