by Daniel Meloy • April 28, 2016 • The Michigan Catholic
Detroit — If Synod ’16 is the spark that sets the Archdiocese of Detroit ablaze, the Amazing Parish Conference will be regarded as the flint and kindling.
For three bright and sunny days, leaders from parishes across the archdiocese met at the Detroit Renaissance Center, praying, listening and discerning how to reshape southeast Michigan’s parishes.
The conference was high-energy from the start April 18, when Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron welcomed priests and parish staff to the conference, describing it as “part of a larger strategy” that began two years ago with prayer for a New Pentecost, “Come, Encounter Christ!” events and the call to “grow in discipleship to become better witnesses to Jesus.”
“As I’ve reflected on our efforts to ‘Unleash the Gospel,’ to engage in the New Evangelization, certainly everyone would have to admit that the parishes would have to be the centers for this great effort,” said the archbishop, who used his booming “Detroit Pistons” voice to welcome attendees.