On weekend evenings in downtown San Jose, there will often be a bearded man on top of a two-step stool shouting at passersby about being cast into hell if they don’t repent. Occasionally, a group of college students exiting from one of the nearby bars will shout back at him, and they enter into a spirited back-and-forth, laced with expletives from the students and scripture verses from the bearded man. 

We all know this is not effective evangelization. However, some catechumenate teams engage in a style of evangelization that seems very different from the street-preacher and yet stems from the same paradigm. In some instances, the evangelist believes they have the answer, and their job is to deliver that answer, no matter what.

When parish teams “begin” the adult initiation process with a six- or eight-week curriculum in place of the Period of Evangelization and Precatechumenate, they may be operating out that paradigm. 

The church teaches very clearly that:

Evangelizing is not, in the first place, the delivery of a doctrine; but rather, making present and announcing Jesus Christ. (Directory for Catechesis, 29)

The Directory for Catechesis goes on to say:

Evangelization has as its ultimate aim the fulfillment of human life. (30)

So if we are not delivering doctrine and if we are delivering fulfillment, how do we evangelize? There are many answers to that question, and one of the best comes from the Directory for Catechesis. The five steps below are based on paragraph 31 from the Dirctory. 

There are five steps to fruitful evangelization:

1. Evangelists are driven by love

This sounds great, and it can also be extremely challenging. It is easy to love people who look like us and sound like us and share our values. But oftentimes those who most need “the fulfillment of human life” are very different from us. Even if we can overcome our prejudice against them, they may reject us. Are we able to be driven by love in the face of hostility or disinterest?

2. Evangelists get close to those who need “the fulfillment of human life” 

Getting close to others requires physical presence. Closeness also requires:

• solidarity
• fellowship
• dialogue

Think about this for a minute. Suppose the bearded man on the step-stool, instead of shouting at the drunk college students, genuinely encountered them. Suppose when seekers come to us, we enter into authentic dialogue with them instead of just telling them what we think they need to know. 

That kind of behavior is unexpected. It is so unexpected that the students or the seekers “may be prompted to wonder about the meaning of life and the reasons for [our] brotherhood and hope” (Directory for Catechesis, 31).

And that can be the start of solidarity, fellowship, and dialogue.

3. Evangelists declare the first proclamation and issue a call to conversion—by listening

At first glance, it may seem as though the bearded man was doing exactly that. Or it may seem that offering a class on salvation history does exactly that. But that isn’t what the church means by “first proclamation” and “call to conversion.” 

Pope Francis says the announcement of the first proclamation and the call to conversion is first of all about listening:

Today more than ever we need men and women who, on the basis of their experience of accompanying others, are familiar with processes which call for prudence, understanding, patience and docility to the Spirit, so that they can protect the sheep from wolves who would scatter the flock.

We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simply hearing. 

Listening, in communication, is an openness of heart which makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. 

Listening helps us to find the right gesture and word which shows that we are more than simply bystanders. 

Only through such respectful and compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth and awaken a yearning for the Christian ideal: the desire to respond fully to God’s love and to bring to fruition what he has sown in our lives. (Joy of the Gospel, 171)

4. Evangelists work to create a catechumenal culture in our parishes 

We recently discussed what a catechumenal culture looks like in another article. In response to that article, Mike Emery beautifully summed up what it means to be a catechumenal parish: “We need to forget our agendas, leave our egos at the foot of the cross, and learn to follow the will of God, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”

5. Evangelists go out

Evangelization will not bear fruit if we are content to wait inside our churches for people to come to us. Those who are most deeply wounded are out on the peripheries and, like the shepherd looking for the lost sheep, we have to go out to meet them. Pope Francis says:

Let us go forth, then, let us go forth to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ.

Here I repeat for the entire Church what I have often said to the priests and laity of Buenos Aires: I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. 

I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living 

without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, 

without a community of faith to support them, 

without meaning and a goal in life. 

More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by 

the fear of remaining shut up within structures 

which give us a false sense of security, 

within rules which make us harsh judges, 

within habits which make us feel safe, 

while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat” [Mk 6:37]. (Joy of the Gospel, 49)

Shouting scripture at people and lecturing on doctrine will not often lead to fruitful evangelization. What bears fruit is patient, loving accompaniment of those who need to hear good news. 

By following these five steps, you and your community will effectively reach out to lost sheep and bring them safely into the fold.

Your turn

Which of these five ideas encourages you about the ministry that you’re doing? Which one especially challenges you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.