Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Part of Saint Dominic’s vision for his Order of Preachers was that they would be an evangelistic order. How can we individually and together engage in evangelism? How are you engaging in evangelism now?
Please post your comments to the blog or send me your response via e-mail.
http://saintcatherinehouse.blogspot.com/
Also, Sister Elena has asked that we as a house try using an online chat room and have a Catherine House meeting via Chatzy. I’ll ask Brother Carl to share the information regarding how to get to the on-line chat room.
It’s very simple I did just the other day.
We’ll shoot to meet this Wednesday at 10 Central Time (9 Eastern) I may be a little late as I’ll be coming from the campus Bible study at the local college that I lead weekly.
Yours in Christ and dominic,
Brother Kevin+
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9 comments:
My evangelism is mainly taking place within my parish at this time. By attending church in my habit and teaching a class my congregation is visibly seeing my life choice.
I was interviewed for our most recent parish newsletter and many folks now understand who had not had a chance to speak to me individually.
I am eager to see how the rest of you are able to accomplish the work of the order.
Primary evangelism, to me, is nonverbal. At the moment, there's a welter of verbal information hitting us all the time; not only in conversation, and through the media, but even in more subtle ways such as advertising, brand names on items, and even the titles of books on shelves.
In nonverbal evangelism, I try to get out of the way of God, and live in the Good News and close to God. People see that something is different in you and your life. Sometimes it makes us a moving target, but more often, people want to know why we act the way we act. Then we can become verbal about the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
From Br. Rick:
My mission field seems to be mainly among professed Christians. Even in prison ministry, the vast majority of men I meet claim Christian faith. I try to be open about my faith wherever I am-- work, home, church, out and about, and I try to engage people where they are in their faith. I have grown steadly more comfortable discussing my faith over the last several years, and now there are few who know me who don't know about my faith.
The recent elections provided a good opportunity for this kind of evangelism. We all had candidates we were supporting, and candidates we really hoped would not be elected, as well. But as people expressed hopes and fear about the election, it was an opportunity to point out that our real citizenship is in heaven, that God is fully in control, and that we cannot possibly fathom his plans. There is a deep peace that comes to us when we understand God's sovereignty.
To the extent I can live a life where I demonstrably am looking first to Christian faith for answers, rather than looking to my own devices, I am evangelizing how we are to respond to Christ and him crucified. To be able to do that, I must first honestly and lovingly respond myself to Christ and him crucified.
I suggest that this is evangelism springing from contemplation, which is the very heart of the Dominican life. I don't claim to have attained this Dominican ideal, but, as Paul teaches us, I strive to make it my own as Christ Jesus has made me his own.
What has already been posted by Bros Carl, George, and Rick resonates. Sometimes, evangelism may be a verbal encounter that includes an invitation to a Bible study or worship service. Most of the time though, it seems that it's that "something different," even attractive, that people notice. When this is happening, it seems like we have "counselor" written on our forehead; or "this is someone I can talk to." People are lonely, seeking, and they notice. Our task is to stay in prayer, in the Word, with our Bibles open. As for "as an order:" my take is that doing what Dominicans do is by definition evangelizing. If there is something else, I guess I'm just a one talent guy and not aware of it.
I would agree with my brothers, but would also say that as a proclamation Order we must find ways of getting comfortable with more classical forms of evangelism.
Evangelism is the work of introducing others to Christ or of working with the Spirit to bring people to faith in Christ.
Discipleship is the working of growing people in Christ, but this is not the same as evangelism per se.
Certainly, our walk, must back our talk. 85% of American Christians or those active in a church (the two not always being the same) point to a personal invitation from a relative, friend, or co-worker which led them to coming to church and then to faith in Christ.
As Dominicans we need to work at inviting others - this is something that our brothers/sisters in the marketplace have a slight edge on the ordained among us.
In the last year we've seen two students go from being non-Christians to Christians and being confirmed/received into the church.
I have a few folks I'm praying for: including a bright agnostic college student, a native American family with no Christian memory or experience, and a few others.
Sr. Jackie said:
My summer job is serving food in my friend's bar/grill at the Frontier Fort two nights a week. What is a Dominican Novice doing in a bar & grill? ( Well, it's mostly eating, not drinking )And I work with other women and men who have no church background. The cook and I had several talks about his kids not being in Sunday School and church, etc. Well, guess what! I ran into him the other day and he reported that his kids were in Sunday School and he makes certain they get there every Sunday and how much they love it. He has started to attend church (his wife is reluctant) and he thanked me. I wish it was our church he was attending, but at least it's a start for him.
No matter where you are you can touch people with His word, even if it is just being kind.
Sister Jackie, way to go, that's a great testimony.
Yes, our hope is for people to get into the Church, great if it's ours, but the main thing is they get into the Christan Church - whatever department.
Bro Michael of St Louis said...
I am weighing in late on this thread. Some thoughts that come to mind involve comments pertaining to encouraging people to get into a "Christian Church". That is so refreshing to me, as I was raised in a church where evangelization meant converting Methodists (et al) to be Church of Christ. It speaks volumes for our Order and our Church (TEC) that we can say we encourage people to go to Church and mean it.
When I was in high school there was a sign over the entrance to the cafeteria that said, "The life you live is the lesson you teach." That is evangelization, too.
When the Bible lists the spiritual gifts, evangelism is one of many. That said, I am aligned with Bro George and others who evangelize in less direct ways than the traditional definition of the term. I have done both in my life, even door knocking at one time (ouch!). I have found that if I ask God to present me with people who need evangelizing, He will do so. The key for me is never miss an opportunity to witness, and if we trust the Holy Spirit--each of us--He will show us what we are called to do (and when).
We are called to the Order of Preachers. Sometimes (we are told) we should preach with words. At other times, our actions speak much louder than our words.
God calls people to us to be witnessed "unto". That requires that they be of a frame of mind and heart to receive our words (or embrace our actions).
So what I am suggesting is that we all have spiritual gifts within the Order of Preachers, and for some of us that is evangelizing in the traditional way the term is defined. For others of us we are called to evangelize in other ways. The key is for us to always answer the call.
Peace,
Bro Michael of St Louis
My evangelism, like Br. Carl's, takes place in my parish and in the Shreveport area. The Brother's collar gives me the opportunity to talk to people, both in the Episcopal Church and those of other denominations, who are curious about it. I recently wore it to a audition for a documentary pilot and was cast. The documentary is about people who write for fun or profession. I also wore it as an extra in a funeral scene and was asked many times about it..... "is that wardrobe.... or are you really a priest?" My response, "Actually a brother in a religious order," and that is always an opening to start interesting discussions. Evangelism takes many forms and finds itself working in some very unique places.
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