FREDERICK – Nearly 40 people from throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore gathered Oct. 5 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick for hands-on training in how to evangelize, to share their Catholic faith with others and invite them to embrace it as well.
Melissa Dubitsky, a lector at St. John, confessed that she was not comfortable with the word “evangelization” but was in the workshop in response to an email sent to her and others from her parish urging them to attend.
She heard that the word “evangelize” means “to bring glad tidings,” to proclaim the Good News of Christ’s victory over sin and death for the salvation of souls.
But making a conscious choice to reach out to others was a tall order for Dubitsky and countless ordinary Catholics unaccustomed to approaching total strangers to discuss such a personal matter.
To help parishioners do just that, the archdiocese’s Institute for Evangelization collaborated with St. Paul Street Evangelization, a nonprofit, grassroots organization based in Warren, Mich. It engages dynamic facilitators nationwide who have a good track record for empowering Catholics to take their faith to the streets in a non-confrontational way.
“We wanted to sponsor something on practical evangelization,” said Edward Herrera, the institute’s executive director. “St. John was chosen to host this workshop because it is centrally located and St. Paul’s does it so well.”
St. Paul’s Randy Grasso of Granbury, Texas, led the daylong sessions. A convert to Catholicism and former litigator, he encouraged attendees to greet each other and tell what motivated them to sign up.
“Strive to find common ground with the people you will approach,” Grasso told them. “When we talk to people, we are the advertisement for the church. We are not in management; we are in sales. We plant the seed. The Holy Spirit produces the growth.”
Back home in mostly Protestant Granbury, Grasso said he is known as “the Catholic guy.” He often wears a t-shirt that says such. And he’s not shy about urging fallen-away Catholics to “come home to Rome.”
“Our motto,” he stressed, is “Listen. Befriend. Proclaim. Invite.”
Salvation depends on it, he said, since the Lord’s disciples have been commanded to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Grasso hoped attendees will leave the workshop knowing how to bring fallen-away children and others back to the church, how to pray spontaneously, how to share both the Gospel and their personal testimony effectively, and understand the role of prayer and the Holy Spirit.
That afternoon, participants in groups of three gained practical experience in witnessing to passersby. They were armed only with gifts of rosaries, Miraculous Medals and holy cards that tell the history of the medal and “Jesus’ mom’s” promise of great graces to those who wear it.
“Mary will always draw people to her Son,” Grasso assured.
For 45 minutes, participants canvased downtown Frederick.
“Roch and I went out with Kellie and just started talking to people,” said Linda Kallmyer. Her husband, Deacon Roch Kallmyer, and Kellie Reynolds are parish renewal specialists with the institute. The trio took turns approaching people in the area.
“You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” cautioned Deacon Kallmyer. “We met a young couple that had a lot of tattoos and piercings, and I thought it would be a short conversation. Then we asked to pray over them and with them, and they agreed. The young woman accepted the medal and holy card.
“But when Kellie asked what their faith background was, the young man said he was ‘saved’ two years ago. He also said that two nights ago, when he went to the Frederick mall to do some evangelizing himself, people there almost threw him out” because of how he appeared.
Another woman they encountered was walking toward them. Reynolds, whose turn it was again to make the approach, told her she had a beautiful smile. The ice was broken.
The woman said she had become a widow in the last year, and was trying to figure out what to do with her life. She had leased an apartment in Frederick and was walking around to learn the neighborhood.
They encouraged her to consider visiting St. John, just around the corner.
Deacon Kallmyer said that he spent a lot of time speaking to people in sales and marketing, “but walking down the street speaking to people about Jesus was different” with lifegiving possibilities for all involved.
Kristen Stamathis, a parish renewal specialist, encountered a man on his way to Narcotic Anonymous on her walk along Frederick streets. He said he practiced Islam, but was open to learning about Jesus. Stramathis pointed to St. John.
“I happily asked if I could pray for him,” she said. “In my prayer, I asked that he be filled with Christ and find his way to Scripture in the Bible.”
Stramathis said it was a “beautiful moment, full of a big hug and a lot of smiling.”
“We exchanged some light jokes about ‘church people’ and gave so much gratitude for the working of the Holy Spirit to connect in this moment,” she said.
Stamathis said as Catholics look at the future for evangelization, they must remember that the Holy Spirit is always guiding them with joy.
“God is equipping us to be able to go out comfortably, joyfully and naturally to share the beauty of our Christ, Jesus,” she said.
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