Men’s Leadership Summit encourages men to find strength in Jesus

“If we really knew Jesus the world would be a different place,” said John Edwards, founder of PEW Ministries and host of the “Just A Guy in the PEW” podcast.

Edwards was the keynote presenter for the first Men’s Leadership Summit for the men of the Somerset Hills Deanery held Oct. 27-28 at St. James Parish, Basking Ridge.

The event, which drew some 45 men and included several talks, an evening reception and an opportunity for training, was sponsored by the diocesan Office of Evangelization.

Adam Carlisle, diocesan secretary for the Offices of Evangelization and Communications, and organizer of the event, stressed to participants, “I believe our society needs us perhaps now more than ever,” pointing out that “despite the fact the New Evangelization has been an ongoing emphasis by the Catholic Church for over 40 years, it has failed to stem the disastrous losses of the faithful in the U.S.”

Citing statistics from CARA and Pew Research, Carlisle pointed out that since 2000, 14 million Catholics have left the faith, parish religious education participants have dropped 24 percent, Catholic attendance has dropped 19 percent, baptisms of infants are down 28 percent, baptisms of adults have declined 31 percent, and sacramental Catholic marriages are down 41 percent. He said one in three men have left the faith.

One reason the New Evangelization is faltering, said Carlisle, “is because it is missing men.”

Edwards, a former Baptist who converted to the Catholic faith, opened with a powerful talk Friday night entitled, “From Addict to Evangelist,” explaining how he survived 17 years, struggling with addiction and vice, was jailed and almost lost his marriage. His addiction to cocaine began in college and continued during his professional career.

His ministry has been to help men find the strength they need to work through their own struggles, especially with the support of parish men’s groups.

Edwards questioned, “How did my life get so messed up?” It became very obvious, he said, “that it was the day I walked away from faith and away from Jesus.”

In his homily during Saturday’s opening Mass, Msgr. Sylvester Cronin, St. James’ pastor, said he focused on the role of Catholic men as ‘Disciples of the Lord.’ Seeing the Apostles as real human beings, but once empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit, there was no stopping them … These men want to be Disciples of the Lord.”

During the Saturday program Edwards offered two additional presentations, “Restoring Your Identity,” and “The Most Important Thing: A Personal: Relationship with Jesus Christ,” stressing that through an encounter with Christ men come to know themselves as made in the image of God and learn how to emulate Jesus.

In stressing the importance of an encounter with Jesus in serving the mission of evangelization, Edwards quoted Pope Benedict XVI who said, “Many people perceive Christianity as something institutional rather than as an encounter with Christ – which explains why they don’t see it as a source of joy.”

He also noted the words of Pope St. John Paul II, who said, “It is necessary again to awaken in believers a full relationship with Christ, mankind’s only Savior. Only from a personal relationship with Jesus can an effective evangelization develop.”

Speaking during the lunch break on Saturday, Mike Donovan, a leadership coach for the Eastern United States with the Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance, said the CMLA is on a mission that states, “If you strengthen the man you can strengthen the family, if you strengthen the family you can strengthen the Church, and if we strengthen the Church, well now, we have a fighting chance of renewing and transforming the culture around us.”

To end the event, and to provide examples of how parish men’s groups are formed, Edwards outlined the reasons men’s groups based on faith were so important – to provide a place for men to be real, to find confidentiality and trust, to have authentic friendships, to pursue virtue and holiness, and to make disciples.

He also stressed that, based upon the practices of the early Church and Jesus’ success as an evangelist, men’s groups should rest up four distinct pillars: Formation, which means to grow as brothers in the knowledge of and relationship with the Lord and the Catholic faith; Worship, which means to bring men together and bond through shared prayer and Adoration; Service, to live out faith through acts of service to church and community, and Fellowship, to have fun, find friendships and experience joy.

The Catholic Spirit asked a few men who attended the conference what they took away from the three talks by Edwards.

“If you are checking your boxes, that’s not where it is. It’s establishing your relationship with Jesus. praying, communicating, listening to what he wants you to do, what path he wants you to follow,” said Paul Dionisio of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater. “He wants you to get out there and share his message.”

“The most important thing is that personal relationship with Jesus. I feel that the Catholic Church needs to make that the forefront of the teachings along with the other sacraments,” said Greg Elia, also of St. Bernard’s.

Ed Caldwell of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Martinsville, said Catholic men are called on to “inspire faith and to encourage a deeper relationship among our children with Jesus.”

“Our job is to get it to one more generation,” Caldwell said.