This essay is a Cover Story selection, a weekly feature highlighting the top picks from the editors of America Media.
Last June, I invited some young adult Catholics to my residence one evening for a discussion about the future of our parishes, our diocese and our church. They were in their 20s and 30s. Some were married, some still single. A few had young children at their homes here in Jefferson City, Mo., where they belonged to our cathedral parish.
At the time, we were beginning a small group discernment process created by our chancery staff. The process was designed to work across four sessions, guiding the faithful of our diocese to explore how the structures of our church can support their parishes as they seek to become thriving centers of charity and mercy—as revealed by Jesus in his teaching on the Beatitudes.
The group gathered at my home was a sort of test; I wanted to see for myself how these discussions might go before we rolled out this project across our diocese.
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The Most Reverend W. Shawn McKnight is the bishop of Jefferson City, Mo.
With thanks to America and W. Shawn McKnight, where this article originally appeared.
