On Pentecost of 2020, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison launched the Go Make Disciples evangelization initiative.
He has described Go Make Disciples as, “Our ongoing effort to live out the mission of the Church, which is the mission of Christ — to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, to make disciples, and to lead everyone into a deep, fruitful, and saving relationship with the Lord.”
Following Christ’s model of making disciples, the structure of Go Make Disciples was to have each parish start with a small core group, “The 12,” and then with the help of these disciples, reach a larger group, “The 72”.
The goal is to continue this pattern of forming and sending disciples out to ever-widening groups of people, just as the apostles did in the early Church.
At St. John Vianney Parish in Janesville, then-Pastor Fr. Paul Arinze invited Kris Kranenburg to be the Go Make Disciples team lead.
Together, they invited a group of parishioners to be the parish’s core team and kicked off the evangelization program in July of 2020.
For the first year, the core team, already strong Catholics, deepened their knowledge of the faith, grew in their spiritual practices and relationship with Christ, and learned how to use their personal testimonies and everyday moments as opportunities for evangelization.
This period of intense formation was designed to equip the team members to be competent and confident enough to boldly live and share their faith.
Jean Olsen, one of the core team members, attested to the effectiveness of the plan.
“Through the learning and spiritual formation of the core team, I gained much more confidence in speaking about our faith,” said Olsen.
“But more than that, I felt a passion and an enthusiasm to share the faith. That enthusiasm draws people in and then spreads. It creates a ripple effect.”
In the second year of St. John Vianney’s Go Make Disciples program, each core team member became the leader of a small group of new participants.
This step demonstrated not only the ripple effect of sharing the faith but also the critical role of invitation in evangelization.
“Father Paul invited me to participate in Go Make Disciples and then I invited Brianna Stenson to be a core team member,” said Kranenburg.
“Brianna then invited five moms with young children into her home to be a small group of ‘The 72’. This year, each of those women invited a friend and now Brianna is hosting 12 women who meet to study the faith, learn about evangelization, and offer love and support to each other.”
“Go Make Disciples has been so fruitful in my life,” said Stenson.
“It has been amazing to hear the wins my small group members have shared with me . . . wins that extend out to family, both immediate and extended, friends, coworkers, and some acquaintances.”
Tovah Anderson, one of the members of Stenson’s small group, acknowledged the power of the invitation and the personal impact of the group.
“Go Make Disciples found me at a time in my life when I was isolated, lonely, and overwhelmed by a number of big life changes. The Christian discipleship and guided study reawakened my love of Christ and showed me how to deepen that love and share it with others.”
At St. John Vianney, the Annual Catholic Appeal supported the Go Make Disciples efforts by funding small group materials and fellowship events, and by providing a Catechism of the Catholic Church to every household in the parish.
“These valuable tools helped people to not only grow in their knowledge of the faith and their relationship with Jesus but also to be more confident in evangelizing,” said Kranenburg.
“When we first started, our team members were hesitant to talk to others about their faith. Now, they are always hunting for opportunities to speak to people about Christ or to invite someone to an event. We have all been deeply changed by Go Make Disciples.”