Not too long ago, a Catholic lay minister named “John” (not his real name) approached me to discuss a concern he has with his parish’s lay evangelization ministry. In addition to their parish’s weekly prayer service of fifty participants, this ministry organizes and facilitates a quarterly Catholic Evangelization Congress for their deanery that gathers between three to five hundred people. Consequently, some lay ministers have given greater importance to the major quarterly religious services they organize for their deanery than to their parish’s weekly prayer service, going to tremendous lengths to bring renowned speakers that would draw the greatest number of participants. This is frustrating to John because these lay ministers have expressed minimal interest in discovering how to engage many of these participants more effectively. Unfortunately, a significant number of them do not attend the prayer services—and seldom attend the Sunday Mass as well—unless a popular Catholic (ordained) minister is participating. John wonders if the ministry is providing a disservice by ignoring this issue…
Tag: true discipleship