How I got started in street evangelization
STREET EVANGELIZING is a scary term that conjures up images of scary people yelling scary things at passersby, calling them names and telling them they’re going to Hell. BUT I TELL YOU IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE SCARY. Have you ever found yourself talking with a complete stranger in a line or a crowd or on public transportation? Did you ever notice how easy it can be to open up with someone you don’t have a history with? People are by nature sociable and sharing your faith with someone you don’t know can actually be quite easy if you do it with kindness and sincere interest in the other person. It can be that simple.
About five years ago, our bishop decided every parish in the diocese should have an evangelization committee. I joined my parish’s committee, but it was a disaster. Every committee member was a devoted Catholic Christian in love with Jesus, but we could not agree on what our focus should be and we ended up disbanding. I was very disappointed, but my friend Rob said we should trust that the Holy Spirit would show us the way when the time was right.
About a year later I ran across a Youtube video about a grassroots movement called St. Paul Street Evangelization (SPSE). I had never seen Catholics taking their faith to the streets before. I got very excited because the approach was so non-confrontational. So I went to my pastor and he gave me his blessing to put together a SPSE team of disciple-evangelists as sort of missionaries on the streets. We started offering free rosaries to passersby at a local festival as a means of getting people talking about their relationship with God. Even a baptist minister took one and the two of us had a very pleasant conversation. It was a great evening.
Three years later, I still love to go out and talk with people on the street. People approach us so it’s very rare that anyone is hostile. We go out in pairs and set up a table and a sandwich board sign on a busy street corner, outside a soup kitchen or on a college campus, we pray for guidance and wait for people to come to us. We listen to their stories, we share our own, and we pray with them. Occasionally we are able to clear up some misconceptions about what the Catholic Church teaches, but mostly it’s listening, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, and praying with those in need.
People are hungry to talk about God, but in this secularized culture today it’s hard for them to find a safe haven to do it. We try to be a safe haven.
If you are a Catholic and interested in starting your own team to take your faith out to the streets, check out SPSE at https://streetevangelization.com . If you are not Catholic and you have questions about the Catholic faith, leave a comment and I will try to address your question in a future post or write you back directly. Most people who oppose the Catholic Church have honest misunderstandings about her, born of centuries of talking AT each other instead of with each other. I know this personally because I used to be one of those persons until a friend challenged me to discover the truth about the Catholic Church and what I found out changed my life. My goal in evangelizing is to share the whole truth of what Christ died and rose to give us with as many people as possible so that, even if they never officially come into full union with the Catholic Church, at least we will be closer in unity.
Remember, my friends, that all the baptized are called to go out and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and his church within their own circle of influence. So don’t be afraid. The Lord is with you always to guide you and strengthen you.
“Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope… with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15.)
