By Mary E. Chollet • Posted November 6, 2024

For many Catholics, World Mission Sunday in October can feel a bit distant, with participation limited and beneficiaries unknown. Respected, but remote.

But at St. John Chrysostom Parish in Wallingford, Delaware County, the 98^th World Mission Sunday was up-close, exuberant and personal – a two-day, multi-event celebration on Oct. 19-20 of Catholics’ call to personal, parish and Church mission.

Dubbed MissionFest, the event was spiritually grounded in Pope Francis’ 2024 Mission Sunday exhortation to “go and invite everyone to the banquet!”

Thus challenged — to invite everyone in the 2,000-family parish – parish leaders met and talked for months to craft a range of events and liturgies that would appeal to parishioners across the spectrum: young and old; active and absent; present and homebound; pious and practical.

Planners had two main goals: to impact the community through service and, internally, to recruit new blood for the parish’s 45 ministries. But recruitment requires more these days than a sign-up sheet on a card table.

Leaders decided to create a range of opportunities that would engage people on the spot, before they even realized it. The goal was to get each person to “taste and see” the joy and rewards of an active, communal faith in a way that fit them.

Once they did, greater engagement would follow – or so the planners hoped.

‘Personally, Joyfully, Intentionally’

And so it did. Parishioners were invited to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction, urban service projects, a Kids’ Hour, Family Night and Bible Study and to a “1,000 Meal Challenge.”

They were presented with a 32-foot assembly line to fill hundreds of “SJC Cares Kits” with personal essentials and notes of encouragement for the area’s homeless, plus a station to pot flowers and make cards for the homebound.

They encountered ministry tables filled with smiles, books, rosaries, cookies, magnets, cards, ornaments and new MissionFest tote bags; pizza and doughnuts; meal assemblies benefiting St. John’s Hospice and Caring for Friends; a sensory friendly Trunk or Treat event; and special liturgies and prayers.

To reach every parishioner, active or not, the parish held a three-week collection drive for the items to fill the Care Kits. That appeal brought in thousands of socks, rain ponchos, toiletries, snacks, first aid kits, water bottles and more. These were then painstakingly sorted to prepare that weekend assembly line.

“Our parish mission statement calls us to ‘live out the mission of Jesus,’ and our parishioners answer that call personally, joyfully, consistently and intentionally,” said Father Ed Hallinan, pastor of St. John Chrysostom Parish.

“I frequently remind parishioners that they are holy. MissionFest allowed them to experience, express and celebrate that holiness, and to activate it in others.”

‘What You Do Here, We Feel There’

The weekend also focused on one of St. John’s main missions: to love, serve and support their neighbors in the city of Chester.

Among Pennsylvania’s poorest cities, Chester is just a mile from affluent Wallingford, but feels a world away. Residents battle dire poverty, rising joblessness, homelessness, mental illness and addiction, and shrinking resources to ease the burden. Veteran social-service agencies say the current breadth and depth of need is unprecedented.

St. John’s maintains close relationships with five leading service providers in Chester, including St. Katharine Drexel Parish. For MissionFest, each partner was invited to speak at one Mass — to tell their story and the stories of those they serve.

Father Robert Iannelli presided at one Mass and preached movingly about the parishes’ shared mission of service. Other speakers offered eye-opening, sometimes emotional, witness.

Keisha King, of the Bernardine Center, called St. John’s “the backbone” of the center’s ability to provide hot meals, emergency food relief and classes.

Camille Crane, administrator of Catholic Social Services in Chester, said the parish’s faith and action “graciously informs the missionary nature of the Church.”

St. John’s support means that “our program participants … experience life-changing programs that convey hope and compassion,” she said.

Franciscan Sister Maggie Gannon,  co-founder of ACCESS Community Center in Chester, credited the parish with “transforming” her community on Chester’s West Side.

“What you do here, we feel there,” she said in a talk that was captured in a short video and emailed as an event invitation to 2,000 people.

 ‘Parishioners Sharing Joy With Each Other’

From 8 a.m. Oct. 19 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 20, parishioners ages 3 to 93 were swept up in a swirl of liturgies and activities — many happening simultaneously. The spirit filled every space of the parish campus with encounter, energy and excitement.

Masses were well attended, while ministry tables buzzed with interested visitors. Hundreds of Care Kits were completed, still leaving thousands of donated items for later delivery.

Conversations bubbled and ran deep, ministry tables were stripped of giveaways, and every bite of food disappeared.

Peggy Beck, leader of the parish’s Justice & Peace Ministry, called MissionFest one of the most successful events in her 36 years as a parishioner. The interest, participation and appreciation were “unmatched in my experience,” said Beck, whose ministry also gained several new members.

Butch Ward, a 40-year parishioner and member of the planning team, summed up his experience of the event.

“Over and over again, you could see parishioners sharing joy with each other: the joy of preparing meals for the hungry, the joy of packing bags of essentials for the homeless, the joy of expressing one’s faith in the silence of Adoration. Clearly, ours is a joy-filled mission, and we are truly blessed.”