What is Evangelization, Really?
By Brian Miller In order to bring the faith to others, you have to understand what it means to evangelize, you have to be evangelized yourself, and you must be ready to transform what you’re already doing to get out of “maintenance-mode Catholicism.” Here are a few steps you can take to get started and what we’re focused on in the Archdiocese of St. Louis: Step 1: Figure out what we mean when we say “evangelization.” Evangelization is one of those funny things: Everyone is talking about it, but most people don’t really know what it means. Let me propose a basic working definition which comes from the 1992 USCCB document “Go and Make Disciples” that paraphrases Pope Paul VI’s Evangelization in the Modern World: “...evangelizing means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the Gospel itself. At its essence are the proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ and the response of a person in faith, which are both works of the Spirit of God.” Evangelization is about conversion through the power of sharing the Gospel. If we’re not convinced of the need—and the real implications of eternal salvation—we’ll never be an evangelizing Church. Step 2: Be Evangelized. “The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself.” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 15) The Church, in her wisdom, always asks us to start in the same place. G.K. Chesterton was once asked to respond to the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” He famously penned a simple response: “I am.” Why isn’t the Church effective in our evangelization efforts today? Perhaps it’s because I have not been fully evangelized myself. Pope Paul VI gives us the roadmap: “the person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others.” (EN, 24) It is critical that as we invite people to encounter Jesus, to respond to his invitation, and that we experience a renewal ourselves both individually and institutionally. The problem is that we can spend forever trying to feel ready to evangelize. At some point, we’ve got to get out of the boat. The apostles all failed at some point. St. Peter fell asleep in the garden and then denied Jesus three times. You’ll fail too: If you don’t fail, you’re probably not trying to evangelize. Step 3: Transform everything. While many of our ministries have the potential to be evangelizing, without intentionally focusing on conversion—a real invitation for people to repent and believe in the Gospel—they often fall short. They’re stuck in maintenance-mode Catholicism. The good news is that we can take the structures that already exist and give them a more missionary spirit. The first step is always awareness. By looking at everything we do with a missionary lens, we can evaluate whether or not our current programs are successful in actually proclaiming the Gospel. In the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis wrote that the Church should not work for self-preservation, but rather the evangelization of today’s world. This is the crux of our work: to convert everything we do into a missionary activity. It’s a pretty big job and we begin by equipping our leaders. You may have seen a study from Dynamic Catholic that found about seven percent of Catholics are most engaged in the life of the parish: they account for more than 80 percent of the activity and giving, and indicate a strong desire and commitment to prayer, study, generosity, and evangelization. The fine print of that study shows that while seven percent of Catholics desire to evangelize, only 0.6 percent of Catholics feel equipped to evangelize; that is, they’ve had sufficient training to proclaim the Good News and invite people to conversion. If these study numbers are accurate, that means that more than ninety percent of Catholics who even want to evangelize believe they do not have adequate training in order to share Christ with others. It’s important to note that the large majority of Catholics don’t identify evangelization as important. If evangelization is truly the mission of the Church, we have a serious disconnect. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we are working on forming leaders who can take our everyday activities and reorient them toward conversion and proclamation through the real-life relationships that exist in parish life. We’re doing this largely (though not exclusively) through small-group training—discipleship-oriented programs that help people practice the practical skills of evangelization within the context of relationships. We focus on prayer, accountability, knowing the Kerygma, and giving a witness of their personal faith journey. By doing this in small groups, participants aren't simply learning concepts, but learning to share their stories and live in their communities differently. Evangelization isn’t quick work: It’s complicated and it’s messy. But if we keep it at the heart of everything we do, we’ll begin to see the renewal that our Church so desperately needs.
