About Spark

Spark is a knowledge base of resources, training, and best practices developed to accompany pastors and their leadership teams in fulfilling the propositions outlined in the pastoral letter Unleash the Gospel. This knowledge base includes contributions from dioceses and parishes from across the country and Canada on the best ways to bring people to Christ and the most effective approaches to accompany the faithful on the path to discipleship. Content includes ideas for all three stages of the Encounter/Grow/Witness paradigm as well as ministry suggestions for the Family and Parish Action Steps defined in Unleash the Gospel.

This tool is managed by the Archdiocese of Detroit Department of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship and is intended to be a living resource that continues to grow and evolve as new programs are published and new ideas are brought forth.

Instructions

When the user enters the web page, all entries in the knowledge base are displayed and sorted by most recent entry.

Users can search the knowledge base by typing in a key word in the search field. Alternatively, users can sort and filter the data using the menu on the left side of the web page. The data updates as the selections are made. The numbers next to the filter check boxes indicate how many ideas exist for each item. Please note that some ideas are classified under more than one category. The ideas are classified as follows:

Proposition

Ideas are classified according to one of the following Synod Propositions and their corresponding Action Steps in Unleash the Gospel.

Family Evangelization:

Ideas that help to build a practical plan for ongoing human and spiritual formation for all the stages of life (Synod Proposition)

Ideas that help to strengthen the domestic Church (Action Step)

Ideas that help struggling families (Action Step)

Parish Culture:

Ideas that build a culture of life-changing personal encounter with Jesus that permeates every aspect of parish life and that leads to a loving encounter of our neighbor (Synod Proposition)

Ideas that embrace the call of discipleship, including the kerygma and giving one’s life to Christ (Action Step)

Ideas that promote a culture of prayer and devotion (Action Step)

Parish Function:

Ideas that Equip, empower, support and send forth individuals and families in mission (Synod Proposition)

Ideas that minister to and accompany people along the path of discipleship according to the Encounter/Grow/Witness paradigm (Action Step)

Sunday Experience:

Ideas that help parishes put forward their best hospitality efforts to welcome newcomers and parishioners (Synod Proposition)

Ideas that help to improve liturgical music at Mass so that the faithful can joyfully worship God and fully participate in the Mass (Synod Proposition)

Ideas to help clergy deliver homilies that are bold and powerful, upholding our Catholic values and clearly relating the Readings at Mass to everyday lives (Synod Proposition)

Category

All (E/G/W): Ideas that span all three stages of the Encounter/Grow/Witness paradigm

Encounter: Ideas that help people encounter Christ and promote the process of conversion

Grow: Ideas that help to nurture the faith and promote the habits of discipleship

Witness: Ideas that help he faithful to witness their faith and invite others to encounter Christ

Type

Best Practice: Ideas that are creative, unique, or produce results that are superior to ordinary means

Case Study: Stories about parishes or apostolates that have been fruitful in parish renewal or have been particularly successful in an aspect of ministry

Resource: Study programs, books, or apostolates that can be used to evangelize and form disciples for mission

Training: Tools used to help individuals learn new methods or skills to evangelize and accompany others on the path of discipleship

Language

Content that is published in English, Spanish or both English and Spanish.

Audience

Ideas are classified according to the primary age group to which it is directed: Adults, All Age Groups, Children (K-8), Teens (High School), Men Only, Women Only, Young Adults (Ages 18-25)

Ministry Classification

Ideas are classified according to the following categories: Accompaniment, Activity, Catechesis, Discipleship, Evangelization, Healing Ministry, Holy Spirit Encounters, Homilies, Hospitality, Hymns, Liturgical Practices, Outreach, Prayer, Scripture Study, Small Group Resources, Social Events

Knowledge base entries are displayed on “cards.” Users can click on the card to see more details about the entry on a pop-up window. The category and type are listed at the top of the window and other classifications are listed at the bottom as tags. If the entry has a website, there is a live link to the web site. If the entry is a Case Study, users can click “Read More” to open another pop-up window to read the full description.