Is evangelism an important aspect of the Catholic faith?

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lindseynicole

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I am currently a member of a Baptist church. Although I do love my church, I have been strongly considering looking into conversion to the Catholic faith.

One of my biggest concerns, however, is the fact that I never see Catholics evangelizing. I have never been witnessed to by a Catholic. I’ve never been invited to any of their services and frankly, I would feel unwelcome waltzing into mass on a Sunday morning. They don’t seem to put on any sort of events or advertise themselves like the Protestant churches do. It all just seems so secretive.

Now, mind you, I live in a primarily Protestant town, but there are several cathedrals in the area. I’ve been attending my Baptist church for about six months now about about 60% of the sermons have an emphasis on the importance of evangelism. We hold weekly events for the community and we STRONGLY encourage visitors.

Is it just the area I live in? Or are Catholic churches just not very evangelistic?
 
I’m afraid to say that Evangelizing isn’t really encouoraged by the Catholic Church. I grew up a Baptist and was basically willing to believe everything they taught. But I found myself feeling sort of out of it spiritually with them. I tried other denominations as well, but gave up on them because I felt that some things were being left out. :o It took a few years, and a bit of reading, before I got interested in looking into Catholicism. I was truly blessed when I met a priest who was all you could want a preacher to be. He was calm and kind, and more than willing to answer all of my questions. That, and put up with my nastiness on my bad days. I could be a bit of a witch on those days. But he stayed as calm as ever.

Ok, so I digress. We don’t get the push to evangelize like so many Protestant chuches do. And I find that lack saddening. :imsorry: I’ve been trying to find someone interested in that sort of stuff. I suppose the right word would be apologetics. But so far, no go. I know I have a lot to learn, and will never have all the answers. But I do hope that you find some answers here. :gopray:
 
lindseynicole said:
I am currently a member of a Baptist church. Although I do love my church, I have been strongly considering looking into conversion to the Catholic faith.

One of my biggest concerns, however, is the fact that I never see Catholics evangelizing. I have never been witnessed to by a Catholic. I’ve never been invited to any of their services and frankly, I would feel unwelcome waltzing into mass on a Sunday morning. They don’t seem to put on any sort of events or advertise themselves like the Protestant churches do. It all just seems so secretive.

Now, mind you, I live in a primarily Protestant town, but there are several cathedrals in the area. I’ve been attending my Baptist church for about six months now about about 60% of the sermons have an emphasis on the importance of evangelism. We hold weekly events for the community and we STRONGLY encourage visitors.

Is it just the area I live in? Or are Catholic churches just not very evangelistic?
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Being Catholic is about living an authentic Christian life. It’s not about going door to door telling people why we are saved and why they aren’t. I would strongly suggest reading Dr. Scott Hahn’s works. Especially “The Lamb’s Supper”. It’ll really help you see the beauty of Mass and how it is literally Heaven come to earth. Catholics evangelize how Christ taught His Apostles/Bishops. Through living an authentic life. I used to be baptist myself and it was all for show (at least at my baptist group). You won’t see Catholics beating down your door to beat you over the head with a watered down kjv “bible” but you will find them living as we all should strive too (at least those who practice their faith, but that’s a different argument entirely)
 
Well, there’s living our faith, and then there’s the expression of our faith. People may see us as we live our lives, but they won’t see God there unless we mention it. They may just see someone who is good, kind and all of that. But I think we need to speak of our faith and our love for God. This isn’t about being pushy, it’s about showing our faith to the point that we draw people to God.

For example, my first impressions of Catholics were that they were judgmental, rude and down right stupid. The first Catholics I knew was a family that lived near us. The oldest, a girl, was about my age. We pretty much got along ok, it’s just that they sometimes displayed a “holier than thou” attitude. The second was from when I was in the Army. This one woman was just plain stupid. She knew nothing about her faith, which was bad enough. But she later got married and a mutual friend said that she couldn’t cook. That if it didn’t come from a can, she couldn’t fix it. There were other things as well, which may be too personal for this board. She also had a “holier than thou” attitude. I think I got the worst of it. At least, it seemed so.

So, yes, Catholics need to work on their evangelizing skills. It needs to be both a private and public faith. Wear our hearts on our sleeves.
 
SaintPatrick333 said:
Being Catholic is about living an authentic Christian life. It’s not about going door to door telling people why we are saved and why they aren’t. I would strongly suggest reading Dr. Scott Hahn’s works. Especially “The Lamb’s Supper”. It’ll really help you see the beauty of Mass and how it is literally Heaven come to earth. Catholics evangelize how Christ taught His Apostles/Bishops. Through living an authentic life. I used to be baptist myself and it was all for show (at least at my baptist group). You won’t see Catholics beating down your door to beat you over the head with a watered down kjv “bible” but you will find them living as we all should strive too (at least those who practice their faith, but that’s a different argument entirely)
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But what about Matthew 28:19-20 ?
 
I think a church is not a church if it doesn’t evangelise. We sadly only concentrate on evangelising in 3rd world countries. I’m b elieving that this will change under our new Pope. There’s a move here in Australia to get rome to encourage evangelisation in western countries as well.
 
I was a Protestant when I went to a Catholic junior-senior high school (long story). I was there for 5 years. I had to take religion classes every year. I made some very good friends and people were very nice to me (some of them are Facebook friends now), but no one tried to evangelize me. Maybe it was out of respect for my faith, I don’t know. Maybe there was some reticence or shyness.

I was attracted to Catholicism on my own, though, and became a Catholic a year after I graduated.

I think there is more evangelism now with Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins.
 
In general, lay Catholics have been weak on evangelizing in Christian countries, in no small part becuase they can’t explain the faith to themselves, much less someone else. On the other hand, in my city in the American South, I know dozens of Catholics who have a very evangelical disposition, and are always “prepared to make a defense…with gentleness and reverence.”
 
Evangelism is at the heart of the Faith.

It is true and sad that many of the faithful don’t have the heart to evangelize, though. This however is a problem in the Church and certainly not encouraged by Church teaching (quite the opposite). What we need is people on fire for Christ and the gospel to spread the word.

Remember that we are the Church Militant.
 
lindseynicole said:
I am currently a member of a Baptist church. Although I do love my church, I have been strongly considering looking into conversion to the Catholic faith.

One of my biggest concerns, however, is the fact that I never see Catholics evangelizing. I have never been witnessed to by a Catholic. I’ve never been invited to any of their services and frankly, I would feel unwelcome waltzing into mass on a Sunday morning. They don’t seem to put on any sort of events or advertise themselves like the Protestant churches do. It all just seems so secretive.

Now, mind you, I live in a primarily Protestant town, but there are several cathedrals in the area. I’ve been attending my Baptist church for about six months now about about 60% of the sermons have an emphasis on the importance of evangelism. We hold weekly events for the community and we STRONGLY encourage visitors.

Is it just the area I live in? Or are Catholic churches just not very evangelistic?
Click to expand...
Hi Linseynicole! For me as a Catholic, Evangelism is a high priority. Last week I witnessed to 100 people in cable cars while snowboarding in one day. I was delighted with the results. Our primary mission as a Church is Evangelism, which should be to those outside the Church.
Our primary act of mercy is to win people to Christ so as to save them from eternal destruction.
But sadly the excellent teaching of the RCC often has poor implementation at the moment.
I have been living in Germany for seven years and not once has anyone outside the Church evangelised me. So most Churches here are evangelically impotent. We are even tragically Confirming as Christians large numbers who are not yet evangelised due to a false notion of “ex opera operatio” grace. This lack of authenticity sacramentaly undermines our evangelism and catechesis. But I love the RCC. I am saved through it but also it is great to be part if a community that has been praying the scriptures for two thousand years. We are going through a great crises but we will be the better for it later. I hope we will urgently have better stewardship of baptism and Confirmation though. That is the most urgent first step we need to take as a Church.
 
davidn87 said:
But what about Matthew 28:19-20 ?
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Davidn87 you appear not so enthusiastic about Catholic evangelism.
But our primary mission as Catholics and Christians is to the lost. To those not yet saved.
Our primary act of mercy is to evangelise. To challenge people to repent and accept the good news of salvation through Jesus. After that they can be sacramentalised into the Church.
We are now a sub culture but we often operate as if we were still in Christendom.
It is our job to witness to Christ so the Holy Spirit can convict people of their sins and of the truth. People cannot grasp their need for a saviour until they have recognised their sin , what sin is.Many outside the Churches in Europe have few opportunities to hear the gospel or be confronted with faith in another because of our evangelical impotence.
 
rushrules98 said:
We DO Evangelize.
See: www.streetevangelization.com
I’m the Dallas, Tx coordinator.
We are in over 40 cities now and spreading fast.
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So happy to hear that. Keep up the wonderful work bro! Why not share some encouraging news?
Last week in one day I witnessed to at least 100 people while snowboarding. I have a captive audience in cable cars. Many seems never to have been confronted with faith or the gospel.
Our most urgent forst step to effective evangelism in the RCC is to be more authentic in our stewardship of baptism and Confort . We are sacriligeously Confirming large numbers who are not yet evangelised and seek the sacrament for social reasons. No effort is made to intelligently assess that candidates are individually evangelised and sincere.(in Europe) This is effectively lieing about what it means to be a Christian. It is so damaging.
 
I grew up w/a Baptist background and I detest “soul-winning” or “evangelizing”.

I know some people have a passion for it, but I don’t. It’s okay. God created people with different gifts and talents.

I like the fact that Catholics aren’t shoving tracts in my face all the time.

I resent this idea that we are all called to share the gospel in the same way. I share the gospel with my friends when they ask questions. I share the gospel through my relationships and lifestyle. I just don’t talk about it all the time because everyone knows (or quickly figures out) that I’m a Christian and don’t feel the need to share that fact every time I talk to someone.

Evangelism is an important aspect of the Catholic faith. We just do it differently than our Baptist/evangelical counterparts. I’d be out the door if my parish held a seminar on “soul-winning,” given my previous (and horrible) experiences w/this phenomenon. I’d be looking for a new parish real quick. Pressuring people to go “door-to-door” for Christ to see how many people they can get to say the “sinner’s prayer” isn’t what I’d call a good time or very honest. I’m just not called to do some of this stuff.

I’ve never had a Catholic evangelize to me and I love that my Catholic friends never tried. They let me ask my questions. They let me watch their lives. None of them, not even my husband, realized that I was considering conversion until I announced that I was starting RCIA this fall.

Obviously, given my response to this post, it wouldn’t have gone over too well if my Catholic friends had tried to evangelize me. God works in different ways to different people.
 
SaintPatrick333 said:
Being Catholic is about living an authentic Christian life. It’s not about going door to door telling people why we are saved and why they aren’t. I would strongly suggest reading Dr. Scott Hahn’s works. Especially “The Lamb’s Supper”. It’ll really help you see the beauty of Mass and how it is literally Heaven come to earth. Catholics evangelize how Christ taught His Apostles/Bishops. Through living an authentic life. I used to be baptist myself and it was all for show (at least at my baptist group). You won’t see Catholics beating down your door to beat you over the head with a watered down kjv “bible” but you will find them living as we all should strive too (at least those who practice their faith, but that’s a different argument entirely)
Click to expand...
Every saved person is an “ambassador” for the Lord Jesus Christ ]2 Cor. 5:20]. We are to proclaim the Word of reconciliation [the gospel of the Grace of God] [2 Cor. 5:19-21].

The apostle Paul preached the gospel of the Grace of God to a lost and dying world. We should, too.

QC
 
Lisa1967 said:
I was a Protestant when I went to a Catholic junior-senior high school (long story). I was there for 5 years. I had to take religion classes every year. I made some very good friends and people were very nice to me (some of them are Facebook friends now), but no one tried to evangelize me. Maybe it was out of respect for my faith, I don’t know. Maybe there was some reticence or shyness.

I was attracted to Catholicism on my own, though, and became a Catholic a year after I graduated.

I think there is more evangelism now with Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins.
Click to expand...
Who is Jeff Cavins?
Our RCC has been the most successful Church in history at evangelisation.
It is just that currently we need to renew our goal in the West.
We need first to be more authentic in administering baptism and confirmation.
More discerning about who is admitted to these sacraments. People must be evangelised first apart from babies who cannot be insincere and who are really coming into the Church.
Currently in Europe we are baptising and confirming so many insincere un evangelised people that it is most damaging. It is like lieing about what it means to be a Christian.
Our current crises will force lots of changes as we will have so few priests and members.
We are in a catastrophic post Christendom sacramental crises here. Please pray for our bishops to have prophetic leadership and great courage to implement Church teaching.
 
PaulJude said:
Hi Linseynicole! For me as a Catholic, Evangelism is a high priority. Last week I witnessed to 100 people in cable cars while snowboarding in one day. I was delighted with the results. Our primary mission as a Church is Evangelism, which should be to those outside the Church.
Our primary act of mercy is to win people to Christ so as to save them from eternal destruction.
But sadly the excellent teaching of the RCC often has poor implementation at the moment.
I have been living in Germany for seven years and not once has anyone outside the Church evangelised me. So most Churches here are evangelically impotent. We are even tragically Confirming as Christians large numbers who are not yet evangelised due to a false notion of “ex opera operatio” grace. This lack of authenticity sacramentaly undermines our evangelism and catechesis. But I love the RCC. I am saved through it but also it is great to be part if a community that has been praying the scriptures for two thousand years. We are going through a great crises but we will be the better for it later. I hope we will urgently have better stewardship of baptism and Confirmation though. That is the most urgent first step we need to take as a Church.
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I have never heard that our PRIMARY mission as a Catholic Church is to evangelize. I think it is to follow the teachings of Christ, because until we can learn and follow them we should not be preaching to others. Our primary act of mercy should be to give ourselves to God. Sorry I also don’t agree that the most urgent first step is better stewardship. The Church needs to address the serious issues it has within before it starts to try to evangelize to others.
 
einna said:
I have never heard that our PRIMARY mission as a Catholic Church is to evangelize. I think it is to follow the teachings of Christ, because until we can learn and follow them we should not be preaching to others. Our primary act of mercy should be to give ourselves to God. Sorry I also don’t agree that the most urgent first step is better stewardship. The Church needs to address the serious issues it has within before it starts to try to evangelize to others.
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Following Christ’s teaching and giving yourself to God as you said, both includes evangelizing the world. If it does not, it is insincere and hypocritical.

What you said about the Church is wrong, too. If you are waiting for the Church to be perfect before she can evangelize, then it will never happen. The Church needs to (and does, anyways) constantly evangelize and make disciples.

On a general note, obviously that doesn’t mean every member of the Church has to do it in the exact same way. We all have different talents and different “ministries”, if you will. But don’t take cowardice as an excuse for not spreading the gospel.
 
einna said:
I have never heard that our PRIMARY mission as a Catholic Church is to evangelize. I think it is to follow the teachings of Christ, because until we can learn and follow them we should not be preaching to others. Our primary act of mercy should be to give ourselves to God. Sorry I also don’t agree that the most urgent first step is better stewardship. The Church needs to address the serious issues it has within before it starts to try to evangelize to others.
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Thanks for your response. It is so interesting to hear HOW OTHERS SEE IT:
I DO NJOT THINK THIS IS JUST MY OPINION: I BELIEVE THIS IS THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH: excuse my typos here. Are you sure we are to be merciful to God? I think you mean to love God and there I agree. But it is not an either or situation.
I agree about first addressing those serious problems within. But that is my point about Baptism and Confirmation. But tnink about the word mission. It is to do with going out.
Once we have experienced salvation and life in the Hily spirit we simply must share this treasure with others. We are the instruments of Gods mercy. When we receive communiuon we share also in Christ´s mission to seek and save the lost. That means from hell from eternal destruction. It is when we fully accept this mission that we are most healthy spiritually.
But as you suggest this is all on the assumption that one has been evengelised oneself.
You mention preaching. Note that that is only one form of evangelisation.
Evangelism is sharing your treasure with others that is the good news of the gospel oif salvation through Jesus. But often we need to first reach people in their conscience because they cannot grasp their need for a savior until they recognise their own sin. This is an urgent matter because there are people dieing every day in their sins without having accepted Christ in their hearts. The Pope has asked us all to seek creative ways to evangelise.
 
Many Catholics practice evangelizing in a quieter way. There is what is called the apostolate of friendship.

The idea is that we slowly and naturally expand our network of friends…even making friends with people who irritate us. This is love, this is sacrifice…it helps us “go against the easy grain”. It’s part of picking up our cross daily. So we open up our lives, in a spirit of generous friendship. We do things for our friends…we listen to them patiently to learn what is going on in their lives, their worries, hopes, skills, problems. This knowledge helps us better pray for them as well. Our Lord can give us little ways, little inspirations that can help these people…a job posting here, a ride to the radiologist there.

We don’t evangelize on street corners. We go slow…we pray…we offer small sacrifices for our friends. Over time, in a very natural and human way…our friends begin to ask more substantial questions about life and faith…what is the source for our joy and peace. This leads to other conversations about God, prayer, faith.

Matters of the soul are as intimate as they get. It’s generally unproductive to engage on matters of the soul with strangers.
 
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