www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Discuss how your parish spreads the Good News to your local community

The title of this thread is taken from the forum sub-heading. Ignoring the church scandals for a bit, can we ... Discuss how your parish spreads the Good News to your local community?

Can we learn of the many ways our pastors have done their job in spreading that Good News? What ways have they taken to demonstrate that they can think 'outside the box' in conveying the news of Jesus Christ to today's society?

Joe

Joe,

What ways our pastor uses to spread the good news.

1. Probably the most effective way is to encourage us to do it. I've been asked to come onto the board as the representative for evangelism.

2. He encourages us and leads by example to make the Church grounds as inviting as possible. They are gorgeous. They look like heaven.

3. He rides his bike in the neighborhood and gets acquainted with people.

4. We have a vision of being a community center for our brand new suburb.

5. We invite people in for monthly peroghi and stuffed cabbage sales and give people a tour of the Church and an introduction to who we are. I share my conversion testimony at these meetings.

6. I visit door to door telling people about God's care for them and about our Church.

7. We set up booths at Chambers of Commerce events in the surrounding communities.

8. We encourage our members to bring their friends and many do.

9. I will be on Ave Maria radio on September 15 to share my conversion testimony.

Dan L

[ 08-16-2002: Message edited by: Dan Lauffer ]

Thank you, Dan. Your pastor is a good man.

Anyone else?

Interesting. Dan Lauffer writes:

6. I visit door to door telling people about God's care for them and about our Church.

This has been on my heart for a number of months. I went so far as to write up a flyer to put out in the local neighborhoods. I gave it to Fr. Mike (I wouldn't THINK of doing anything without permission from authority) and basically it ran into some sort of trouble and was put aside.

The sad reality is that other than a very small and dedicated minority of folks in our parish who do all the work, we can't get anyone to do anything other than show up and eat perogies when we have festival. And in case you think "I" am bitchin' here, you should hear Fr. Mike in the sacristy before Liturgy. Personally, I think HE is getting a bit tired of it also!! And I don't blame him a bit.

I am 53 years old and the Byzantine Catholic Church (AND the Orthodox Church) were something that I had never understood or looked into until a couple of years ago.

WHERE were the people concerned for my soul? WHERE were the people who were concerned for TRUTH in a modernistic and relatavistic era? Where were the people who would go into the public forum to DEBATE these Fundamentalists and other CULTS who are on every corner of every street?

In fact, WHY is it that those who do NOT have the truth seem to have people knocking on your doors, having "tent revivals" and other such almost every week, while those who have the truth don't come to your door? I am convinced that this was NOT the way the Church grew from the beginning, and in fact, if the TRUTH had been handled like this in the beginning, Christianity would have probably never gotten much past Jerusalem and the world would still be in pagan darkness.

We have the One Who is the Light of the World and we are sticking Him under a bushel basket.

Here is the flyer I made up to place in people's doors. The front side has the following

HELLO FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS AT ST. ANN'S BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH

We dropped by today but we missed you. We wanted to spend a little time talking with you about
spiritual matters. St. Ann's is a New Testament Church, following the teachings and doctrines which Christ gave to the Apostles. As a New Testament Church, we offer you a reverent and quiet place of worship, far removed from the noise and turmoil of today's busy world. At St. Ann's you will find food for your soul in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and a place for service to others in such ministries as our Respect Life Committee and ECF classes. It is our hope that you will come to visit one of our Litugies, at either 8 AM or 10AM (10:30 in the winter) and meet some of our church family.

We know that whenever we go out to visit our neighbors, there will always be questions that people want to ask. We would like to anticipate some of these questions and provide answers for you:

Q: I belong to the Roman Catholic Church, why
are you coming to visit me?

A: We really had no way of knowing this. We are not out “trolling for Latins”. We appreciate your church membership and encourage you to faithfully and fervently serve our Lord in His Church at your parish.

Q: I have a church I belong to now. Why
should I think of changing to your church?

A: Scripture admonishes us to speak the truth in
love, therefore, I must say what I am about to say, but hope to be loving as I say it.

Christ only established one Church. He did not
establish hundreds of denominations. The Church
our Lord established would bear His teaching
authority and offer to mankind eternal life through the reception of the Eucharist (John 6: 53-54). Our Lord further said that He would establish His Church upon St. Peter.(Matt. 16: 18-19). Today, we call the office of St. Peter's authority, which he first held over the Church, by the title of the papacy. To be part of the Church which our Lord established, you must be going to an assembly of believers which is in
communion with the pope and which practices the
Sacramental teachings which our Lord left to the
Apostles. Anything less is simply not being part of the Church which our Lord established upon earth.

Q. What is so special about the Eucharist? We
have the Lord's Supper at our church. What's
the difference?

A: In John chapter 6 and in the the teaching of the Early Church it is taught that the elements are truly the Body and Blood of our Lord and confer eternal life. (John 6: 53) We must kindly but firmly say therefore than any assembly or teaching which teaches that the Lord's Supper is only a memorial, or that He is merely spiritually present, is not in accord with the words of Christ in John 6.

Until the Protestant Reformation, there Eucharist was always regarded as the true Body and Blood of the Lord. By breaking their connection with the papacy, Protestants no longer have the true Christ upon the altars of their assemblies. Wouldn't you desire to go where you can enjoy that divine feast which the Church has always proclaimed to be Christ?

Q: Why should I come to church? I can worship God in my own way right in my home.

A: We hear this an awful lot nowadays. It seems
that in America, people have forgotten what Church
is all about. It is not a social club. It is where we go to unite with God through the Eucharist, and thus find salvation and eternal life. That is why the Eucharist offers eternal life – because we receive Jesus into our very beings when we receive theEucharist. You cannot do that at home.

The church is also the proper place to go to receive forgiveness of your sins against God. In the Sacrament of Penance, you are able to confess your sins to one of God's authorized agents – a priest. Upon receiving the absolution, you can rest assured that God has indeed forgiven you.

Finally, the living relationship we are called is like a marriage. This is why the Church is called the Bride of Christ. What kind of marriage would it be if the bride never had intimate communion with the groom? You can no more stay away from the Church and have a deep and intimate relationship with Christ than a wife can ignore and disobey her husband and have a deep and loving relationship with him.

And this is on the back side:

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

In this day we hear an awful lot about the “Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Yet few people realize that our Lord preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. (Matt.4:23, 9:35). When He sent out the apostles, it was to preach the kingdom of God (Luke 9: 2)

The Gospel is the Good News of God's love for
mankind. In order to understand the Gospel, it is
necessary to understand what God's salvation
program is all about.

When God created Adam and Eve in the Garden, He
created a son (Luke 3: 38) and a daughter who were
to bear His image and grow into the full likeness of that image. It was God's plan that Adam and Eve, as well as all others of mankind who would be born from them, would mature into god-like beings. We call this growth “theosis” in the Eastern Church, and it is the goal of salvation. St. Athanasius put it this way:

“God became man so that man might become god.”

In Matthew 17, you can see a man who has achieved
that fullness of human/divine union when you see
our Lord, as a man, glorified upon Mt. Tabor. This glorification is not only what Adam could have had as God's son, but is also the future of all true believers.

Adam's potential as God's son was to rule the
kingdom in the Father's authority and enjoy
unbroken communion with the Father. Sin lost all of this for Adam. Yet our heavenly Father still loves mankind and still desires for this to take place.

For this reason, our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth. Scripture calls Him the “Last Adam” (1 Corin. 15: 45). As the new Head of the Father's kingdom on earth, He has re-established the communion between mankind and God which was lost by Adam. Through Adam's sin, mankind was separated from the Father. Through Christ's obedience, mankind is reunited with the Father and a new way back into the kingdom is created. The relationship and unity with God that Adam lost for mankind is available if we will do what
our Lord has commanded us to do: repent and believe the Gospel. (Mark 1: 15)

Repentance means to turn from our sin and turn to
God in surrender to His will. Sin is anything which separates us from God. Pride is the root of all sin. It is pride which makes a man say “You do not need Christ.” or “You do not need the Church.” Christ calls upon men to repent of this attitude, to humble ourselves by confessing our sins and submitting to God through the Church and the Sacraments which He gave to us.

Baptism enters you into the Church, which is the
kingdom of God on earth. (Matt. 21: 33-46).
Through baptism, God places you in Christ (Rom.
6:3, Gal. 3:27) and forgives your sins. (Titus 3:5). You are made a member of the kingdom and God
becomes your Father by adopting you into His family.

Not only does God do this, but He offers you a
marvelous gift – that of His own Son in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist we receive wonderful benefits:

We are allowed to partake of the eternal sacrifice of Christ for our sins. Just as the Jews had a lamb to offer, and then eat, for their sins, so we have THE Lamb of God. Through confession and the Eucharist we can be cleansed whenever we fail and sin.

We are made righteous, not by a supposed “legal
declaration” of righteousness, but by becoming one with Christ as He enters our bodies and unites with us. His righteousness becomes ours because we become one with Him. This is why those who understand this partake of the Eucharist as often as they can, for it is an immeasurable aid to holiness of life.

We are strengthened against sin. The more we
receive the life of Christ within us, the better that we can, in His power, resist the temptation to sin.

For those who persevere to the end, there is a
wonderful promise: the promise of eternal life with God in the union of love and fellowship which exists in the Trinity. This promise is to all who enter the kingdom through baptism and remain faithful to the end in good works and charity.

For more information, or to find out how you may
take classes to more fully explain these teachings
of the Church, please contact:

I would be more than happy to receive comments and suggestions on this tract. It is my hope that some day there will be an evangelism committee at St. Ann's and there will be people going out to the neighborhoods to share Christ's love and the truth of the Orthodox Catholic Faith with others.

Cordially in Christ,

Brother Ed

Glory to Jesus Christ!

By breaking their connection with the papacy, Protestants no longer have the true Christ upon the altars of their assemblies.

All of a sudden this text box and the text I am typing is so small I cannot read what I type! HELP!

Anyway, this statement should be breaking away from Bishops with Apostolic Succession. Your statement seems to say the Orthodox Church has invalid consecration, which of course is not true. God Bless!

IC XC NIKA,
-Nik!
"That website guy!"

That point is well taken, and I will edit the paper to reflect this truth if it is ever used. I have nothing but the highest respect for the Holy Orthodox Church and the truth in Her.

No offense meant, hope that none was taken.

Overall, was the tone of the paper of a quality which you would feel comfortable leaving with people? Remember, I'm the angry X Prot guy of the forum here.

Brother Ed

Brother Ed,

It is hard for me to understand why your efforts were apparently rebuffed. Are you sure they were. When I take an idea to Father Loya he either says "yes" or "no" (usually "yes"). Surely in this area the priest is not subject to the whims of a Church committee is he? Why not ask him if you can go out?

Your flier may have been delayed because it is too wordy. We have a glossy picture of the Church on the front. Page 2 is blank for a personal note. Page 3 has a catchy one sentence question followed by an invitation to an open house and peroghi sale, and an invitation to Divine Liturgy. Page 4 is blank. That's it. When people come to the open house on one Saturday each month the ladies have made peroghi and other treats. The treats are free but not the peroghis. Father or our Cantor gives a brief introduction to Eastern Christianity and the icons and I give my conversion testimony.

Hope this helps.

Dan Lauffer

Too wordy. Yeah. That's a problem I do have. I tend to really, really go for those in depth explanations of things. Might be good in a college classroom setting, but for the average layperson, it's a bit much.

I think I might go to Fr. Mike after a bit and tell him that I still consider visitation and evangelism an important part of the growth of the Church and wonder if he is interested in pursuing it.

Thanks for the input.

Brother Ed