Comments on: Catholic Evangelization http://ericsammons.com/blog/2009/04/22/catholic-evangelization/ Musings about the Catholic Faith Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:38:42 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 hourly 1 By: Eric Sammons http://ericsammons.com/blog/2009/04/22/catholic-evangelization/comment-page-1/#comment-706 Eric Sammons Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:22:57 +0000 http://ericsammons.com/blog/?p=1837#comment-706 Gretchen, We don't do training sessions, but that's not a bad idea. But when we go door-to-door I do give a quick training to everyone. I basically just tell people a few things: 1) Don't think you have to know everything to evangelize. Most people don't have theological questions, but instead their questions reflect deeper personal issues. It is more important to respect the person asking the question than it is to answer it. 2) It's okay to say "I don't know, I'll get back to you" (as long as you do get back to them). 3) Don't be afraid to invite someone to become Catholic or just visit the parish. Most people freak out at that prospect, but I've found that very rarely are people offended, and only if you ask can you get a positive response. :) Gretchen,

We don’t do training sessions, but that’s not a bad idea. But when we go door-to-door I do give a quick training to everyone. I basically just tell people a few things:

1) Don’t think you have to know everything to evangelize. Most people don’t have theological questions, but instead their questions reflect deeper personal issues. It is more important to respect the person asking the question than it is to answer it.
2) It’s okay to say “I don’t know, I’ll get back to you” (as long as you do get back to them).
3) Don’t be afraid to invite someone to become Catholic or just visit the parish. Most people freak out at that prospect, but I’ve found that very rarely are people offended, and only if you ask can you get a positive response. :)

]]> By: Gretchen http://ericsammons.com/blog/2009/04/22/catholic-evangelization/comment-page-1/#comment-703 Gretchen Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:48:40 +0000 http://ericsammons.com/blog/?p=1837#comment-703 That's really cool, Eric. (And, no, I'm not being snarky, as usual.) My dad recently sent me an article from Homiletic and Pastoral Review ("The Urgency of Evangelization) talking about how we've sort of succumbed to 'indifferentism' (at least, I think that was the word he used), basically how one denomination is as good as any other. But of course, that begs the question, how do we go about evangelizing then? I like the idea of those Inquiry meetings. Does your parish also do training sessions for people who want to evangelize, but sometimes have trouble putting 2 coherent thoughts together? That’s really cool, Eric. (And, no, I’m not being snarky, as usual.) My dad recently sent me an article from Homiletic and Pastoral Review (”The Urgency of Evangelization) talking about how we’ve sort of succumbed to ‘indifferentism’ (at least, I think that was the word he used), basically how one denomination is as good as any other. But of course, that begs the question, how do we go about evangelizing then? I like the idea of those Inquiry meetings. Does your parish also do training sessions for people who want to evangelize, but sometimes have trouble putting 2 coherent thoughts together?

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