VANCOUVER—Two experts in evangelism are urging Catholics in the Lower Mainland to build trust and rapport with the people around them, as Jesus did.
“Christianity is no longer viewed as the trusted lighthouse for society that it once was,” Brett Powell, former vice president of Catholic Christian Outreach, told 130 people at Setting Hearts Ablaze, an evangelization conference in Vancouver Nov. 18.
“This is the primary challenge of our time. We cannot try to engage culture the way we wish it to be. We have to engage culture in the way it actually is.”
Powell, now the Archbishop of Vancouver’s delegate for development and ministries, said the first thing Christians must do to reach out to people in a postmodern era is build trust. “The first step in witnessing is earning the right to be heard. When trust is high, communication is easy.”
The best way to build trust and earn the right to be heard, Powell continued, is to follow the example Jesus lived during his ministry.
“Jesus is the ultimate encourager. When people looked at Mary Magdalene, they saw a prostitute. That’s how they related to her. They put a lid right on her head, saying ‘That’s what you are. That’s what you always will be.’ Jesus came into her life, and he saw a saint. He related to her like that: with words of encouragement, presence, and belonging, and that’s what she became.”
Jesus treated other future saints that way, too. “When people related to Peter they saw him as a hot-headed fisherman. Jesus saw the first Pope,” said Powell. “People saw Paul as a religious zealot and murderer of Christians. Jesus saw an apostle and missionary.”
Powell told the pastors and ministry leaders at the conference that this loving acceptance of people, without condoning their sin, must be at the heart of every missionary.
“The four most encouraging words in the English language are: I believe in you. A lot of people, when it comes to believing in themselves, are agnostic.”
Keynote speaker Michael Dopp, the founder of Ottawa-based Mission of the Redeemer Ministries, added that no Christian is off the hook when it comes to witnessing to their friends and neighbours.
“If you have been baptized, you are called to be a missionary,” he said at the conference, held at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Vancouver.
“For us to think about evangelization as an optional part of the Christian life would be like saying ‘I’m serious about being a Catholic, I’m just not into prayer.’ It’s not an option to pray. It’s not an option to participate in the sacraments. It’s part of being Catholic. It’s meant to inform and infuse everything you do.”
Dopp, who
has been involved in mission projects in Africa, Europe, and North America,
said the biggest reason Christians don’t evangelize is not a lack of tools.
“Having the right tools is important, but it’s not what stopping us. What’s stopping us is the conviction. Mother Teresa didn’t need tools. She just oozed the Gospel.”
It is that conviction and courage to spread the Gospel that Catholics must embrace if they are intentional about being disciples. “It’s not easy to be a great parent, but it is good to be a great parent. It’s not easy to be a gold medalist, but it is good to do it. The most amazing things in this life are the things that are not easy,” said Dopp.
“What is it to evangelize? It is to say ‘God has done great things in my life and he has great plans for your life. I have seen the kingdom of God in my own life, I have experienced him in my heart and I’ve known him in my soul, but I know he’s not just for me.’”
Conference
participants also participated in praise and worship by music leader Joseph San
Jose and listened to video presentations by Father James Mallon from the
Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth and Angele Regnier of Catholic Christian
Outreach.
Earlier in the week, Dopp also spoke to more than 100 priests of the Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Diocese of Kamloops at a clergy retreat. He told them to equip “evangelized non-evangelizers” to spread the Gospel in their communities.
