BATAVIA—A quote from Bilbo Baggins in “The Lord of the Rings” fits the story of Mike and Lori Pacer quite nicely: “You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.”

Looking back, Lori Pacer sees the Holy Spirit at work in how she and her husband have been brought to this point as the designers and directors of a now four-years-old evangelization ministry called “Evangelize All Ministries.”

“You’re inspired, but only when you look back do you say, ‘Holy Spirit, that was really wise,’ ” she says of the path begun on a Christ Renews His Parish retreat in the early years of the new millennium.

Lori calls that retreat a “touch moment” for them — a point in time when their faith began to spring into new life.

The Pacers are cradle Catholics, and their early lives could well be called “typical.”

Mike hails from Oak Park, Lori from Springfield, and they met in college in Champaign.

They moved to the Rockford Diocese about 22 years ago to have “more of a suburban feel” as they began their family.

Mike practiced as a trial attorney in Chicago and its collar counties for 15 years. Lori worked as a full-time mother, volunteer and catechist at their Batavia parish, Holy Cross, even heading up its huge Barn Sale fundraiser.  

She labels her back-then self as “culturally Catholic,” active and involved at church but with a faith that “hadn’t dropped into my heart yet.”

“When my oldest (of three sons) received first Communion, I began questioning who, really, is God?” she says.

“I was able to encounter Jesus” on the Christ Renews His Parish retreat, she says, “and then really encounter the Holy Spirit in Light of the World.”

LOTW is a parish-based retreat that was begun at Holy Family Church in Rockford some years ago by parishioners inspired by Sistema Integral de Evangelizacion (SINE) retreats brought to Holy Family from Mexico.

In 2004, Mike heard “a clear call from our Lord to ‘Just leave,’ ” his work in law according to his website biography.

He listened, and his stepping-out in faith first led him to part-time work at the diocesan tribunal.

In 2005, Mike and Lori began to work for LOTR. They led retreats at parishes across the United States and Australia for the next eight years and spoke on various faith topics.

But there was even more in store for them.

“The Holy Spirit started writing something on my heart,” Lori says. “Through twists and turns, I began to see, ‘What if we can do this in a day — and use all the impactful parts, all in a day?’

“I had kids in high school and had been begging friends for years to go (to an LOTR retrea. They thought a weekend (commitment) was unfathomable.”

She adds that in 2012, it was “time to launch this new ministry.”

The Pacers consecrated Evangelize All Ministries to the Blessed Mother, set up a board of directors that includes Bismarck Bishop David D. Kagan, formerly of Rockford, and completed materials for their “God Is!” Day of Renewal.

They began “knocking on doors” in January 2013, presenting the day to pastors.

Although the day is “great for anybody and everybody,” Lori says, “our hearts go out to parents of sacramental-age kids. (It is) an opportunity to reach them when (the time) is really, really ripe.

“Jobs are more challenging, marriage is more challenging, (the promise of) youth and promises of the world come up really short.

“It is a natural time to start asking questions, and we want to answer those for these parents, this next generation of Catholics.”

Giving these men and women “an opportunity to (develop) an adult relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” she says is “about making that (faith) drop from head to heart.”

Using a tool they call the “Trinity Compass,” Lori says the day provides “an encounter moment first,” and continues with “simple themes (and) profound messages of our loving, Triune God.”

It is a lot to pack into a day that typically runs from 8 a.m. until evening Mass. But their earlier experiences have made the Pacers uniquely qualified to design and share this quick offering of the “kerygma” — a personal proclamation of the Good News of Salvation.

The Pacer’s willingness to step out onto an unknown road has brought them to where they can bring God’s always-unique adventures to others.

“We welcome everybody on our climb up Faith Mountain that day,” Lori says, adding priests and atheist spouses have joined in, “and both come away with positive experiences.

“God customizes them for everyone.”