KATHY SCHIFFER
Special to The Michigan Catholic

HARBOR SPRINGS — Ninety deacons and their wives from the Archdiocese of Detroit gathered for four days Sept. 26-30 in northern Michigan. The 2013 diaconate convocation at Boyne Highlands was an opportunity to spend time together, pray together and to deepen their understanding of the New Evangelization.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron delivered the convocation’s opening address, focusing on the efforts of the New Evangelization in the archdiocese. Evangelization, he reminded the group, has a three-part goal of making, molding and missioning disciples for Christ’s church. The archdiocese should reach out to those on the margins, the archbishop said — those who are lost, “unchurched,” those who know little about the Catholic faith.

Pope Benedict XVI called for the re-proposing of the Gospel “to those regions awaiting the first evangelization, and to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization.”

Msgr. Timothy Hogan, the archbishop’s vicar for clergy and consecrated life, reported on activities in his office, and encouraged the deacons in their ministry of service.

Continuing the theme of the New Evangelization, Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM, and Fr. Eduardo Montemayor, SOLT, outlined the model for the New Evangelization, listing seven stages: initial Christian witness, kerygmatic encounters with Christ, community building, faith formation and catechesis, discipleship training, ministry and outreach, and a transformation of culture. Resources including a New Evangelization website will be announced in October.

Asked about the significance of this year’s convocation, Deacon Kevin Breen, associate director for the permanent diaconate, said it was good for deacons to gather as a family.

“It is important that the permanent diaconate community gathered together for these four days in prayer and fellowship with the focus on the New Evangelization,” Deacon Breen said. “As Msgr. Hogan reminded us, ‘The New Evangelization is not a program, but a way of life.’ The New Evangelization is, as Archbishop Vigneron stated, ‘to propose Christ anew to a people who have forgotten Jesus.’”