Cross-Evangelization
Evangelizing from one parish ministry to another
I was recently asked by a group of three neighboring parishes to share with them how our parish’s Walking With Moms ministry engaged our own parishioners.
Walking With Moms is a ministry sponsored by the US Catholic Bishops (USCCB), asking parishes to identify needs in their area to support expectant and parenting mothers who might otherwise lack a support system around them. In 2020, I was asked to get our parish ministry started.
I started out sharing our experience with this group of three parishes by explaining that we took our message to other ministries within our church, visiting them during their regular meeting times and places.
As soon as I said this, one woman jumped in saying, “If this is all I learn tonight, this has been extremely helpful!”
As I reflected on what we had done, I realized our success came from engaging other ministries within our own parish rather than trying to invite parishioners to our own presentations.
By visiting other ministries, we were able to share our message with hundreds of people whereas if we had invited people to come to our presentation, we were likely to engage a few dozen people at best.
When we visited other parish ministries, we explained the purpose of our ministry and shared Gospel stories illustrating Christ’s teachings and examples on how to support mothers in need. We also provided available resources in the local area and practical ways individuals could help.
What we experienced through these ministry presentations was beautiful. We witnessed hearts moved and ministries activated.
For some, their positions moved from a political lens of pro-life/pro-choice to a Gospel lens of helping mothers without judgment just like Jesus taught. For others, they felt empowered to “love neighbor” in a new way just like Jesus commanded.
Two ministries decide to hold fundraisers to support a local Catholic pregnancy help center.
I hadn’t thought about this initiative in terms of it being a tool to evangelize other ministries and their members, yet that is exactly what we were doing.
Upon further reflection, I realized there was something bigger happening, something a LOVING STONES member coined, “cross-evangelization”.
Typically, parish ministries focus on their own work and operate very independently from one another.
One might think of this as a vertical orientation, with the ministry serving the parish, represented by the vertical beam of a Cross. The Cross also has a horizontal beam. Ministries can also be ministering to (and with) other ministries within their own Church.
When St. Paul speaks of the Body of Christ, we may tend to think of the parts as being individual members of the Church. Yet, a typical parish “Church” is also composed of smaller parts, which we call ministries.
Ministries, as important parts of this Church, need each other for mutual spiritual growth and to meet the needs of those served: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” (1 Cor 12:21).
Ministries are typically groups of active parishioners who already know how to work together to accomplish a goal.
For example, when one of the ministries we met with prayerfully decided to hold a clothing and diaper drive, they already knew how to mobilize to accomplish this objective. When a second ministry decided to hold a fundraiser to fund our local pregnancy help center, they already knew how to fundraise together.
Ministries are often the first step a person takes to get involved in parish life beyond Sunday Mass attendance. Yet, this should not be their final step in their growth as disciples.
Ministries can and should be places where evangelization and spiritual growth happens.
It is unlikely that any one ministry can offer members everything they need to grow spiritually as disciples and to be sent as apostles.
If they work collaboratively, they can support each other and the members of each in their spiritual growth journeys in a very intentional way.
One thing I learned from my experience as an engineer is that large systems that work are built from smaller systems that work together.
Today’s parishes are large systems built of various smaller ministries, such as my own parish that has more than 100 ministries.
When parish ministries collaborate to nurture spiritual growth for all members, the body of Christ benefits, and each member also benefits.
Some final thoughts as I reflect on how to put this concept of “cross evangelization” into practice intentionally. Perhaps these may be helpful for you and others to take back to your own Church homes.
4 Ways to Know Your Parish is Ready for “Cross Evangelization”
1. When people join my ministry, how do they encounter God and his love? For example, are people welcomed and generously served?
2. How do we encourage ministry members to grow spiritually? An example of this is to pray together and pray for each other.
3. Which ministries can my ministry collaborate with to help the members in my ministry grow spiritually? For instance, a service ministry could encourage members to attend a retreat or form into small faith-sharing groups.
4. Which ministries can my ministry collaborate with to help their members grow spiritually?
Returning to the visual of cross-evangelization, while the vertical beam for a ministry may be oriented towards the parish staff, ultimately, it is oriented toward heaven.
We want members to get to their heavenly home. I plan to use even more cross-evangelization to walk with those who I encounter each day to head that way.
Will you join me on this journey?
GARY THOME
Gary Thome is a husband, father of five children, and a lifelong Catholic living in northwest Houston. After a successful 32-year career building several billion-dollar technology businesses, Gary left his corporate VP role to found LOVING STONES. He also has served for eight years on the board of directors for the Christian nonprofit, Heartbeat International, providing expertise in strategy, technology, marketing, and finance. He is active in his parish, Prince of Peace Catholic Community, where he has served and led numerous ministries. Photographed with Gary is his wife, Pam, who also is a LOVING STONES of CHRIST Team member.
Favorite Scripture: "Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart’s desire." (Ps 37:4)