TEXARKANA — Christ renews his parish. Just four short words, but they describe a revitalizing force taking place at St. Edward Church in Texarkana as well as parishes across the country.
Sister Miriam Therese Miller, CCVI, said the Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) program was started in Texarkana several years ago by then-pastor Father Phillip Reaves. The present pastor, Father Vince Flusche, has continued to support it.
“CRHP deepens people’s relationship with the Lord,” Sister Miriam said. “And it is team building.”
In the fall 2005, Father Reaves sent parishioners J.T. Smith, Ben Mayo, Sister Miriam and Cindy Shifflett to St. Ann Parish in Coppell, Texas, to experience a renewal weekend sponsored by CRHP.
Shifflett said, “Father Phillip recognized that parishioners were hungry for spiritual renewal and growth. He wanted a process that could be offered to both the Hispanic and English communities. His brother had experienced the CRHP process at a parish in Texas … ”
Father Reaves sent the four parishioners to the right place.
Shifflett said, “We came back on fire with the love of Christ and ready to share our experience with our brothers and sisters at St. Edward’s.”
In 2006, the four invited a group of women and a group of men — men and women attend separate CRHP events — to introduce the renewal program to their brothers and sisters at St. Edward.
“Wow, what an experience,” Shifflett recalled. “Everything took place on the holy grounds of St. Edward’s. It is an awesome experience to share Christ’s love and mercy with fellow parishioners, brothers and sisters that we will continue to see and share our everyday life with.”
Sister Miriam, the parish’s pastoral associate, said that CRHP is put on by parishioners who share Christ’s love with fellow parishioners. It always takes place in participants’ home parish, giving parishioners a renewed sense of the holiness of their own church.
CRHP is not a new program, Sister Miriam emphasized. It began in 1969 at Holy Family Church in Cleveland, Ohio. It spread to other Cleveland churches and kept spreading. It received diocesan support, and eventually a handbook was written to enable spiritually hungry Catholics everywhere to learn about CRHP and get involved. Today CRHP is happening all across the United States and even in other countries.
Shifflett explained how CRHP works: “People attend a CRHP weekend where they get to hear how Christ is at work in their fellow parishioners’ lives. They get to feel Christ’s love and mercy alive and present in their brothers and sisters.”
She said that those who attended a renewal weekend then form a team.
They experience a formation period in which they grow in Christ, getting to know themselves and each other “while Christ teaches them through Scripture, prayer and sharing.”
During this formation period, they also prepare to offer a renewal weekend to others in the parish.
“Once the team has given a renewal weekend, the members are sent forth to continue their service to the parish,” Shifflett said. “Many of the teams continue to meet on a monthly basis. They enjoy shared ministries, fellowship and service. They visit nursing homes, feed the homeless and enjoy Scripture studies.”
At present, 30 men and about 100 to 150 women have participated in a CRHP renewal weekend at St. Edward.
After a short three years into the process, more than 10 CRHP participants are in the process of obtaining a theology degree through the Little Rock Theology Institute at St. John Center in Little Rock.
“Daily Mass attendance has increased dramatically from the numbers who regularly attended three years ago,” Shifflett said. “Many have described a new joy and love they feel during Communion, when they share Christ’s body and blood, soul and divinity with their brothers and sisters. Our priests and religious have been very supportive of the process. Without their willingness to share their time and talents with the process, the weekend would not be the same. The process has also allowed the parishioners to get to know them better.”
Linda Robertson, the new adult formation director at St. Edward, is a CRHP participant who will earn soon earn her theology degree through the Little Rock Theology Institute. Robertson attended CRHP in 2006.
“During that retreat I paused, stepped back from my daily life and reexamined what was going on in my life,” she said. “I listened to the stories of others and shared some of my own, of Christ’s love and compassion. More than anything, I learned my struggles were much like everyone else’s. I learned I wasn’t alone and I learned to recognize Christ present in all of us. It was an opportunity to fellowship with many women. … I left feeling like I was part of the Christian community in a different way.”
She still meets regularly with her formation group to pray, read Scripture and share their “life stories.”
“Just as important, each of us seems to be more involved in the overall Christian community both within and outside the confines of our parish,” Robertson said. “I have a much deeper understanding of what my roles and responsibilities are as they relate to both the Christian community and evangelization of the world.”
Sister Miriam said, as far as she knows, St. Edward is the only parish in Arkansas to have an ongoing CRHP program. Both she and Shifflett said enthusiastically, “We would love to help other Arkansas parishes get started with the CRHP process.”