QUESTIONS ASKED US

What caused you to leave your careers and to do what you do?

Over a period of years, we felt called by our Lord to take our faith seriously and to truly begin to discover what it means to be a Christian Catholic in our day and age. Part of that discovery process led us out of the search for the American dream and into the life-long search for the peace and joy of our Lord. Being asked to teach and preach and to conduct parish missions has just been an extension and by-product of that on-going search.

What experience does Good News Ministries have in conducting missions?

In November, 1988, we began our first year in full time ministry. Since then, we have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles and have conducted over 350 missions in 27 states and 3 foreign countries (Ireland, Canada and Belize, C.A.).

What does Good News Ministries charge a parish to conduct a mission?

Good News Ministries does not charge any stipends or fees to conduct any of our missions or retreats. We ask to be allowed to take up an offering at the end of our mission or retreat sessions from those in attendance...trusting in our Lord that He will meet our needs through His precious people wanting to send us forth to continue our ministry endeavors.

Why doesn't Good News Ministries charge to conduct a mission?

We decided in the very beginning of our ministry work that we would not charge to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel, since we could never envision our Lord charging anything for what He did or said. Besides, our Lord already had paid in full for the Good News with His precious life given for us!!

What, if any, are the financial responsibilities of the parish?

Since our ministry functions financially in the way that it does, we ask only that the parish pay for Brian's transportation expenses. We will notify the parish contact person 2 to 3 months prior to his coming with his travel costs, and we ask that these expenses be paid prior to the mission itself. We work in advance like this in order to minimize these expenses as much as possible for the parish. Most parishes having missions usually plan in their budgets for such costs. Since our ministry does not charge any fee or stipend to conduct a mission, should the parish choose to make a financial offering into the work of our ministry along with the offerings made by those attending the mission, all such funds will be received and used by us to proclaim the Good News. Such a parish gift, however, is not in any way a condition or requirement for Brian to conduct the mission.

Who conducts the parish mission?

Brian will be the one who will conduct the parish mission.

What about your housing needs during the mission?

Our hope is to be as low maintenance as possible, for we are there to serve the parish. If it is possible, Brian likes to stay in the rectory, since this allows him to be close to the church and allows those wishing to talk with him between mission sessions during the day to do so. It also allows him to have some time to share with the pastor, since he is a very important part of Brian's own spiritual growth and journey...and hopefully it will be a time of encouragement for him as well. It also decreases the burden to the parish in providing other housing for him. Sometimes the parish has him stay in the home of some of their parishioners who live close to the church, and sometimes they have chosen to have him stay in a nearby motel. In any event, his room and board need to be taken care of for him.

What is the duration or format of the mission?

We have found that a 4 day mission is the most successful format. Typically, Brian would come in early enough on Saturday to speak at the vigil Mass, since he speaks at all the weekend Masses in order to properly prepare the parishioners for the parish mission experience and to encourage their attendance at the mission sessions. Arriving early enough on Saturday also gives him the opportunity to set up the table in the vestibule of the church for his books, audio tapes, CDs and DVDs, which will be available after all the weekend Masses and throughout the mission on a suggested donation only basis. The mission sessions begin Sunday evening and run through Wednesday evening, and we also have morning sessions which run from Monday morning through Wednesday morning. All the evening talks are different, the morning talks are different from the evening talks, and all the sessions run for about an hour and a half.

Does Good News Ministries assist in the promotion of the mission?

We provide posters, laser copy flyers for duplication, suggested bulletin inserts and a suggested letter for the pastor to use as a bulletin insert or to send out to all the parishioners inviting them and encouraging them to attend the mission. These are usually sent out 6 weeks prior to the mission. We also send a suggested intercessory prayer to be read along with the other intercessory prayers at all the weekend Masses and daily Masses during our parish mission week.  This helps to prepare the minds and hearts of all those in the parish for the mission experience, and we believe that prayer is the key to the spiritual success of the mission.

Can the parish do anything else to help promote the mission?

We have three suggestions here. The first is to promote it heavily from the pulpit. The more important the mission is to the pastor, the more important it will hopefully be to his parishioners. The second would be to postpone, reschedule or even cancel if necessary other parish functions and activities, if such is at all possible. The more parishioners realize how important the mission experience could be to the building up of their own faith life, the greater will be their response. The third suggestion would be for the parish to use all of the materials sent by us to assist in the promotion of the mission. We've been doing this full time since 1988, and we have some experience in knowing what seems to work for most parishes.

Do you have a follow up program?

We firmly believe that no one attends who attends the mission experience will ever be the same again in a very healthy spiritual sense...not because of anything that I say or do, but because of what our Lord will do with and through us as we reflect upon His word together. God will have touched each one of us in a very special way, and the Holy Spirit will continue to work in our individual (and collective) hearts and souls and to guide us in our ongoing spiritual journey. We don't need another program...we need to heed and to affirm and to embrace our Lord's radical Gospel message of Good News. We do have my book and our audio tapes, CDs and DVDs of the parish mission sessions for people to stay constantly in touch with the spiritual message God has placed in our hearts. This also gives these people the opportunity to share these materials with their family members, other loved ones and friends as well as in various parish ministry settings.