Houston summit aims to help priests build parishes for 21st century

One of the more interesting aspects of renewal for the Catholic Church in the United States was the National Eucharistic Congress in 2024 in Indianapolis.

The Congress was preceded by the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage which took thousands of people over 6,500 miles across the country over two months.

Tim Glemkowski was the CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, but he says that however important the event was, the Catholic Church in the U.S. depends on a vibrant parish.

He is the Executive Director of Amazing Parish, which seeks to help pastors and their staff to help make parishes be “evangelizing.”

“It comes as no surprise that the Church is facing many challenges today, from fewer priests and Catholics to shrinking parishes,” Glemkowski said.

“At Amazing Parish, we work alongside parish leaders who are on the front lines, confronting these difficulties every day. We’ve had the profound privilege of accompanying over 1,100 pastors as they work to renew and transform their parishes, and we see that God is doing something beautiful in the Church right now,” he added.

Founded over a decade ago, Amazing Parish has recently released Rebuild My Church: A Call for Renewal – a white paper outlining six principles at the heart of the Church’s mission and challenging parish leaders to intentionally shape their culture for evangelization – part of the organization’s efforts to prepare pastors for the challenges of effective leadership in areas ranging from team dynamics to strategic planning.

Amazing Parish will also hold a “summit” on August 3-5, 2026, in Houston, Texas, to offer “practical leadership development” for parish leaders.

Glemkowski spoke to Crux Now about the purpose of his ministry.

Crux Now: Can you briefly explain what Amazing Parish is and who you primarily serve?

Glemkowski: Amazing Parish is a ministry that exists to support Catholic renewal-minded leaders in building healthy, mission-driven organizations. We work primarily with pastors and their leadership teams, helping them grow in three essential areas: a deep reliance on prayer, a culture of leadership, and a commitment to making disciples. We also work with some schools, bishops, and lay apostolates.

At the heart of our work is a simple conviction: Focusing on the inside-out transformation of culture helps parishes become places where people actually encounter Jesus Christ and grow as disciples. Everything we do is aimed at helping pastors lead in a way that makes that possible.

What is the intention of the Rebuild My Church white paper manifesto?

The Rebuild My Church white paper is meant to name the moment we are in and offer a clear, hopeful path forward. Many pastors and leaders sense that something isn’t working as it once did, but they don’t always have a framework for understanding why or what to do about it. We have learned that these mindsets really work across diverse contexts. Diagnosing the problem is easy, but we wanted to do more to reawaken leaders to a renewed vision of parish life rooted in evangelization, discipleship, and intentional leadership. The last thirteen years or so since Evangelii Gaudium have seen the Church in the United States respond boldly to that vision, and we felt that now is a fitting moment to restate that vision and to share some of what we have learned works.

In your view, what is the greatest challenge facing Catholic leaders today, and how does Rebuild My Church address it?

The greatest challenge is that many of our structures and instincts were formed for a world that no longer exists. For generations, parishes operated in a culture that reinforced a biblical worldview. Today, that support system is largely gone.

We felt that the moment was right for a renewed clarion call to parish leaders to that mission. What Rebuild My Church does is help leaders recognize that we are in a missionary moment. It invites pastors to shift from managing parish life to leading it with clarity and purpose. It also emphasizes that renewal is not primarily about programs, but about leadership, culture, and spiritual depth.

How can parishes embrace new technologies while also protecting people from their downsides, given the prevalence of things like smart phones?

Technology is a tool. The Church has always used the tools of the age to proclaim the Gospel, and today that includes digital platforms that allow us to reach people we might never encounter otherwise.

At the same time, the question gets at something very real: People are seemingly more connected than ever, and yet often feel more isolated. The parish has a unique role to play here. It should be one of the few places where people experience authentic, embodied community. With the growing presence of AI, a hunger is going to grow, and a premium is going to be placed on this kind of real relationship.

Parishes should use technology to invite, communicate, and evangelize but always with the goal of drawing people into deeper, in-person communion with Christ and with one another.

How can a priest build his parish without giving parishioners “whiplash,” especially amid differences in style or culture?

This is a very real pastoral challenge. Many of the pastors we work with realize that their leadership is not simply about imposing a personal style, but about leading the parish toward its mission to help people meet Jesus and grow as disciples. We coach our pastors to communicate boldly, but also with patience, clarity, and charity, how any changes made are clearly rooted in that mission.

Good leadership also means building trust and moving at a pace that people can follow. In the places that we have seen the most renewal, we have always seen pastors who have very healthy leadership teams who together are not afraid to make hard, courageous decisions but whose steady, intentional leadership ultimately unites the parish around a shared mission.

With fewer priests, how do you involve parishioners more without making them “clerical”?

This is where a proper understanding of the vocation of the laity is so important. The goal of any renewal of the parish should ultimately land at not having more lay people with roles ad intra but empowering them to live their baptismal call ad extra.

In a healthy parish, lay people take real responsibility for the mission and exercise leadership according to their charisms. The pastor remains the spiritual father and leader, but he does not carry the mission alone. In fact, his primary job is to raise up other leaders around him.

When this is done well, you don’t get what Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis called a “clericalized laity.” You get a true communio where each person is contributing in the way God has called them to, both inside the parish and out in the world.

What do you hope to achieve at your upcoming Summit in August?

The Summit is really about two things: Clarity and encouragement.

We want pastors and leaders to leave with a clearer vision of what God is calling them to in this moment and a practical sense of how to begin (or continue) the work of renewal in their parish.

But just as importantly, we want them to experience that they are not alone. Many leaders feel isolated in the challenges in front of them. The Summit creates a space where they can encounter other leaders who are striving for the same renewal and be strengthened in their own call.

Ultimately, our hope is that leaders leave not just informed but renewed: Spiritually and missionally.

Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome