Witnesses
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Witness Outlines
The weekend retreat features 10 witness talks. Four are pre-assigned: the pastor or designee (Reconciliation), the Spiritual Guide (Finding Grace), the Journey Leader (Discipleship) and a teen witness from the parish (Serving the Community). The other six witnesses (Renewing Your Faith Life, Growing in Holiness, Supporting Each Other, Living the Eucharist, Listening to the Word and Unconditional Love) are discerned during Evening with the Holy Spirit.
Discipleship - given by the Journey Leader
Finding Grace - given by the Spiritual Guide
Growing in Holiness
Listening to the Word
Living the Eucharist
Reconciliation - given by the pastor or designee
Renewing Your Faith Life
Serving the Community - given by teen witness
Supporting Each Other
Unconditional Love
Witness Talks
The most effective way the Gospel is proclaimed during JOURNEY with Christ and on the retreat weekend is through the witness of each team member. Witness arises from a life which reflects on God’s love for self and community and on how God works for good in everyday life. We are each called to bear witness to Jesus and His message.
As team members, we are all called to give witness to life in Christ. Some will be called to proclaim the word by giving witness talks and leading table discussions. Others will be called to give witness through service, such as Sacristan, Liturgist, Weekend Facilitator or Coordinators.
A witness is a person who has seen something firsthand and can tell others about it.. As a witness for the retreat weekend, you are not being asked to comment on the Church’s theological teachings or teach a class in spirituality. You are being asked to give a firsthand account of your relationship with God in the person of Jesus Christ. In a message on evangelization, Pope Paul said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teacher, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”
To be able to give a firsthand account of Christianity, we must know the Christ. Our witness flows from the experience of knowing and loving Jesus. We share how we know Jesus and our relationship with Him. The power of a witness is in showing how grace can work in imperfect people. God in his miraculous mercy works in all of us. Witnessing requires honesty, allowing others to see and hear Christ through us and the ordinary experiences of our lives that have been touched by God’s grace.
Throughout JOURNEY with Christ, those who have been discerned as witnesses will share their stories with the team. The spirit of this review should be one of love and fellowship. This review is not a time for grammatical feedback or public speaking critiques. The specific witness themes and outlines are listed above.
Witness and JOURNEY with Christ Themes
Witness talks focus on specific themes that, woven together throughout the course of a retreat, demonstrate the power and glory of God working in our day-to-day lives. Because the themes are interrelated and are part of a bigger story, it is important to focus on the theme of the witness, not any one person’s personal story of salvation. Our stories lead to the mystery of God’s role in our lives. We tell our stories with a sense of wonder as we recognize God’s plan and that we are part of something bigger than just ourselves. The story is not about me, but about what Christ has done for me and how I have responded.
The weekend retreat features 10 witness talks. Four are pre-assigned: the pastor or designee (Reconciliation), the Spiritual Guide (Finding Grace), the Journey Leader (Discipleship) and a teen witness from the parish (Serving the Community). The other six witnesses (Renewing Your Faith Life, Growing in Holiness, Supporting Each Other, Living the Eucharist, Listening to the Word and Unconditional Love) are discerned during Evening with the Holy Spirit.
The overall theme of the retreat weekend is the central role of Jesus Christ in our personal lives and the life of the parish. All witness talks are variations on the theme of God’s love for us, and how the Trinity works in our lives.
The first witness talk focuses on personal change, establishing that the purpose of the retreat weekend is to change hearts and minds. The focus on Renewing Your Faith Life provides the opportunity for invitees to reflect on the importance of change or conversion, in big or small ways. That talk is followed by the Spiritual Guide reflecting on Finding Grace, living our new life in Christ every day.
This renewal and conversion should be more than a weekend experience. The witness talk on Growing in Holiness provides examples of how we must continue to renew our lives in Jesus, an ongoing journey to grow in our relationship with Jesus.
The witness talk on Living the Eucharist precedes Mass and focuses on the healing power of the Eucharist. The Mass celebrates our need to worship as a community. Our new life in Christ cannot be lived in isolation. The witness talk on Supporting Each Other illustrates God’s love through our family and community.
These five witness talks should encourage invitees to look at their own lives and their own need for change and conversion, setting the stage for Reconciliation. This witness talk is followed immediately by the opportunity to experience the sacrament of reconciliation.
Serving the Community looks beyond the immediate faith community and allows someone who has been served to share experiences of serving and loving as Jesus did.
God’s word is food for the journey, and it is important to feed and form ourselves on a continual basis. The witness on Listening to the Word provides experiences of how the word of God nurtures and sustains spiritual growth. The community also provides tangible evidence of Unconditional Love. This witness reflects on how God loves us and responds to our individual needs. Invitees then experience this tangible love through support letters written by family, friends and the community.
The final witness talk is on Discipleship. Assured of God’s love for us and strengthened by the community, we are called to follow him. The witness talk reflects on personal experiences of saying “yes” to God.
Additional Information
Witnesses are discerned for a specific theme. It is critical to the flow of the weekend that each witness talk focus on the theme, rather than the entire life story of the individual witness.
Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you and your witness
Let the theme come out through the words and the songs. There may be a great story…but if it doesn’t support the theme, it probably doesn’t need to be told at this time.
The witness that is given to the team doesn’t have to be the “final” version that is given on the weekend. It can change as more of JOURNEY with Christ is experienced, and with constructive feedback from the team when they hear it.
Pay attention to the time constraint. The retreat weekend agenda is packed and in order to experience all the blessings each activity must keep within its allotted time.
When giving a witness for the team, do everything as if it were the weekend in order to get the routine down.
Use a podium
Have final/closing music
Accept affirmations
Witness Preparation Tips
Witness prep tips
The following comes from “Proclaim His Marvelous Deeds” -- Guidelines for Giving a Personal Testimony
1. Take on the attitude of Christ – one of humility and service.
Your attitude should be that of Christ (Phil 2:5).
Say “Lord, not because I am worthy, but because of Your great mercy, I will speak to my brothers and sisters about you.”
The focus should not be on yourself, your accomplishments, nor your unworthiness, but simply on what God in His mercy has done for you.
2. Prepare prayerfully.
Seek God for His anointing on you.
Seek God for His blessing on those who will hear you.
Seek Him for wisdom about specifically what to say at this time.
3. Organize your thoughts in the form of notes.
One way to begin is simply to write down scattered thoughts, passages and incidents that have been coming to you either in prayer or as you go about your daily work.
Your next step is to sort through and organize these thoughts into some logical order.
You may try to present your testimony in the form of some significant lessons you have learned from the Lord in your life.
You might build your presentation around a few Scripture passages that have changed your life.
4. Respect the time limits imposed on you.
The shorter your allotted time to speak, the more important it is to discipline your thoughts and choose carefully what you will say.
Any amount of time is long enough to give glory to the Lord if you prayerfully and carefully prepare.
Have a beginning, a middle and an end to your testimony.
It may be helpful to take your time frame and break it into three parts.
5. Keep it simple. Be natural.
There is a real temptation to go into more details than is necessary in a personal testimony.
Get to the heart of the matter: your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don’t be afraid to use some expression in your voice and face. People listen more readily to witnesses whose redemption is visible in their face.
6. Watch your terminology.
This means you should avoid saving things like “I was saved” or “I’ve been born again.”
Instead, say something like “I didn’t take my faith seriously” or “I started to experience the reality of what it means to be a Christian.”
7. Be discreet
It is very important to use great discretion and wisdom when sharing about past or present sin, your own or that of someone else.
Be careful not to injure the reputation of another by revealing sins or character defects.
8. Submit your testimony to some pastoral leader beforehand for discernment on sensitive issues.
9. Remember the A, B, Cs – Audible, Brief and Christ-centered.
10. Be willing to give testimony apart from a prayer meeting context.