Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

TIMONIUM – More than 800 people gathered June 2-3 at Church of the Nativity in Timonium to imagine what’s possible.

Rebuilt Conference 2025, with the theme “Can You Imagine,” asked the priests, parish leaders and volunteers present from all around the country and beyond, to imagine their congregations thriving with active parishioners and sufficient funding. The conference then provided insights on how to make those goals happen through numerous workshops and speakers.

“There will always be challenges and difficulties in running a parish. Those challenges can beat us up and those difficulties can wear us down causing us to lose heart,” said Father Michael White, pastor of Church of the Nativity, in his remarks on the first day. “We want you to walk away from this conference encouraged and motivated to lean into that hard work.”

Father White and Tom Corcoran, Nativity’s pastoral associate, are the founders of Rebuilt Parish, a renewal movement.

Rebuilt uses several strategies to renew parish culture and deepen faith. It promotes “exceptional Mass experiences,” encourages deeper faith growth, welcomes outsiders through hospitality and service, and builds strong leadership teams to support the parish mission.

Tracy Giordano, Nativity’s director of operations, and Lori Cuomo, a member of the parish’s ministry, presented a workshop the first day on how to create a welcoming church.

“We know that we want people sitting in the pews, but we are competing for people’s free time. That’s just a fact,” Giordano said.

Many churches, they said, struggle with fostering a truly welcoming atmosphere, with superficial greetings, cliquish behavior and the “holy huddle” – when staff members stick together and don’t mingle with anybody new. For someone who is nervous and unsure about entering a church, those behaviors can keep them from returning, denying them a relationship with Jesus Christ.

“When people take a step into a church, they want to be here,” Cuomo said. “They made it that far. It is our job to welcome them with open arms. First impressions matter.”

At Nativity, visitors are first greeted in the parking lot, where volunteers in the parking ministry guide them to spots and help those with mobility issues. Once inside, volunteer greeters open doors and walk visitors to the welcome center where more volunteers share information about the various services available. All of those encounters are opportunities to learn more about someone as church representatives walk with them, they said.

“Don’t just say ‘Hi,’ Engage in conversation. What’s their story?” Cuomo said. “Take time to connect.”

A friendly, approachable environment is important, too. Nativity speakers suggested keeping spaces such as entrances, lobbies and bathrooms clean and decluttered, with clear signage.

The key to all of these ministries is good volunteers, they said. Personal relationships with volunteers are built through various ways, including sending personal notes in recognition of birthdays or anniversaries or to show support during a hard time.

“It really makes a difference,” Giordano said.

When Giordano and Cuomo were asked during their presentation how to help those individuals who are resistant to change and don’t want to try new programs, their answer was quick, simple and brought a few chuckles.

“Pray for them,” Cuomo said. “God can make all things new.”

Auxiliary Bishop Adam J. Parker, who is on Rebuilt Parish’s board, celebrated the conference’s opening Mass, noting in his homily that his passion was to make disciples.

“Why? Because it is my dream, my vision, my pastoral ambition to re-engage in the life of the church all of the baptized. I know that you want to see this too, that’s why you’re here at this conference,” the bishop said. “Can you imagine what our parishes would look like if we were to succeed?”

God’s will for his church, Bishop Parker said, is “to reach more and more people” to bring people to salvation to have “an ever-reaching impact on the wider culture.”

The last Rebuilt conference was held in 2018 with the theme “RE-Think What’s Possible.” Noel Agoglia, director of worship at Church of St. John in East Stroudsburg, Pa., said her group of eight was so impressed with that conference, they brought 25 people with them to this year’s conference.

“We have a much smaller-scale church, but we make it work for us,” Agoglia said. “We have a very eclectic, very diverse congregation. We try to appease everyone. So far it is working for us.”

Father White admitted that his team didn’t know everything about running a parish and didn’t know anything about the diverse parishes attending the conference. The goal was to share what worked for them. 

“Some of them, frankly, will not work in your parish, we know that,” Father White said. “Some of them just might and we’re convinced more than two of them definitely will.”

Karina Soto traveled from San Antonio, Texas, to attend the conference.

“It’s worth it just to come and get the encouragement to make dreams come true in the parish,” said Soto, who is the office manager for St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, a parish with about 1,300 families.

“The changes you want to see in your parish are not so far out of reach as sometimes seems,” Father White said. “You could be closer to change and transformation than you think. You really can take the steps to bring the momentum you need to bring about that transformation.”

At this year’s conference, an “angel donor” sponsored participants from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. 

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org.

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