VERONA — It’s 4 p.m. on a Sunday night. The Sunday morning Masses are over, and yet a couple of hundred people have gathered in the church again. The music team leads the people with some praise and worship music in the front corner of the church. In the pews, some people close their eyes. Some sing along. A couple lift up their hands. It is the beginning of a two-hour “Encounter Night” held at St. Christopher Parish in Verona.
“I feel like when I’m here and the music is playing, I can feel my heart opening up and listening to God and hearing him,” said Michelle Sarbacker said.
Sarbacker has been attending the Encounter Nights since the fall of 2021 and said it’s something people have to experience for themselves.
“I would say you have to come and witness it to experience the fullness of the music, and all of the parishioners here, and the love and support that is here,” she said.
The event
During a recent Encounter Night, the evening began with about 15 minutes of praise and worship music. The children were dismissed to attend the religious education program and one of the parishioners was introduced to give a prepared testimonial.
The night’s speaker was David Wanta. He’s a 58-year-old man, father of four, and has been married to his wife, Julie, for 35 years. His son, Fr. Michael Wanta, is a priest for the Diocese of Madison.
“I was asked to share about my first encounter with Christ,” he said during his talk. “I thought and prayed about this, and I just can’t stop at my first encounter. Jesus wants a relationship with me. He and his mother Mary keep pursuing me. They are pursuing you too.”
He spoke about various ways he’s encountered Christ and the Blessed Mother throughout his life, describing his first significant encounter occurring at a retreat at St. Ann Parish in Stoughton.
“This retreat was very powerful and a great spark to my faith life,” he said. “The retreat awakened in me a greater desire to encounter Jesus in a more profound way. Unfortunately, it turned out like the seed sown on rocky ground. I was like the one who hears the word and receives it at once with great joy. I had no root, and it lasted only for a time.”
He went on to talk about encountering Mary while helping out with the rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina. This came through learning about shrines to Mary surviving the destructive hurricane. Later it came in Adoration, the Sacrament of Confession, Mass, and in recognizing how Christ was working in his life through others. He also spoke of the influence Lighthouse Catholic Media had on him and his family.
After the talk, the lights were dimmed, and there was time for Eucharistic Adoration. Two lines formed for Confession and prayer teams.
The event concluded with Pastor Fr. Rob Butz processing the Eucharist throughout the chapel and leading the people through the concluding prayers.
Meeting people’s spiritual needs
Susan Swanke, the adult faith coordinator at St. Christopher, said that these Encounter Nights were started to meet an unmet need in the parish.
“We were thinking about a simple plan for discipleship,” she said. “We decided on four things: Encounter, accompaniment, community, and mission. Those four things are all spiritual needs that everyone has, so we wanted to offer something in all those categories to our people.”
She said that they realized they didn’t offer much in the way at the parish for encountering Christ, so that was how the idea sprang up.
“It has been growing,” she said. “We started around just under 100 people, and this year it has been around 200.”
Getting people to participate takes some thought and coordination. One of the pitfalls, she said, to organizing an event like this is to have the same volunteers at every event.
“I have really tried not to ask the same people to volunteer in the same roles every time so that our leaders can invite somebody to come with them and not also be volunteering,” she said.
They have also learned the importance of offering a kids’ program to coincide with the event.
“The first year it was just a bonus event, and this year, we’ve decided to make it religious ed for that week so that the religious ed parents could come to the event,” she said.
The religious education program is open to both the children registered in itat the parish and those who are not.
Childcare is also offered for children ages one to three if parents RSVP. No RSVP is needed for Pre-K through fifth grade.
For those not able to attend in person, the event is livestreamed on YouTube.
“I just am really grateful to all the people who have shared a testimony because it’s a vulnerable thing to get up there and share about your life especially if it’s going to be livestreamed and available to the whole world,” said Swanke.
She said that, without fail, as she has helped parishioners prepare their testimony for the night, it has been a learning experience. “They learn something new about their own story with God.”
The next Encounter Night at St. Christopher in Verona will be held on Sunday, May 15, and will go from 4 to 6 p.m. The event is open to parishioners, non-parishioners, and those who have been away from the Church for a while.