door to door

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awfulthings9

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A friend and I are going to try door-to-door work soon, and I wanted to post and see if anyone here has attempted and has any insight? Any suggestions on the best way to present ourselves? Opening lines? The Mormons arrive on bikes, so I thought we’d get ahold of Harleys. Okay, I’m kidding on that last one, but we wanted to hit the pavement some upcoming Saturday, so any advice is appreciated. Incidentally, I thought we’d use “Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth”. Is that the best bet??
 
Well, when I went door to door - I tried the simple approach. Just inviting folks to the neighboring parish and if they were Catholic, having them fill out a parish registration form, handing them a parish bulletin, and a rosary with instructions.

People either loved it or we got the door abruptly closed.
 
I have a suggestion…dont ring the door bells too early in the A.M. or too late in the P.M.
 
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jrabs:
Well, when I went door to door - I tried the simple approach. Just inviting folks to the neighboring parish and if they were Catholic, having them fill out a parish registration form, handing them a parish bulletin, and a rosary with instructions.

People either loved it or we got the door abruptly closed.
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In general, I think this is the best approach. It is the one used by our local Legion of Mary contingent.

Be prepared for a variety of situations --Active Catholic, fallen-away Catholic, anti-Catholic, friendly-but-curious non-Catholic Christians, cultists, anti-religious types, and plain ole “not interested.”

God bless you for considering this. We need more of this type of willingness to step out in faith.
 
If there is some kind of Church outreach event, e.g., a picnic, you could invite people to that. That’s what our local Protestants do.
 
One approach we tried (worked pretty well) was to announce that the local Catholic parish was holding a prayer hour(s) that coming Sunday… would they like to attend, or perhaps have a special intention included (not asking for details).

Most of the homes were of people we knew were already registered in the parish, but they did not attend Mass. We heard all kinds of complaints and stories. We could only suggest some answers, or encourage them to contact the pastor directly. But then, you need a cooperative and informed pastor.
 
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Annunciata:
Could someone suggest a good kit ( things to bring along)?
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If your priest does not forbid it, I’d suggest you carry a Bible.

What else? Have these handy (on your Harley) or carry them in a pack. Highlight the important parts and have notes marked in them with referance to Catholic Dogma. Make notes to compbate false anti-Catholic lies too.

An AKJV Bible with the Translators Notes in it.
An NIV Bible.
A Book Of Mormon.
A Catechism.
Chick Tracts.
Tracts on various Catholic subjects.
A Catholic Concordance to referance supporting verses together.

Practice before you go on what to say to various groups and haw to respond to questions. Examples:

Why do you pray to graven images/statues?
Why to you whorship and pray to Mary?
Why do I need to go to church, I pray straight to God?
Why do you ignore the brothers and sisters of Jesus?
Why are priests perverts?
Haven’t you read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs?
Are you saved?
Etc…?

Practice and reherse. Don’t go out til you practice - a lot!

Read this forum, be able to answer the questions here. Know what the Church Dogma is and don’t make it up or say something not true. Read, read, read, and then reread the Bible and the Catechism. Know them inside and out. A good concordance will help.

Take command and ask the questions and lead teh discussion. Don’t let them ask leading questions. Learn to change the topic too!

JMJ

PS, NEVER go alone!
 
Always have something to leave someone who seems interested. A CTS pamphlet perhaps or small catechism. Have a contact number on it.

If someone asks a question you can’t answer (and they seem genuine seekers), offer to come back with someone and discuss the issue in more detail.
 
  1. I think it would be good to have the permission of the local parish pastor.
  2. Go neatly dressed in pairs, at an appropriate hour.
  3. Bring along a Bible.
  4. When someone answers the door I think it best to step back, you don’t want to be percieved as invading their personal space.
  5. Introduce yourself by name as well what Church you are from (you may see a visable sigh of relieve that you are not a Mormon or Jehovah Witness)
  6. Let them know that Jesus loves them and you would like to invite them to visit the local parish (give them info about the parish). A holy card might be good also.
  7. Don’t get into a debate, be very Christian in your demenor.
  8. Don’t be suprised if someone expresses some concerns and problems in their life or with the Church.Just let them know they are welcome to come to the Church regardless of the problem.
  9. Be prepared to say a prayer with them at their doorstep especially if they have a heavy heart about something.
  10. If someone is rude to you just tried to treat them with kindness
Trick
 
Greetings awfulthings9,
Just before Easter this year I went out door knocking in the style of the Jehovah Witness followers, I was given about twelve hours notice that we were going to do this. I could have made an excuse and backed out as it is totally against my nature I am normally very shy.

There were ten of us going out in pairs for the afternoon and we sat and prayed together first. As we walked up to the first house we prayed for the spirit to guide us, we prayed for each other and we prayed for a blessing on all the people in the house. We made this prayer as we walked slowly between each house.

We asked at the door if they would like to answer some questions on the Easter story and I was surprised at the friendliness of the majority of people. Many of them were actively engaging us in conversation about Christ even though they did not go to any church.

I don’t think the greatest purpose is to try and have an answer for all questions or to try and steer the conversation to safe topics, rather I feel it is to leave the person with some challenging thought. Take a pen and paper with you, as you might have the opportunity to come back with some leaflet or with an answer to something so be prepared to take notes. There was an opportunity to pray for a lady suffering with cancer, which I believe was a comfort for her.

I think we caused some confusion and astonishment which helped to open people’s minds and hearts; I introduced myself as a Catholic, and my partner whom I had met for the first time only an hour or so earlier introduced himself as an Anglican. We had nothing prepared, I did not know his thoughts on the gospel or how he might reply to peoples questions.

This was an inter church shared mission and people seemed genuinely surprised that we could work together in mission. We had five questions to ask, which provoked answers and conversation, both John and I had to show the love of Christ working in the way we replied and supported each other.

This had a profound affect on me later and the more I thought about what we had shared together the more it brought to mind Christ’s last commandment: love one another as I have loved you, by this all men will know that you are my disciples.

The five questions with multi choice answers.

There has been talk of Easter being cancelled, if this happened how would you react?
I wouldn’t mind as long as I got time of work.
It wouldn’t affect me.
It would be a loss of our Christian heritage.
Something else

What does Easter mean to you?
Money spent on easter eggs,
Paid time of work
Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Something else.

Who do you believe Jesus to be?
The only son of God.
Just a good man
A prophet
A fictitious character
Something else

Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but what do you believe happens after death?
I don’t know
People are reincarnated in some way
People go to heaven or hell
There is nothing after death
Something else.

If you could know God personally would you be interested?
No
Yes
Not sure
Something else.

In the spirit of shared mission

Eric
 
part two

Some of the more interesting conversations we had were when people answered something else. As Christmas is approaching you could ask some questions about Christmas instead.

How would you answer a person who said they might possibly like to go to a Lutheran Church? Would you make an effort to go into a Lutheran Church and ask the minister to arrange a follow up visit? Or would you go for a Catholic Answer?

The more that I share with other Christians, the more I feel the spirit is working through our combined efforts, and the more I feel the presence of Christ amongst us.

I feel it is not our differences that cause division, it is more our lack of love for each other and a lack of sharing together that separates us.

Peace

Eric
 
One thing you probably shouldn’t do is introduce yourself by your user name on this board. 😃
 
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