Pastoring the Future of the Church with Father Elsbett
Jason talks with Father George Elsbett, LC, a priest of the John Paul 2 Center in Vienna who has spent years facilitating a growing, thriving little community of faith that is capturing the minds of young people. In a space where people are leaving the Catholic Church, Father George is leading the way in captivating hearts and bringing them into the love of God. He shares about his openness to reevaluating everything and how his journey with God has led him to unimaginable fruit for the Kingdom.
SHOWNOTES
In this episode you’ll hear about how Father George re-imagined what evangelization can be like in present-day Vienna, and the principles we can all learn from it in an apostolic age. Here are some key moments.
Times have changed and our methods of bringing the Gospel need to as well
3:40 - Although Europe is filled with beautiful churches and masses, the reality reveals that 94% of Catholics no longer practice their faith.
8:00 - Unpacking the history and the reality of the Church across Europe. In North America we often romanticize the beauty of churches and cultural heritage of Catholicism, that it’s going to get the faith back.
13:20 - We are no longer the Church of the People. People used to come to Church but we don’t live in a Christendom world anymore. The challenge is pastors aren’t necessarily trained for a reality where it’s not the culture that everyone is coming to Church.
God’s movement in the life of Father George
18:26 - Father George shares about his vagabond childhood with his atheist mother and father who was fleeing the police. He shares the beautiful way his mother and in turn him, encountered Jesus in a way that changed their lives forever.
27:09 - Father George begins to share about the experiences that started to happen that led to building his thriving little quasi-parish community in Vienna to reach young, unchruched people. He shares about the several unsuccessful starts and how that helped lead him towards growth, including being open to reevaluating everything and looking for where there is fruit for the Kingdom.
There is beauty in coming to the end of yourself
30:00 - Father George talks about the moment where he was about to throw in the towel because nothing was working. He talks about his first step being a commitment to prayer.
32:01 - Father George summaries his 3 year journey of learning, reorientating, and creating a vision. He looked around and asked, where are people producing fruit? And how can I look outside the box? He looked everywhere for resources from Protestant churches to Anglican to Catholic: Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Tim Keller, Life Church Podcast, Saddleback, Rick Warren, Holy Trinity Brompton, Rebuilt, Amazing Parish, Divine Renovation, Sherry Weddell, etc.
The principles behind what happened in Vienna
41:00 - Jason giving a summary of what we can learn from this pocket of revival: an act of courage to acknowledge what we’re doing is not bearing the fruit we want to see, creating space for innovation, reordering our efforts, and letting go of frameworks.
43:30 - Talks about the crumbling structure and the urgency of needing to adjust to a parish model that reflects the needs and faith of the world today. He talks about the death of Christendom, facing reality, and being open to innovation.
50:00 - Father emphasizes that these decisions must come out of prayer and discernment. He references an idea from Rick Warren that encourages people to look for the “waves” God is already making and hop onto those, instead of trying to make something happen ourselves.
56:48 - We have visions and put in methodologies but for some reason, the methodologies become the vision. What does it look like to apply what’s working in one context into your own? What is it like to bring your own vision? A summary of prayer, courage, and trying something new.
59:20 - Father talks about the main principles such as belonging before behavior, unity in tension, and… what young people are looking for in today’s world, and how they made decisions that they have to make impact.
1:08 - He covers the leadership principles they live by and the principles that have been guiding them. He gives examples of when they decided to lean into a program and when they saw things dwindling and need to pivot - when things had run its course in its context.
KEY PRINCIPLES FROM FR. ELSBETT
Start with prayer & discernment
Look for what God is already doing
Look outside the box
Belong, believe, behave
Unity in tension
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“We have a vision and put in methodologies but for some reason, the methodologies become the vision.”
“Discernment is much more important to churches than it has been in the past.”
“Before you even get to the kerygma… you have to show someone you love them.”
“What would it mean today to have a Catholic revival inside this culture?”
“We say we want to fish, but we don’t like their smell. How they talk, dress, etc. we have to learn to love the fish.”
“It’s not about programs, it's about the people. You have to figure out how to move people. To just have stand off activities not - that’s not helpful.”
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