Faith Formation in the Diocese of Greensburg

By Melissa Williams Brown
Contributing Writer

GREENSBURG – When Vincent Reilly was hired two years ago as managing director for faith, family and discipleship, Bishop Larry J. Kulick had an extraordinary vision for transforming and renewing the parishes of the Diocese of Greensburg through faith formation, reaching out to youth and to those who have drifted away from the Church.

“Through the efforts of the Office of Faith, Family and Discipleship, along with parishioners’ generosity, we have been able to place regional directors of faith formation and youth ministry throughout the four counties in the Diocese of Greensburg,” Reilly said.

The directors are professionally trained to make the faith come alive, he said.

“Bishop Kulick has a strong vision of keeping all 78 parishes active and vibrant,” Reilly said. “However, because of the size of the parishes and the demographics, having a full-time faith formation director or youth minister isn’t always feasible.”

But when parishes form a partnership, one director can provide quality faith formation for the parishes’ adults and youth, Reilly said.

“Our goal in regionalizing faith formation is to make our parishes stronger and more vibrant and to invite people to discover the Catholic Church and the beauty of our faith,” he said. “The regional directors work together in collaboration because we realize that working together creates a better product. All of these men and women we have hired have a deep faith life of their own that they are excited to share with God’s people.”

Keeping parishes active and vibrant requires everyone to embrace a new way of building up the Body of Christ through parish partnerships and removing the “silos” that isolate one parish from another, Bishop Kulick said.

“We must work together to keep all 78 of our parishes strong and vibrant. We must make strategic use of all our facilities to meet the needs of all our people and provide programs that proclaim our faith clearly and proudly,” he said. “In building partnerships where all parishes share staff and resources, my vision of keeping all of our parishes open as beacons of hope and the truth to reach future generations can be realized.”

The initiative has been funded through donations to parishes and the Diocesan Lenten Appeal.

“Through (parishioners’) generosity, the Diocese is able to support the parishes and properly finance these professional positions that go to support the growth and development of each parish,” Reilly said.