"FOR YOU WILL GO BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS" – Luke 1:76 Today, a “forerunner” is defined as a person who precedes the coming or development of someone or something else or as a sign or warning of something to come. In the ancient world, a forerunner commonly referred to an advanced messenger, someone who would announce the news of what had yet to come. In our Christian tradition, the word calls to mind St. John the Baptist. Out of love for Jesus, and recognition that He was indeed the Son of God, John spent his life announcing the arrival and presence of the Messiah, the one whom his people had prayed for since the beginning, would rescue them for oppression, and make the glory of God known to the world. He worked tirelessly, calling others to repent for their sins, to lead a life of simplicity, and bear witness to the fact that the Lamb of God had come to take away the sins of mankind. In this time of great change, uncertainty, hope, and opportunity for growth in our diocese, the Catholic Parenting Initiative aims to be like John: “a voice crying out in the wilderness,” full of zeal, steadfast faith, and love, and striving daily to decrease, so that Christ might increase in our hearts. The Catholic Parenting Initiative will have forerunners of its own, drawing the name of this group from devotion to St. John the Baptist. Our forerunners are the Families of Parishes who have graciously agreed to lead the way and strive to “make straight the way” for successful partnerships with CPI. We will launch partnerships with our Forerunner Families in January of 2025, and will launch our second round of partnerships in January of 2026. Our hope in working with our Forerunner Families first is to provide a better experience for all our partners, by evaluating our processes and resources on a small scale to identify how to best serve the parents and caregivers entrusted to our care.