Father Tim Raemakers has been a priest for 36 years, a pastor for 21, and a Father at Corpus Christi in Aliso Viejo for six. Throughout that journey, he’s gained an understanding for what it means to lead inside the Catholic Church, not only by tradition, but also in a new way as a Purpose Driven Church.
“Corpus Christi means ‘Body of Christ,’” says Father Tim. “And when I think of the Purpose Driven Church, I think of the Body of Christ. And it’s a real blessing to be a priest and a pastor who is part of that.”
Taking on the five purposes didn’t come naturally for Father Tim. In fact, he had a great deal of encouragement — and persuasion — from Stacey Settlemayer, the Director of Stewardship at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. With 20 years in ministry, and nearly six years serving with Father Tim, she’ll never forget the day she read Pastor Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Church.
With an openness to various expressions and traditions of faith, Stacey credits her spiritual journey to her great-grandfather who was a Methodist minister. Before his death in 1921, he planted three churches in Arizona.
“Ministry was in my blood,” says Stacey. “Growing up, my mom was Methodist, and my father a Roman Catholic, so we went to both the Catholic Church and the Methodist Church. From the get go there was that kind of an ecumenical spirit in our household and a respect for all Christian denominations. I just grew up with an openness.”
In 1971, that “openness” led to Stacy’s commitment to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to live out her faith in the Roman Catholic tradition. So much so, that she left her dream profession at Disneyland to dedicate her life to full-time ministry.
As a baby Catholic, Stacey first volunteered as a Youth Ministry Coordinator. Before long, she realized that there was much more that needed to be happening at her church. That’s when she picked up the book The Purpose Driven Church. Despite being just down the road from Saddleback Church, she had no idea who Rick Warren was, or that he was the pastor of a neighboring congregation.
“I read the book,” she recalls, “and felt like I caught the fire. I wrapped on Father Tim’s door and said to him, ‘You need to read this book.”
As is the case with many church leaders, Father Tim simply shelved the book with the rest in his collection. Eventually The Purpose Driven Church ended up in a donation box for the local library. Years later, he read a book entitled Rebuilt, based on the best practices of The Purpose Driven Church contextualized for the Catholic church.
Not only was Rebuilt supported by key players in his church, but it brought about an entire workshop for priests in the Diocese of Orange — a geographical boundary of 62 parishes. Recognizing the source of Rebuilt, Father Tim suddenly thought about the book he had shelved years before.
With his original book now donated, in 2014 Father Tim went out to buy a copy of The Purpose Driven Church. He remembers the exact date his ministry was changed forever.
“On January 28, 2015 Pastor Rick spoke to the Priest of the Diocese of Orange,” Father Tim recalls. “When Pastor Rick was speaking about the Purpose Driven model, my heart just burned and I thought, ‘Yes, I’m moving forward.’”
In the Catholic church, introducing a new paradigm in unique context doesn’t come without pushback, however. To overcome any obstacles, Father Tim and Stacey kept the end game in mind, to bring people closer to Christ. To strengthen their knowledge, they started attending Purpose Driven conferences.
“In the beginning I was really self conscious and concerned about being there as a Catholic,” admits Stacey. “But I was embraced. It was celebrated, and they were thanking me. I realized in that moment how the people of Saddleback are waiting, and wanting all of us to join together.”
After their second PD conference, Father Tim and Stacey really started to strategize and discuss how to bring the purposes into the Catholic identity. Their goal was not to become another Saddleback Church, but rather to celebrate their Catholicism in a very purposeful and intentional way.
In seeing how Saddleback helped build Purpose Driven churches, Corpus Christi made it their mission to reach out to other Catholic churches for support and guidance.
“I’ve had wonderful support from the powers that be,” says Father Tim. “Our Bishop Kevin Van, and Pastor Rick Warren have a wonderful relationship, so they can discern what might be best for their parish community. And for us, the Purpose Driven model is the best in terms of outreach, bringing people to Christ, evangelization, and going after the unchurched. Our particular mission is we want to go after unchurched Catholics. Those who have left us, we want them to come home.”
While they’re still relatively new to the Purpose Driven movement, Corpus Christi is taking steps to implement CLASS 101, youth ministry, and outreach with a partnership between the Catholic Coalition and Habitat for Humanity. By engaging younger generations, they are currently one of 15 parishes in the Diocese of Orange that are building homes in Tustin.
Their parish has also hired a youth minister, launched intergenerational events, and hosted Sunday programs and outreach opportunities for children and families. Their goal is to bring teens to Christ and build engagement, before focusing on the young adult demographic. Through the process, they’ve received guidance and support from Purpose Driven coaches at Saddleback Church.
“We’re just getting started,” says Father Tim. “We haven’t even rolled out class 201. You’ve just got to take the first step and then the Lord supplies.”
If there’s one piece of wisdom Father Tim wants to share with other Catholic priests, it’s that the Purpose Driven purposes are not about Rick Warren. It’s about loving God, loving others, discipleship, serving, and proclaiming his name around the world. Through that balance, a Purpose Driven Church can be built.
Father Tim adds: “A Purpose Driven Church is a healthy church. It’s all five purposes coming together of equal value and being in balance. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being healthy.”
Follow Corpus Christi at Instagram: @AVCatholics / Facebook: @AVCatholics / www.AVCatholics.org / Father Tim’s Twitter: @thegoodpadre
