Handing out tracts

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thursday63

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I have a desire to evangelize. In the spirit of St Francis de Sales I wrote a 1.5 page tract about the Eucharist. I took it to my parish priest to check for orthodoxy and any suggestions he might have, He declined to read it immediately but said he would later. I was hoping he would approve and then we could organize teams to go out and put a copy in the mailbox of every street we could find. He has not gotten back to me. What does everyone think of me printing some copies and put them on the windshields of cars at shopping centers?
 
I would say they would be ok for the narthex of the church, but DO NOT put them elsewhere uninvited.
If you really want to evangelize, work in your parish Youth Minsitry.
 
Just a heads up, putting anything other than actual postal mail in someone’s mailbox is technically illegal (in the US). While most people wouldn’t make a stink about it, some number of people might get pissed and do so. Given that, I think it would be a bad idea to do that specifically, and especially to get the Church formally involved in it, because of the liability.
 
Windshield wipers or mailboxes are not good ideas. The former just irritates people, the latter could get you in trouble with the Postal Service. Door to door canvassing near your home or parish church might be an idea. There are good tracts right here on the Catholic Answers site.
 
I wouldn’t even go door-to-door. A lot of places in the USA have “no solicitaiton” laws, and even if they don’t have such a law or your activity wouldn’t fall under it, people nowadays are generally not happy with strangers knocking at their door and may even perceive them as a danger. I know I am not happy when anyone other than the food delivery or the postal/ package delivery has come knocking on my door, and once or twice I have had to call the police on people who wouldn’t leave my property or were door knocking after the sun went down (illegal where I live).

We also had some evangelical guy who was trying to stop people on the street in the business district and got into trouble repeatedly because people reported him for harassment and some of the people he was trying to talk to were minors. There are also often regulations about soliciting in public places such as sidewalks or city parks, and if you go to a mall that’s likely private property and they may throw you out.

I would suggest you join an established evangelization group in your parish or diocese. This will provide you with a more receptive audience and also will keep you from running afoul of any laws or rules in your area regarding doorknocking or other type of soliciting in a public place.
 
I’m pretty sure solicitation laws only apply to commercial solicitation.

Not expressing an opinion on the general advisability of what the OP is planning.
 
There was a lady from the Legion of Mary in Downtown Augusta, just handing out Catholic literature. There’s nothing wrong with that, and why more people don’t do something like that is beyond me. I’ve given people holy cards before.
 
How does Catholic Answers recommend distributing their tracts?
 
Arkansan said:
I’m pretty sure solicitation laws only apply to commercial solicitation.

Not expressing an opinion on the general advisability of what the OP is planning.
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It depends on the jurisdiction. Non-commercial activity like polling or religious evangelization is often considered “canvassing” and still subject to some restrictions, although the commercial activity may be subject to additional restrictions such as needing to buy a permit or register with the city.

Some HOA’s can get very upset about any sort of door-to-door stuff in their subdivisions also.

Again, if the OP at least starts out with a local evangelization group, they should already be familiar with whether there are any restrictions, or places you just don’t want to canvass because of potential issues, and will be able to pass along this information.
 
There are laws in the parts of the US restricting religious canvassing? Do you have any examples? Because I would think that wouldn’t hold up to constitutional scrutiny.
 
Here’s one such law where all door-to-door activity including leaving handbills is forbidden if somebody has a “No Solicitation” sign posted.

http://www.codepublishing.com/CA/AlisoViejo/html/AlisoViejo04/AlisoViejo0404.html#4.04.030

The constitutional challenges usually have to do with cases where there appears to be some type of discrimination based on content, or a time, place and manner restriction that’s overbroad. The ACLU and the Jehovah’s Witnesses have frequently challenged laws that restrict door-to-door activity, especially where the local government was charging for a permit, but I’m pretty sure that it’s still legally okay to allow residents and businesses to “opt out” by registering on a no-knock list and/or posting a “No Solicitation” sign.

The problem with no-knock lists and signs is that pretty much everybody ignores them. I’m registered on one such list and I still have a parade of unwanted people beating down my door including Witnesses, very aggressive people looking to sell home repairs or cheaper utilities, and teenagers involved in some exploitative candy reselling scheme. This tends to make me and many other local residents very grumpy about people coming to our doors. It didn’t help that there was a robbery ring operating one town over where one guy would go to the front door and get the resident’s attention, meanwhile two other people would break into the house at the rear and rob it while the first guy was distracting the resident.
 
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thursday63 said:
I have a desire to evangelize. In the spirit of St Francis de Sales I wrote a 1.5 page tract about the Eucharist. I took it to my parish priest to check for orthodoxy and any suggestions he might have, He declined to read it immediately but said he would later. I was hoping he would approve and then we could organize teams to go out and put a copy in the mailbox of every street we could find. He has not gotten back to me. What does everyone think of me printing some copies and put them on the windshields of cars at shopping centers?
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Are you kidding? I hate things put on my windshield and seeing anything there I am immediately negative to it and discard without reading. People who put things on car windshields in my opinion should be prosecuted for whatever offense that is.
 
Also chiming in on not going door to door…I’m not sure how successful the LDS and the like are with this, but every Sunday I am woken up to missionaries knocking at my door. I never answer as I’m usually trying to sleep, but it certainly doesn’t give me a positive feeling. I would hope the Holy Spirit works in less annoying ways…but what do I know? As a convert from Judaism I still very much believe in not proselytizing.
 
Have you thought about joining an evangelization ministry that you could share your passion for God? St Paul Street Evangilization maybe a good start. Phone ministry. Some churches still may have Door to Door ministries…wondering when or if my Church will send a welcoming visit. One way I evangelize is through hosting Christian Book Fairs at schools.

Prayerfully, Sometimes I leave light house Catholic media CDs or information on a persons car windshield. Or at a resteraunt I may offer someone something if I feel God call me to…usually if I see someone is celebrating their birthday I may wish them a blessed birthday and give a cross or crucifix for a necklace. Or if I see kids well behaved I may take a moment to praise the parents on how well their kids are doing (positive encouragement is awesome in parenting…it is good to encourage each other) and offer any crosses and Holy Cards I may have with me (offer to the parents for the children, not directly to the children). There are so many opportunities to talk and share with others. Some responses leave me humbled that such a small act of kindness could go so far in making someone’s day. Bless God for being so good to guide me in such a way.
 
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