Comments on: A Frightening Call to Arms

By: liz

liz — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:18:27 +0000

There are many forms of evangelization. Having worked with an evangelical outreach ministry for over 10 years now, I have found that the most important thing is not what you say at all, but how you share your life. The principals of outreach that we share with our new leaders are simple: go to where they are (for this ministry, high school students, but it is true of anyone, just show up), win the right to be heard (this is why I don’t feel like passing out tracts is helpful, there is no relationship), share your life, walk with your friends through their life, be available and that will speak volumes. Relational ministry is what Christ modeled with His disciples and where I think He has called us. At its heart, it is very simple; we are the ones that make it hard with our preconceived notions and fears. Maybe it is different if you are trying to win people back to your church, to me that is a small part of the picture. The big picture is the good news of the Gospel and surrendering to the cross.

By: me

me — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:27:43 +0000

But that’s precisely the problem. These people do not want to have a conversation. It’s a private, personal, “spiritual” matter. :wassat: And I’m still not sure what that means. Especially since I came into the Church, for the EXACT opposite reason.

How do you start a conversation with someone who doesn’t want to have a conversation at least not on that topic?

I mean, inviting someone over for dinner and setting down and saying, “So, how come you don’t go to church anymore? Wanna talk?” It isn’t exactly going to get people to open up.

I want brainstorming; I know a lot of people who have fallen away from the church. I need to know, what conversations to have with them, and how to adequately express the Catholic Tradition in the face of the argument such as the one we’ve been talking about lately, “The Church undervalues women.” I know it doesn’t, but how do I convince others of that.

By: Jonathan F. Sullivan

Jonathan F. Sullivan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:32:55 +0000

When I said we need to invite them to “join us,” I didn’t necessarily mean starting out with an invitation to join RCIA or come back. I meant that we need to start by inviting them into a conversation so we can get to their questions about why they fell away/don’t see the need for an institutionalized church/whatever their bugaboo is. I’m less interested in what the conversation is than that we start the conversation, since evangelization, at its heart, in an encounter between people and the content of the conversation will vary from person to person.

I also think we don’t need to be afraid of seeming like we’re trying to convince people. We are! Let’s own up to it! We think we’ve got the real deal; we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it and make a case for it.

By: me

me — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:51:43 +0000

“we can’t take for granted that they are open to learning more about their faith. We need to start with the invitation to join us.”

If they are not open to learning more about their faith then why or rather what can we do so that they will accept our invitation. It’s my experience that lapsed Catholics have lapsed because the Catholic church is too “narrow-minded” for them, whatever that means. In reality, I think it’s because they dislike the fact that the Catholic Church does not fit into their box of what spirituality should be. And I didn’t use the word religion on purpose. These people aren’t looking for a religion they are looking for an individualized spirituality that is not something the Catholic church will or should offer them. The sheer idea that they may need someone outside of themselves, their family and small group of friends is not only foreign but frightening. What can we do to convince them that they do need that communion with the church, without making it seem like we’re convincing them of anything.