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I hope all of us look to be more effective in calling people who are outside the Church and outside the Christian faith into Christ's faith and fellowship. To do that we have to be constantly contacting and engaging more people.
As we live in our communities, it is so easy to get into a pattern of just meeting our circle of church friends, and the people we know will give us a good reception. For those of us who are shy, it is hard to push ourselves to met new people, and to make new contacts. Yet it is only through contacting and knowing other people that our membership can be broadened and the lives of those outside the Church enriched.
I hope it is the objective of every Priest to have a personal contact with every person residing in their parish. This is not possible only in the smaller congregations, but I hope it will at least be an ideal in the larger ones as well.
The first thing to do is to ensure that we don't miss the opportunities for contact that we have thrust upon us. Requests for baptisms, weddings and funerals should not be resented by the clergy, but rather should be welcomed as opportunities to befriend people and to help them come more fully into Christ's Kingdom. Each request is an opportunity to visit the home, to befriend and to teach. If people experience grace and welcome as they come to the Church, this maximizes the possibility of their taking up the Christian life in a serious way.
Community activities are another way of making contact with people. Whenever we find ourselves at community meetings and socials, we need to press ourselves to go and talk to the people that we don't know personally. Whenever new people come to town, that is an opportunity for the Clergy to go and introduce themselves; to ask if the people might be open to coming to your Church. Parish suppers and socials are opportunities as well to get to know the strangers. Often people just cannot go to services "cold." They will go to a social event in the hope of getting to know the minister and to get the feel of the congregation.
For effective pastoral evangelism, it is essential that we continue to work at expanding our circle of contacts. It is hard to do, especially if we are shy and/or busy. I believe that it is through dying to ourselves and our own preferences that Christ brings His Church to life. It is only through doing what is difficult that we become the Lord's vessels. If we are faithful, I think we will be like the seventy who went out fearfully and returned rejoicing.
ITEM XXIII
©1999 Ronald C. Ferris
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