FOCUS, known for its college campus ministry for nearly 30 years, has launched a new branch called FOCUS Parish. FOCUS Parish aims to revitalize Catholic parishes and form missionary disciples among laypeople to spread the Gospel locally. The expansion into parishes is driven by the goal of sending missionaries to where the majority of people reside, outside of college campuses. Participating parishes will receive two full-time missionaries who will integrate into the parish leadership and help foster small communities for sharing the Gospel.
2 months ago
FOCUS, a Catholic missionary organization with nearly 30 years of campus work, launched FOCUS Parish earlier in 2025 to extend its reach into local parishes.1 2
The initiative aims to revitalize parishes and form lay missionary disciples who spread the Gospel in communities.1 2
Each participating parish receives two full-time missionaries integrated into the leadership team.1 2
They advise ministries, lead efforts, and build small communities for Gospel sharing, embedding deeply into parish culture.1 2
Leaders Curtis Martin (founder/CEO) and Brock Martin (VP of parish outreach) emphasize sending missionaries "where the people are," noting most Catholics live in parishes, not campuses.1 2
Evangelization thrives through transformation in families and parishes via friendships, leveraging the Church's global parish structure.1 2
FOCUS Parish operates in 25 U.S. parishes currently, with plans for 25 more in 2026.1 2
It is the fastest-growing FOCUS branch, fueled by pastors recognizing that "business as usual" fails amid 16,000 U.S. parishes needing new evangelization methods.1 2
Missionary retention reached 100% last year, compared to 25% on campuses, due to working with peers across ages.1 2
This longevity supports scalable growth, with 50-55 new missionaries needed, including campus transfers and fresh hires.1 2
Brock Martin hopes FOCUS Parish becomes a "simple and repeatable gift" to the Church.1 2
Curtis Martin seeks to instill hope in discouraged leaders managing decline, affirming Christianity's growth tradition and a global faith resurgence.1 2
Revitalize parish life through lay missionary discipleship
The Catholic Church teaches that revitalizing parish life is essential for the new evangelization, with lay missionary discipleship at its core. Parishes, as the "most immediate and visible expression" of the Church amid families and neighborhoods, must be renewed to foster communion, formation in faith, and outreach. Pope John Paul II described the parish as the "center of the new evangelization," calling for its renewal in all dimensions to incarnate Christ's priestly, prophetic, and kingly offices, centered on the Eucharist. This renewal empowers the laity—by baptismal dignity—to evangelize as disciples, transforming society from within.
Lay people are called to be protagonists in parish renewal through their missionary vocation. Rooted in Vatican II, this stems from baptism, making evangelization a "right and duty" for all. The laity exercise a "very special form of evangelization" in family, society, professions, and culture, acting as leaven in the temporal order. Pope John Paul II emphasized that lay believers are "in the front line of Church life," not just belonging to the Church but being the Church. Recent teachings affirm parishes as places where the baptized rediscover their call as "disciples of Jesus Christ and missionaries of the Gospel", with Pope Francis urging priests to serve the "varied gifts" of the laity for evangelization. Pope Leo XIV echoes this, calling the whole Church to missionary discipleship to proclaim Christ as leaven for humanity.
"The new evangelization that can make the twenty-first century a springtime of the Gospel is a task for the entire People of God, but will depend in a decisive way on the lay faithful being fully aware of their baptismal vocation".
Small communities within parishes enliven this, forming laity for mission while remaining in communion .
Parish priests play a pivotal role, stimulating zeal for evangelization through preaching and sacraments. They must form the faithful for spiritual maturity, leading them "from Mass to mission". Bishops coordinate this, promoting unified pastoral plans and subsidiarity. Pope Francis calls priests to live their charism in service to lay gifts, discovering "hidden treasures" and feeling less alone in evangelization. All priestly activities unify in Gospel proclamation, with sacraments fostering transforming encounters. The Synod highlights parishes as formation hubs alongside families and movements.
Renewal involves adapting structures for lay participation, like pastoral councils and "communities of communities" . Parishes become "Eucharistic communities"—welcoming, initiatory, open to charisms, and missionary. Urban parishes especially need flexible models. Cooperation among parishes, movements, and missions fosters this . Examples include lay missionaries volunteering locally or abroad, and ecclesial movements energizing youth. Parishes read "signs of the times," addressing dehumanization with communion, becoming "village fountains" of welcome.
Parishes face urbanization, resource shortages, and secularism, yet retain indispensable mission. Renewal counters anonymity and disintegration by building relationships. Priests with "missionary spirit" and "father's heart" lead, collaborating with laity. The 2020 Instruction urges "renewed vitality" adapting to historical changes.
Revitalizing parishes through lay missionary discipleship renews the Church as communion and mission. Laity, formed by priests and nourished by sacraments, evangelize daily life, making parishes vibrant cells of the new evangelization. This fulfills Christ's mandate, urging all from parish to world: go and bear fruit.