I am not an evangelizer. Not by any stretch. So, it was a surprise for me when I felt led to take their online courses.
Background
I’m a convert to Catholicism and I have always been prone to an internalization of my faith. Meaning, that I’m not one to proselytize or evangelize. It’s something that is extremely uncomfortable for me. (Well, I don’t know that I can even say that because I haven’t really done either.)
I’ve always felt that since there was plenty of lumber in my eye that I wasn’t in a position to start telling others about the good news until I cleaned up my own act. I’ve since come to a tenuous understanding that all of us, all Catholics and Christians regardless of our level of perfection, have a need to account for the hope that is in us, ala 1 Peter 3:15. I’m still not confident that I will be good at it. It has taken a looooong time to get where I am in my “faith journey” or conversion. And it is still very much an ongoing process.
So, naturally, I felt moved to start taking the introduction to evangelization courses the St Paul Street Evangelization offers. Because what else would the Holy Spirit ask?
Overview
So, what is St. Paul Street Evangelization? It is a grassroots Catholic organization dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through person-to-person evangelization. Founded on the belief that every person deserves to hear the Good News, this movement takes to the streets and engages with individuals in a welcoming and non-confrontational manner.
All of this sounds dreadful to me in the sense that I get flashbacks to walking on campus to class and all of the well intentioned, but aggressively disposed, proselytizers making eye contact with me and asking me if I’ve accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior. I would generally mumble something or just power through until I was out of their aggro range.
What I’ve learned, having gone through a few of their courses now, is that they advocate a much more reasoned and gentle approach. An invitation. An opportunity to plant seeds and not a full on, shove it in your face tactical approach. I still find the thought of doing it intimidating but at least it is an invitation to discuss and not a full on staccato of strategized engagement that I always found off putting.
I’ve always had the impression that Protestants are better at evangelizing than Catholics so I’m happy to see that St Paul Street Evangelization is making efforts to turn the tide.
My Experience with St Paul Street Evangelization So Far
I enrolled in St Paul Street Evangelization’s courses a few weeks ago. I pledged a certain dollar amount a month which then made me eligible to access their courses and several other resources.
Shortly after pledging my support, I received a personal call from one of the folks from the organization which was unexpected but refreshingly welcome. I haven’t ever received such a personal welcome before and I definitely appreciate it!
The courses are self-paced, combining videos and reading as well as some forum post requirements. There are some practical activities associated with the courses and I’ve found all of them so far engaging and meaningful.
I have several lessons to complete but I can say that they have all been worthwhile so far.
Do I Have to Evangelize?
If you, like me, are not one for public engagement on this topic, that’s OK. It’s a little more than daunting to put yourself out there and have no idea what’s going to happen. Can I answer their questions? Will they make me look like an idiot? Will I feel like I didn’t make any worthwhile connection? Am I wasting my time. And so forth.
I’ve found that going through the lessons and completing the activities has been very helpful, even if they won’t culminate in the full on evangelization efforts. It’s been very educational. I’ve been compelled to stop and consider my conversion story (#newsflash, it’s still ongoing). Really stop and be thoughtful about what the Gospel message truly is and how it brings me hope and can bring hope to others. I’ve learned a lot and there is a good deal of apologetic material if that’s something that is of interest to you.
Don’t be turned off by the evangelization piece! It’s so much more than that.
Conclusion
If you, like me, have heard the ads for St Paul Street Evangelization and brushed it off because you thought talking to random strangers on the street wasn’t your jam, please stop and consider learning more about them.
Understandably, the courses aren’t for everyone but they are making great efforts to help build a group of Catholics who do go out on the streets and help bring back to the fold those lost sheep of which there are so many.
Maybe consider donating to help support their efforts. Or, maybe, reach out to someone who you think might have the traits necessary to be successful in a street evangelization capacity and point them to SPSE. Do you like t-shirts? They have those!
There are so many out there waiting for someone to take the initiative to help them learn of the Gospel message. It just takes one conversation to help plant the seed which leads to someone’s salvation. What an amazing thought! Please consider supporting this organization so they may continue their important work.
I am not in any way affiliated with them. I just think it’s a great ministry that provides several resources to help develop a Catholic’s knowledge of evangelization, apologetics and, generally, provides a platform to help provide a deeper opportunity for conversion!
Thank you for reading.