One of the panelists who participated in this spring’s Say Yes to Holiness Tranformation Online Summit was Dianne Davis. Dianne is Director of Mission Expansion for ChristLife.
In this special episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast, Christina and Dianne continue the conversation begun during the Say Yes Summit as they discuss Dianne’s work as part of the ChristLife team that is working to help people have an encounter with Christ, and then accompany them as they learn how to deepen that encounter and eventually share it with others.
ChristLife’s story began with Dave Nodar, a Catholic layman, who had been involved in renewal movements since the 1970’s and regularly presented teaching at schools of evangelization in Poland and Slovakia for young adult Catholics from the former Soviet Bloc during the 1990s.
Inspired by the call of St. Pope John Paul II for all the baptized to respond to a new evangelization, Dave approached Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, about beginning a ministry to equip Catholics for evangelization. The Cardinal was enthused and recognized ChristLife as an apostolate of the Archdiocese in 1995.
ChristLife evntually developed into a ministry with the mission of equipping Catholics for the essential work of evangelization by helping all people might personally encounter Jesus Christ and be transformed into His missionary disciples.
The ChristLife evangelization process is a proven method of igniting the new evangelization by providing a relational context to begin to make missionary disciples at the parish level. ChristLife helps parishes make missionary disciples by helping people discover Jesus Christ personally, follow Him in their daily lives as Catholic disciples, and share Him with others.
ChristLife is designed to be repeated and become the “core curriculum” for evangelizing and forming adults as missionary disciples. Once a person discovers Jesus, begins to follow Him, and learns to share Him, they want to invite more people on a life-changing adventure with Jesus Christ!
There are three essential steps: Discovering, Following, and Sharing.
An outgrowth of those efforts was the development and refinement of a 3-part Catholic evangelization series: Discovering Christ, Following Christ, and Sharing Christ. In 2009 ChristLife released Discovering Christ, Following Christ in 2011, and Sharing Christ in 2013. After running a Discovering Christ course for young adults in Ellicott City, MD, ChristLife launched an outreach to young adults in the Archdiocese of Baltimore called ChristLife Young Adults.
If you currently have a desire to participate in a ChristLife group, or if you know someone who is searching for hope during these difficult times, then you can use this link to sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-the-meaning-of-life-tickets-112987560836
Discovering Christ is being offered several different days and times of the week. Guests can sign up for a time that works well for them and remain with that group. Some groups are meeting twice per week, while others are meeting once a week. There is even a course being hosted in Spanish.
Dianne and the work of ChristLife intersects with the efforts of my own ministry at Say Yes to Holiness as I also seek to help people encounter Christ, and then strive to inspire, encourage and accompany them on the spiritual journey towards holiness–transforming union with God.
I pray that this conversation with Dianne inspires you to take whatever might be the next step on your journey to a deeper relationship with Christ, but to especially give consideration to the opportunity to become a participant of a ChristLife group either in person or virutally.
Listen to this special episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast
Or you can watch the interview here on the Say Yes to Holiness YouTube Channel
To find out more about ChristLife, you can learn more at: http://christlife.org/
The Say Yes to Holiness Transformation Online Summit had more than 30 speakers and panelists come together to focus upon the question of how to “Pivot Towards Our Best Selves” in these challenging times. To access all of the FREE content from the Summit, go to the Say Yes to Holiness YouTube channel to access the Say Yes Summit Speaker Video Playlist, the Summit Discussion Panels, and the Summit Speaker 1 on 1 interviews as they are released.
Christina Semmens is a Roman Catholic author, speaker, and coach and host of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast. She currently lives in Fort Payne, Alabama where she strives to live out a life of authentic discipleship in the pursuit of holiness while empowering, teaching and accompanying others in striving to do the same.
If you want to learn more about how to embrace the life God created you for and discover more purpose, peace and abundance in your daily life, then click to join the Say Yes to Holiness TODAY Facebook group or send an email to: christinasemmens@gmail.com.
You can also Text to Join the Say Yes to Holiness email list by texting SAYYESTOHOLINESS to 66866 or sign up for the weekly Say Yes to Holinessnewsletter here. You can also listen to additional episodes of the the Say Yes to Holiness podcast or learn more about her ministry efforts at: www.sayyestoholiness.com and www.christinasemmens.com
