By Gia Myers • Posted January 15, 2025

Parishioners at six archdiocesan parishes currently are experiencing deepening faith and calls to missionary discipleship through participation in ChristLife, an adult education program for Catholic and non-Catholic people, who are seeking more meaningful lives and personal relationships with Christ.

“It starts with wherever you’re at in your spiritual journey,” said Jane Selner of the program, the program’s network coordinator in the archdiocesan Office for the New Evangelization.

“It’s beautiful to see how it enlivens their faith,” she said of the impact the program has had on its participants. “(They’re) hearing the truth of the Gospel, having time to share and reflect, embracing it in their hearts and letting the Holy Spirit work.”

The ChristLife program “provides the opportunity to come and hear the message” in a welcoming, non-judgmental environment, she said.

The program has three sections: Discovering Christ applies Gospel teachings to life’s big questions for a personal encounter with Christ; Following Christ focuses on daily prayer, the sacraments, forgiveness and other topics; and Sharing Christ provides practical tools and encouragement to share the Good News with others.

Each section includes prayer, some music, an educational video, small group discussion, and usually a shared meal or snack.

As a result of completing this program, more and more parishioners are growing in their faith  and they are becoming missionary disciples who can inspire other people’s  faith journeys.

ChristLife was founded in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1995 by Maryland native Dave Nodar, who did graduate work at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Studies.

Four members of ChristLife’s Board of Directors reside in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, including: Jim Minnick, a parishioner of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Morton; Rusty Beardsley and Fran Novak, parishioners of St. Rose of Lima Parish in North Wales; and Frank Giesa, a parishioner of St. Eleanor Parish in Collegeville.

Giesa says over 200 people have participated in some part of St. Eleanor’s ChristLife program since it began in 2017.

He helps to lead the ChristLife program at St. Eleanor’s, along with Msgr. Michael T. McCulken, the pastor who championed bringing this program to the parish.

After six months of preparation, St. Eleanor’s ChristLife team of about 10 people ran its first course, Discovering Christ, with a smaller “focus group” of parishioners to collect feedback and work out any issues before opening the program up to a wider audience.

Giesa points to the benefits of ChristLife’s strong organization, as it even provides a list of jokes for program facilitators while also offering parishes enough flexibility “to optimize the impact” of the program, he said.

Meals offered during the program at St. Eleanor Parish have included homemade fare including jambalaya, pork loin and during Lent, vegetarian meals like lentil soup, as well as some take-out meals.

“The meal is of pivotal importance,” said Giesa. “It becomes the great equalizer. We talk about building relationships at that table. It sets the stage for the rest of the program.”

Diana, who completed the ChristLife program at St. Eleanor Parish, called it “powerful and life changing.” She said it encouraged her “to pray more in the moment and to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit.”

“Each week I reflect on what we watched on video, the songs we sang, and our small group discussions,” said Jeff, who also completed the program at St. Eleanor’s. “It had a very strong impact on me growing with the Holy Spirit.”

In addition to St. Eleanor’s, the ChristLife program is currently running at five other archdiocesan parishes including Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Doylestown, St. Agnes  in Sellersville, St. Agnes in West Chester, St. Jude  in Chalfont and St. Rose of Lima  in North Wales.

A seventh parish will be coming on board soon, Epiphany of Our Lord  in Plymouth Meeting.

Anyone who’s interested in attending a ChristLife program can contact the archdiocesan Office for the New Evangelization and learn more about its other programs at https://www.phillyevang.org/.

For more information on the ChristLife, visit the website https://christlife.org/.