St. Mary’s Parish plans Missionary Disciples Workshop

Laura Keener

Editor

St. Mary’s Parish in Alexandria is preparing to host a Parish Missionary Disciples (PMD) mini session this winter, aiming to help parishioners grow in faith and learn how to share it with others. The workshop is part of a broader effort to bring evangelization into everyday parish life.

Parishioners Ken Glaser and his wife Amy, along with Russ and Lisa Thacker, are leading the planning. “We thought that doing this workshop would get other people involved and start talking a similar language, similar idea set,” Mr. Glaser said. “We want to see how we can integrate this new evangelization into our parish.”

The idea came after the couples attended the diocesan PMD training as part of Cohort Two. “At first, I was skeptical,” Mr. Glaser admitted. “I went into the first weekend with a thick head. But by the end, I was excited about what would lie ahead. Maybe God had softened my heart a little.”

To help grow the skills learned at PMD, the Glasers began attending the GYMM, (Growing Your Missionary Muscles), a monthly gathering of PMD graduates developed by Bill and Kim Dehlinger and Gerry and Bridget Otto, parishioners at Blessed Sacrament and Mother of God parishes, respectively. Mr. Otto took the six-seminar PMD training developed by the Catholic Leadership Institute and distilled into a mini session of three seminars. Mr. Otto first hosted this mini session at his parish with much success and is now offering it with encouragement to other parishes.

At St. Mary’s, so far, interest has been strong. “Forty people are already registered,” Mr. Glaser said. “About 24 are from St. Mary’s, eight from St. Joe Cold Spring, and the rest from other parishes.” While the workshop is hosted at St. Mary’s, it’s open to anyone in the Diocese of Covington. “We very much wanted to make it something available to the diocese,” Mr. Glaser shared.

The PMD program focuses on helping Catholics feel comfortable sharing their faith. “Evangelization is not a four-letter word,” Mr. Glaser joked. “It’s really just learning how to share your faith and being comfortable with that.”

Mr. Glaser believes that the word evangelization can be intimidating, but in reality, it’s a simple practice of sharing your faith in everyday moments. “When we talk about our faith, even in small ways, we don’t know what effect it will have on somebody,” he said. “All we can do is keep sharing and trust that God is working every day.”

The PMD workshop will give parishioners tools to share their faith in simple, meaningful ways. As Mr. Glaser put it, “It’s exciting to have these conversations and talk about what’s important. We all get caught up in the day-to-day nonsense, but when I spend even 30 seconds talking with God, it makes everything else easier to handle.”

The three-session PMD training will be held on Thursdays, Jan. 22, Feb. 5, and Feb. 19, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Mary Parish, Alexandria. All are welcome! To register, contact Ken Glaser at kenglaser24@gmail.com or call (859) 512-1577.