Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Door-to-door evangelization
Door-to-door evangelization
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 26, 2009
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
St.Augustine & St. Monica Parish on the lower eastside of Detroit. |
Detroit - Evangelization teams will begin going door-to-door starting Monday in the lower eastside neighborhoods of St. Augustine & St. Monica Parish.
Seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary will help parishioners over the next five weeks in an effort to visit all of the approximately 5,000 to 6,000 houses within the parish boundaries.
"We want to share with others the faith we have received of Jesus present in the Eucharist, and invite other people into that faith," said Fr. Dan Trapp, pastor of the parish.
St. Augustine & St. Monica Church is at Sylvester and Seminole in the neighborhood north and east of Mack Avenue and East Grand Boulevard. The parish boundaries stretch from the Boulevard east to Conner, and from Charlevoix north to the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94).
"I hope people will learn about the parish and what programs we have. I hope many will come and visit; and that some of those will join us," Fr. Trapp said.
The three seminarians involved - Brent Kryda, Eric Tarachowski and Ben Beckett - will primarily do the cold-canvassing of the area, making the initial contact and indicating which homes would be good for a follow-up visit by members of the parish evangelization team.
"I don't want to burn out the parishioners on cold contacts," said Deacon Joe Iskra, who is coordinating the summer evangelization effort.
Should any of the canvassers be asked why Catholics believe as they believe, they will be equipped with a guide to Scripture passages that show the biblical foundations for Catholic beliefs and practices.
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Deacon Joe Iskra (seated) indicates the area to be covered by evangelization teams on a map of Detroit, as (from left) Mabel Midgett, Bonita Gibson and Ben Beckett look on. |
All of those involved in the effort will pray before each visit, and offer to pray with the people they are visiting. They will tell them about the parish and its programs, "and about how we have the best Gospel choir in the city and what a dynamic pastor we have," Deacon Iskra said.
They will leave information about the parish, and conclude with an invitation to come to Sunday Mass.
After each home visit, the seminarians will rate each household on a scale of one to 10, so that the members of the parish team can make follow-up visits to the best prospects.
At one end of the scale would be people who were downright hostile, while the other end would include inactive Catholics who might just need some encouragement to return to active churchgoing.
Deacon Iskra does not nurse any fanciful notions about what the evangelization effort will yield.
"Seminarians might visit 3,000 homes, and only identify 300 to 400 worth a second contact. Then, the evangelization teams might find only 150 to 200 that merit a third contact," he said.
To actually gain a new member normally takes four to five contacts, Deacon Iskra continued. But even if the effort only results in a handful of new parishioners, he said it would nevertheless be a success.
"We will have given a Gospel witness to everyone we come in contact with, and have brought the love of Christ to their door, so we can be successful even if they never visit our church. If, out of 3,000 visits, we get 20 people to visit our church, we still will have done something very powerful for the other 2,980," he said.
Deacon Iskra acknowledged that the overwhelmingly African-American population of the area would probably mostly identify themselves as Protestants, but added that he believes the majority are nevertheless unchurched.
Mabel Midgett is among the six members of the parish evangelization team who were blessed last Sunday by Archbishop Allen Vigneron during his visit to the parish. She recalled being somewhat apprehensive before participating in a similar evangelization effort two years ago.
"At first I was wary, but everybody was very warm and friendly at every door we knocked at. Nobody sicced the dogs on us or anything like that," she said.
Midgett said she believes all Christians are called to evangelize, and going door-to-door "is the way to really get your feet wet."
Beckett, who is taking a year off from seminary after completing his first year of philosophy, said he is hoping his work this summer will help increase the Catholic population of the area. He said he once took part in a similar effort in Missouri.
"The African-American population tends to be very Christian, and in my experience is very open to hearing what we have to say," Beckett said.
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