74 The Art of Accompaniment
Where can it be implemented?
Central to the faith life of Catholics, “The parish is where the Church
lives” (Communities of Salt and Light, 1). Parishes unite a variety of people
who come from different backgrounds and cultures, including people who
have varied life experiences that shape their perception of God and faith.
As such, the parish is the foremost environment to be considered in imple-
menting the apostolate of spiritual accompaniment.
Accompaniment assists in renewing and refreshing parish ministry.
Ministry must no longer be solely focused on maintaining the status quo of
the parish. Parishes can evolve their formation opportunities to incorporate
true spiritual accompaniment in order to breathe new life into their efforts
to make disciples. Parishes and ministerial leaders cannot be afraid to inno-
vate, clinging to the maxim, “But we’ve always done it this way.” The Synod
on Young People observed that “the parish is struggling to be relevant to
young people and that its missionary vocation needs to be rethought... Even
if there have been various attempts at innovation, the river of young life
often flows along the margins of the community, without encountering it”
(Final Document of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational
Discernment, 18). Renewal of parish ministry through accompaniment in-
cludes moving from focusing on processes and programs toward prioritiz-
ing people and relationships as a means of making disciples.
The apostolate of accompaniment can bring a renewed energy and free-
dom to parishes because it empowers Catholics in the pews to exercise their
baptismal call outside of a structured parish ministry. The apostolate of ac-
companiment is not only for a few ordained or specially commissioned lay
ministers, it is the responsibility and call of all the baptized.
Parish leaders must consider how to involve the whole parish in the
work of spiritual accompaniment. In order for this work to be effective,
accompaniment must become the cultural norm at a parish. Introducing
spiritual accompaniment to the parish culture must have support from the
entire parish community; it cannot be the initiative of only a few deter-
mined people:
One way to ensure that our parishes are true communities of
evangelization, focused on preparing Christians for discipleship,