I’ve never seen Catholics evangelize!
Last night I had the fortune of meeting Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter/St. Cyprian church in downtown Washington, D.C., and über-blogger for the Archdiocese of Washington. He was holding a meeting at his parish to plan for a major door-to-door evangelization campaign his parish will be conducting this Fall. I was invited to share my own experiences of going door-to-door. In many ways, I was there to smash the many “myths” that have cropped up around going door-to-door. Here are a few:
1) You will be yelled at and attacked.
I have organized going door-to-door to over 2,000 homes in the past four years, and we only had a single instance of someone yelling at us. The vast majority of people are polite, even if they are not interested. But even if someone did yell at you, why should that stop you? Our Lord told us that we are blessed when people persecute us in his name, so being yelled at while sharing the Gospel is a wonderful blessing.
2) Catholics don’t go door-to-door; only Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses do that.
Quite often people who meet us when we are out evangelizing are shocked to hear we are Catholic. They expect us to be either Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses. We have even heard people exclaim “I’ve never seen Catholics evangelize!” What a sad commentary. Our Lord told his followers to go to all the nations preaching the Gospel, so all Catholics are obligated to evangelize in some way – and door-to-door evangelization is a great way to follow Christ’s command. Door-to-door evangelization has gotten a bad name, and this is mostly due to the aggressive tactics of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who often browbeat those they meet in their attempt to make converts. But that does not have to be the only way to go door-to-door. In my experience, Catholics take a much more subdued approach. We go simply to share with others about our parish and the blessings we have received there. We have been given a great gift and we are letting others know about it.
3) I don’t need to go door-to-door; I evangelize without using words.
When people are looking for excuses not to go door-to-door, they often remark that the best evangelization is “without words” and that is how they evangelize so they don’t need to preach with words. I’ve addressed that canard here. It is very important to evangelize with our whole lives, including our actions, but it is a false dichotomy to say that we should only do one method. The assumption of the Christian life is that we evangelize with our actions; we also need to evangelize with words.
4) You have to be outgoing to go door-to-door.
Most people picture the typical door-to-door evangelizer as someone who is bursting with enthusiasm and extroverted to the extreme. I have actually found that the best door-to-door evangelizers are the exact opposite; those who are willing to listen are the most effective at sharing God’s love with others. My wife has a definite gift for door-to-door: very often people will pour out their problems on her as soon as she gets to a door, and she is able to tell them that they will be loved at our Catholic parish.
5) Door-to-door is not effective.
People often cite statistics showing that going door-to-door isn’t really effective and it doesn’t bring people into church. My first response would be to ask why the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are growing so fast then? Also, Jerry Falwell built his megachurch from a tiny congregation by going door-to-door back in the 1950′s. So it can be effective in growing numbers. But the real reason we go door-to-door isn’t to effectively grow our church, it is to be obedient. Christ commanded us to share the Gospel with others, and this is a prime way to do it. And effectiveness can be measured in many ways. I have countless stories of praying with people who are hurting and sharing God’s love with strangers through door-to-door efforts. Furthermore, those who go are energized in their faith and often become better disciples of Christ after going door-to-door. Ultimately, we don’t go door-to-door to get (converts), we go to give (God’s love).
I was very encouraged to see the work Msgr. Pope is doing and the enthusiasm of his parish for evangelization. I hope and pray that more Catholic parishes would recognize the great need to share the Good News with their neighbors who surround them.
“aggressive tactics of Mormons”, this is beyond an understatement!!!! they are quite truculent and condescending, I can tell you first hand, from dozens of run ins in my neighborhood where they have a “temple”.
Good to hear you are engaging them and struggling for converts and or bringing back to the fold lapsed Catholics, best regards
I find this idea of going door to door very appealing. Can one do this on one’s own or with a friend or must the parish sponsor it? Does one need special training? Anyway, I think I could do this, but I would be a lone ranger, so to speak.
Ruth Ann,
One does not have to go as part of a parish outreach, but that is ideal. I would say that that one should ALWAYS go with a partner. Not only is it the biblical mandate (“go two-by-two”), but there are also safety issues to consider.
If you do go on your own initiative, you can bring general Catholic information to hand out (such as a Rosary and a Catholic Answers pamphlet), but always direct people to the local parish – that is the entry point for people coming to the Church.
God bless your efforts!
Looks like this pastor and this congregation are a perfect match in the door-to-door campaign. More power to them.
When Mormons came to my door, I let them in and began to speak about my beliefs on confession and John, chapter 6 re the Blessesd Sacrament. I mentioned that Jesus could have used one of over 20 words in Aramatic to mean symbol and he did not. He mentioned to gnaw on his Body and Blood….how plain can that be. Then I asked them questions about what I just talked about. They were speechless. They offered me a Mormon book. I declined…as I had the Bible..why would Jesus wait over 1000 years to bring out a book about what He wanted us to know? Then, I politely ushered them out as I had other appointments that day. Often, they never returned…..I wonder why!
In my part of the World, its not a new thing.
I remember doing door-to-door evangelisation as a member of Legion of Mary back in University.
We used to visit Hostels (Male and Female
Way to go, Patricia Cornell!
Interesting thought. I’ve never done door to door evangelization, but I do invite people to our parish and am praying for and sharing with a neighbor. Only thing, though, I’m not so sure about someone “feeling loved” by going to our huge parish, especially if Fr Grumpy is the celebrant. Doesn’t bother me much because I’m Catholic no matter what (I’m a convert, I can say that). Just not so sure how someone else would find it. I love Msgr Pope’s blog and thanks for yours.
I’ve never understood how we, who have the Truth, are so sluggish at evangelizing while Mormons and JW’s who do not have a historical or biblical leg to stand on, thrive at it.
I strongly recommend everyone to join your closest “Legion Of Mary” group, either in your parish or a neighboring one. You will become a spiritual warrior in the service of the Church and your Priest, evangelizing door-to-door, in nursing homes, paying visits to parents of newly baptized babies, etc. Best Catholic Organization, I’ve come across in 46 years!
I have to echo Joe’s comment! You must seek out the nearest Legion of Mary, begun by Frank Duff in Ireland, for the purpose of evangelization. Members often go door to door to talk to people, to find the lost Catholics, engage everyone if possible in talking about the Catholic Church, or at least Faith. You also have not lived in Huntington Beach, CA, where a former pastor (Fr. Johnson) walked his whole parish, going door to door, at least 3 times during his 25 year tenure. He brought countless people to the Faith, and his tiny parish grew by leaps and bounds because of his love for the Faith and for the Blessed Mother. May he rest in peace, and may his numbers increase.
Having Catholics going door to door is definitely a good a idea. I’m not sure – but there has to be a huge chunk of the population that is in one way or the other a “fallen away” Catholic or a child of one and may still have in some small way an attachment to the Faith. Meeting some Catholic “missionaries” maybe all that is required to spark some interest in returning to the Church. I would suggest though that some training in Apologetics be the first step… And once you understand what separates us from protestants and how to answer their objections – Then go for it!
I also endorse the work of the Legion of Mary. Most of our most dedicated “walkers” going door-to-door at our parish are members of the Legion of Mary.
Actually, Ed, that is one of the “myths” I forgot: that you have to know apologetics to go door-to-door. Of course it doesn’t hurt, but I have found that very few people are interested in discussing finer points of theology. They just want someone to listen to them and let them know that someone cares for them.
I wish I could trust the parishes in my city enough that I could refer folks to them for instruction in the faith.
I don’t think Mormons are used to dealing with informed Catholics. We need to talk to them and engage in dialogue with thme.
The Legion of Mary evangelised in the past and probably still does. I was in a Jewish presidium in the 50′s in Glasgow, Scotland, and we also called on some Muslims. Results? That’s really God’s problem: we weren’t selling vacuums, only allowing Our Lady to work through us. Our aim was self sanctification.
I’m a Catholic Ex-Jehovah’s Witness. Yes, believe it or not, we do exist. I’ve considered the Legion of Mary but after 25 years of going door to door selling the WatchTower and the Awake magazines, I just can’t bring myself to dig out the old bookbag and start knocking on doors again. However, if you do, make sure you wear a crucifix so you are obviously not a JW or LDS; always go in twos, as it can be dangerous work; always make sure someone knows where the two of you are going in case you don’t come back; and be careful of biting dogs/roosters/geese/turkeys. I think it might be fun to go door to door as a Catholic because you’re bound to run into a lapsed Catholic and you can give them some encouragement, rather than trying to convert someone. But you won’t see me doing it anytime soon.
I was at a summer Bible conference once, up in Spokane at Gonzaga Univ. The afternoon sessions were evangelization, taught by Fr. Rick Thomas. After about 20 minutes of teaching about the basic gospel message, he said we would organize in teams of two and go out into the neighborhoods and knock on doors.
Talk about your basic hamamamanah Ralph Kramden Honeymooners excuse-making! I remember hearing one lady try to get out of it by saying something about “in our woundedness” or some nonsense.
We all went out and it was great.
We did in two teams of two. Two praying out on the main sidewalk, and the other two going up to the door. Excellent
I was impressed with Patricia’s, Annie’s and particularly Serena’s comment. Serena, thank you for your comment. You are a brave girl. I’m sure God will use your past background to help others in His own time. What a wonderful gift to have the Faith. If there are any people who are in the Legion of Mary that you know you could ask about their visits, but there’s no rush.
I know of a Pastor at a parish in Iowa who organized a door-to-door evangelization campaign, in conjunction with Eucharistice Adoration and a lecture series, in response to a targeted campaign by an Evangelical church to “convert” Catholics. He was very successful in rejuventating the parish, and the “revival” campaign was called off. Protestantism has always fed on the gangrenous parts of the Catholic Church.
I would like to address one comment:
1. JWs use aggressive tactics in their door to door ministry.
First, to put things in the proper perspective, JWs do not preach door to door for the purpose of converting people’s faith. They follow the same pattern as set fourth by Jesus.
Jesus was born a Jew and not a Christian. Jesus, like all Jews was under the law code. It was this Law code that the religious leaders perverted. Jesus was preaching and teaching what the Jews already had written. He taught about God’s kingdom, religious exposed hypocrisy, the resurrection hope, made God’s name (Jehovah) known, and how to survive the future destruction of Jerusalem among other issues. He used the curing of the sick, resurrecting the dead, feeding people, and other attention getting events to draw attention to God’s future promises. Additionally, he wanted to show people what kind of king he would be once enthroned in heaven for the 1000 year restoration of mankind.
Jesus was not teaching a new religion. Those that followed him did so under the Law Code. Since the Jews rejected Jesus, Jehovah rejected them. Thus, Christianity was born.
JWs do not teach or preach something new. What they help people to see is what is in their own Bibles. They help them to see God’s wonderful promise for the earth and the meek one that will reside upon it. They sound the alarm of the impending destruction of disobedient mankind and of Satan’s system. They show how they can survive the Great Tribulation and Armageddon and how to cope and endure life’s problems and challenges.
Most people do not read their Bibles even while in church. They rely on what they hear or what someone told them. Many people are shock to know that God has a name and are surprised to see his name in their own Bibles.
JWs have an obligation to sound the alarm and to help people survive the Great Tribulation and Armageddon. People’s lives are at stake!!! This is why they preach and teach at door, on the street, in store, where ever. Just because a person request to become a JWs does not mean they will ever become one. Whether people want to become JWs or not is not the mission for preaching and teaching at the doors.
Most people are unresponsive at the doors and that is their choice. If they do not wish JWs to call again, JWs honor their request. It is people that JWs speak to day in and day out who make the conscious decision to want to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They make this decision not based on bribery, trickery, lies and deceit. They are not coercive or BROW BEATEN.
There decision to do anything is based on what they have come to appreciate from God’s word the Bible and not someone at their front door.
I am a Legion of Mary member with the City of God Presediem in Albuquerque, NM. I got to a rehabilitation Center every Saturday to do a rosary and give communion. I have 27 people I attend to each week. I’m a Catholic and proud of what we do for our Blessed Mother. Peter T. Eichenberg. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87112.
My name is Peter Thompson Eichenberg. I reside in Albuquerque, New Mexico 87112. I first came into contact with the Blessed Mother by being asked to host a Rosary Rally here on October 2008, as the Captain. I then joined the Legion Of Mary, Our Lady City of God Praesidium on November 18, 2008. I became a full-time member on April 28, 2009. I served with other legionaires at St. Therese Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center until I committed to St. Catherines Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on June 6, 2009. Each Saturday, I and my fellow legionaires conduct the rosary and deliver Holy Communion to an average of 27 senior citizens at these two centers. I became a Eucharistic Minister on November 7, 2010. As a former altar bo in the mid-fifties, I’ve now returned to Our Lady of the Assumption Parish where I serve our Blessed Mother as one of her legionairies. I was elected Vice-president in August 2010.