That Christ May Be Made Known
My name is Michael Gormley, and I have worked for the Church since 2005, making lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. I was full-time in parish ministry for 17 years until June of 2023, when I became the Mission Evangelist for Paradisus Dei. I also host two podcasts: Catching Foxes and Every Knee Shall Bow.
LayEvangelist.com has been an apostolate of mine for 13 years. Many Catholics do not know the Gospel, nor have been given an opportunity to respond in the “obedience of faith” that St. Paul speaks to in Romans. Moreover, even practicing Catholics with a strong faith need to see how the biblical and sacramental worldview of Catholicism is what Christ died and rose to give the world. My work is to equip ministry leaders with the Gospel of Jesus Christ for themselves, how to evangelize others, and to make Catholic disciples. Principally, this work revolves around a 3-day parish mission, with additional retreats for parish and school staff.
You don’t need a canned presentation but someone that can pivot with the changing needs of your people. I partner with people to do events that are connected to the life and mission of your parish or organization. I call it "Missional Continuity". I want to build upon your foundations and connect with the things before and after my event. We have to ditch the drive-by ministry. I want to be a catalyst, not the engine, of change and spiritual growth in your parish or organization.
Let's partner together.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
Houston, Texas
☎ CONTACT
Gomer@layevangelist.com
This is my seasonal Catholic podcast on evangelization and discipleship with my friend, and master evangelist, Dave Van Vickle. Hosted by Ascension Press.
Making Christ the center.
Running a parish is hard work. In the midst of the busyness, a retreat and training for your parish staff on discipleship and evangelization might just be what you need.
Areas of Practice
YOUTH & Young Adults
I spent 10 years as a youth minister for high school, and middle school students, and now I lead retreats and events for parishes and dioceses. I'm a speaker for both Steubenville Youth Conferences and the Encounter Young Adult Conferences.
PARISH MISSIONS
This is the most challenging and most rewarding part of my work with parishes. I bring the gospel to people who put up barriers to God's love. I help people repent and have faith. With some parishes, we will develop a parish mission to launch the people into small groups or an evangelization initiative at the parish.
Adult formation
I spent 7 years in Adult Faith Formation, overhauling my parish’s sacramental preparation and catechesis of adults. Catholics just do not have an adult-level knowledge of their faith, be it the Bible, basic catechesis, prayer, or liturgy. There is much work to be done here!
church staff training
Changing the culture of a parish is like turning an aircraft carrier around: it's slower than you hope. I have worked for 10+ parish staffs to not just train them on evangelism, but to help them cast vision for their volunteers and key leaders in order to bring about that beautiful transformation from maintenance to mission.
DIGITAL MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
Co-host of Catching Foxes, a massively popular weekly podcast show for Catholics, with over 8 million downloads. Co-host of Every Knee Shall Bow with Ascension Press, training thousands of Catholics on evangelization. Free access to over 300 free talks on SoundCloud.com/amdgomer.
working with priests
God love priests! I have worked with dozens of pastors and parochial vicars in bringing the joy of the gospel back into their ministry. My specific consulting in this area is to help pastors better promote the "apostolate of the laity" as Vatican II desired, by coaching them in the proper way to empower lay missionary disciples.
“The lay faithful, precisely because they are members of the Church, have the vocation and mission of proclaiming the Gospel”
Let's Chat.
I want to work with you and within your budget. I do NOT charge per talk, but only for my time, because the Gospel should be freely given. Online video coaching and consulting, in person staff retreats/trainings, and school retreats/trainings, are additional ways that we can partner together.