2019 was a year of growth, blessings, and persistent spiritual renewal for the Word on Fire Institute.
We have grown to over 9,500 members from around the world, representing 27 countries, and:
- Launched the brand-new Word on Fire Institute quarterly journal entitled Evangelization & Culture.
- Launched two podcasts, The John Allen Show and The Evangelization & Culture Show.
- Hosted two live Bishop Barron Presents events with Leah Libresco Sargeant and Dr. Arthur Brooks.
- Opened the official WOFI offices in Dallas, Texas.
- Built exciting new relationships with other organizations around the country, which will come to bear great fruit for the good of the Great Commission.
This growth is a sign of God’s blessings, and we cannot thank each and every one of our members and donors enough.
Now, as we look forward to the new year, I thought I would share the exciting plans we have as we continue to offer numerous aspects to help evangelists grow in their knowledge of the faith and their zeal for the mission of the Church.
We ended the year 2019 with the much-anticipated course by Bishop Barron on the life and mind of St. John Henry Newman. Our students spent twelve weeks diving into one of the guiding lights of the new evangelization with the guidance of Bishop Barron himself. This course, along with numerous others, are now available for our members to enjoy at their own pace. The new year promises to be another unrolling of incredible content to learn and discuss within the Institute.
Here are a few of the courses that we will be launching this year:
- “The People You Will Meet” by Fr. Stephen Gadberry
- “Happiness and the Meaning of Life” by Dr. Jennifer Frey
- “The Evangelical Spirituality of Thomas Merton” by Jared Zimmerer
- “Science for Evangelists” by Dr. Stacy Trasancos
- “Re-enchanting the Secular” by Dr. Matthew Petrusek
- “The Catholic Narrative” by Dr. Tod Worner
As mentioned above, last year we launched the all-new journal Evangelization & Culture exclusively for Institute members. We had two issues launched focused on creativity and Catholic Social Teaching in regard to economics.
We are very excited about the topics we will be covering this year:
- Evangelization and the Digital Age
- Evangelization and Cinema
- The Philosophical and Theological Influences on Bishop Barron
- Evangelization and Suffering
Our Fellows will also continue to bring exclusive and free content for all of our members and followers. This includes a continuation of our launched podcasts as well as some exciting new platforms we will be launching including cultural reviews, exclusive lectures, and WOFI Digital Summits by our Institute Fellows. We will also have several live events and exclusive Q&As for our members!
We are also thrilled about the activity, discussion, and relationship-building that has taken place among our members in the WOFI forums. What a diverse community we have, consisting of members from all over the world, and including Catholic clergy, Protestant pastors, catechists, university professors, teachers, physicians, psychologists, students, and many others from many other areas of expertise. Among our members are also converts from atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Sihkism, Mormonism, and many other faith backgrounds. We are so blessed to have such a broad spectrum of men and women contributing their knowledge and experience within our WOFI Community.
One of our next goals we are looking ahead to is gathering these members in face-to-face communities to start praying and worshiping together to help build the mission of the Word on Fire Institute.
I wish I could share everything that we have planned but there is still more that I must keep under wraps! It is with grace, hard work, and continued support by all of you that we will work towards Bishop Barron’s vision of a full-fledged movement. May the year 2020 be a year of boldness and zeal for the world to see and may the message of Jesus Christ shine forth as salvation for all.
Learn more about the Word on Fire Institute at: https://wordonfire.institute