Welcoming Activities Reading & materials Homily Aids & Bulletin Inserts Examples & Ideas for Parishes Church documents on Evangelization Links • Chicago Archdiocese Office of Evangelization

Evangelization: Samples and examples of what works . . . The following are samples and examples of evangelization strategies, processes, programs, action steps and more, that have proven effective in other parishes, arch/dioceses, outreaches or ministries. Grab some of these ideas, tailor them to fit your needs, and use them to strengthen your local evangelization efforts! "There's that sense that there's more to evangelization than simply bringing warm bodies into church—it's the whole process of the transformation of ourselves and all of society." — Mike Hayes and Rev. Brett Hoover, CSP of Paulist Young Adult Ministries Where to begin? A local deanery effort that worked! Name of initiative: "Catholics Coming Home" Location: Diocese of St. Cloud, MN (parishes of the St. Cloud deanery) Description: A one-per-week series of six listening and information sessions held at St. Mary Cathedral, St. Cloud, MN, during Advent 2004. Planning and Preparation: A dedicated committee of mostly lay people, who shared the urgency to reach out to inactive Catholics, planned the session. They were informed by reading Carrie Kemp's book "Catholics Can Come Home Again," and borrowed ideas from the book. Results: The sessions attracted a fair number of participants. One key organizer pointed out that, while many who came to the sessions clearly needed to "vent" their frustrations, hurts and anxieties about the Catholic Church (a necessary first part of the sessions), participants showed a particularly keen interest in the "basics" of the Catholic faith: Why do we do what we do? Why do we believe what we believe? The following is the list of topics for each of the six sessions: November 11 - What's wrong with the Catholic Church? What's right with the Church? 6:30-8:30 p.m., school building behind the Cathedral of St. Mary, downtown St. Cloud November 18 - Concepts of God and Jesus: What does "church" mean to you? 6:30-8:30 p.m., school building behind the Cathedral of St. Mary, downtown St. Cloud November 23 - How Catholics use the Bible, faith and religion: Is there a difference? 6:30-8:30 p.m., school building behind the Cathedral of St. Mary, downtown St. Cloud December 2 - Conversion, Catholic values and how Vatican II affected the Church 6:30-8:30 p.m., school building behind the Cathedral of St. Mary, downtown St. Cloud December 9 - Marriage, divore, annulment and remarriage 6:30-8:30 p.m., school building behind the Cathedral of St. Mary, downtown St. Cloud Contact: Deacon Carl Nord (320) 252-0535 If you have questions or suggestions about this Web page, click and drop an e-mail to SG © Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 Diocese of Saint Cloud, Office of Communications