$3.95 CCCC BUILD THE TEAM AN EVANGELISM FORMATION SERIES. 0 stpaulse.com

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1 $3.95 CCCC BUILD THE TEAM AN EVANGELISM FORMATION SERIES 0 stpaulse.com

2 Build the Team: How to Recruit Members & Build an Evangelization Team By Adam Janke MA, Program Director Introduction St. Paul Street Evangelization has over 100 teams all throughout the world. Keeping those teams energized, encouraged, and effective can be a real challenge for some of our team leaders. Team leaders must recruiting new members, maintain regular evangelization opportunities, and keep in touch with those members throughout the year. The goal here is to help team leaders, whether or not they are associated with St. Paul Street Evangelization, recruit and build their teams primarily through community friendship with their team members. It is through these natural relationships that the work of evangelization thrives. The Purpose of the Team The mission of every evangelization team is to help the Church fulfill the Great Commission and lead people to encounter Jesus Christ in order to become disciples. This is of the greatest importance. The purpose of the Church is not to be a non-governmental charitable agency or a social club. It exists for the salvation of souls. It exists so that we can find forgiveness and peace with God. Every evangelization team exists to: 1) Build friendship and community. 2) Create the opportunity for others to encounter Christ. 3) Carry out that work in union with the Catholic Church. The Church exists to evangelize. Pope Paul VI We will explore tools that you can use to recruit and build an evangelization team and carry out the work of evangelization with the Church. We have included some exercises at the back to help you break the ice with new team members as well. 1 stpaulse.com

3 Build Friendship & Community "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love one another. John 15:12-17 RSV-CE In order to have intimacy with Jesus we need to follow his commands as his disciples. Intimacy with Jesus Christ and friendship with one another is the starting place for the New Evangelization. Interpersonal communication and fellowship is indispensable to building up the kingdom of God. It is one of the four key components to early Christian life. The apostles built their community on the Eucharist, the teachings of the Church, fellowship, and prayer (Acts 2:42). This way of life is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church is divided (creed, sacraments, morality/fellowship, and prayer). Human fellowship is where we receive instruction on the moral life. At St. Paul Street Evangelization we want to equip parishes to live out their mission as a household of faith. The local parish is a natural community of faithful and the place where people we evangelize will be brought into fellowship with the whole Church. Engaged, discipled parishioners are effective at building bridges of trust in the world. The first step to building an effective evangelization team and recruiting new members is to create opportunities for fellowship. Your parish might be the best place to start think about the friends you already have there. 2 stpaulse.com

4 Tools for Building Community The easiest way to start an effective evangelization team is to invite people who are already intentional disciples with whom you already have a relationship with to spend time together. It is through these natural friendships that you can easily build an effective team. 1. Start with one or two other people. Who do you know in your own life that would be open to evangelizing with you? There is no such thing as an evangelization team of one. We are made for communion with one another and people are looking to belong to a community. 2. Identify the other people who could be a part of your team. Invite them over to your house for a meal (or another location). Make the atmosphere laid back and relaxed. This is not a sales pitch. This is an invitation to community. Hopefully these are already friends, if not, the idea is to get to know one another. Use the ice breakers at the end of this edition of our Evangelism Formation Series for ideas on how to get to know one another. 3. Talk about your interests, what you have in common. Get ideas for what to do together in the future. Watch the baseball game, fix cars, cook, perhaps watch movies and talk about how they relate to the faith. Whatever the case might be. Invite your families to spend time with one another. Build friendships. 4. Talk about the possibility of starting an evangelization team. Print off our materials to get a team started and decide what kind of team you want to found. Local teams do not have to operate out of their parishes, but it is important to identify a local parish that your team will be connected to that is ready to receive people that you evangelize. 5. Make it a regular habit to get together with the people who will make up your team. How often and in what ways you hang out will depend on the dynamics of your team are you a college student, a working dad, or are you retired? 6. Friendship needs to be the basis of your team. Teams who are simply strangers with the shared goal of evangelizing now and then burn out and quit evangelizing. Teams that are made up of friends who love the Lord and see the urgency of reaching a broken and dying world end up becoming effective and long lasting teams. 3 stpaulse.com

5 7. Use the community that you build to recruit new members to your team. Instead of saying Hey, would you like to be part of an evangelization committee? you can ask Hey, my evangelization team is going to hang out for pizza and the game on Friday night, would you like to join us? Guess which one people are more likely to say yes to? Which one would you be more likely to say yes to? We thought so too. 4 stpaulse.com

6 What to Do as a Community Things to do when you spend time together as a community of faithful: 1. Have fun! Spend time just getting to know each other and building friendships. Don t like sports? Go to laser tag. Play croquet. Knit together. Brew beer. You decide what you want to do. 2. Work on training modules or watch training videos together. Once you start a team you can get together and work through the training and materials that SPSE provides for you and your team. It will help you become more effective. As a grass roots organization many of our teams have provided ideas and experience that has changed how we operate. Quiz each other with the SPSE scripture flash cards, watch Sister Ann Shields videos on prayer she produced for our teams, or practice telling each other your testimony. 3. Bring your families together for a meal. 4. Worship together. Pray the rosary together. Attend Mass together. Go to Eucharistic Adoration or Holy Hours. Pray a novena together. 5. Hang out together at a restaurant immediately after you evangelize. You could invite people you meet on the street to join you if they show strong interest in the Catholic faith. 6. Always pray together right before you evangelize. What This Accomplishes: 1. Builds bonds of friendship & Christian charity. 2. Builds a support network. 3. Invigorates & energize one another in the work of evangelization. Our most active & successful teams have a sense of friendship and community with each other. 4. Your community will keep your team strong. Street Evangelization is something you do as part of a Christian community instead of just a team. When life gets busy it is harder to stay part of a team, but we never let go of our friends. 5. The work of evangelization is long term. Our teams should still be operating 20, 40, 80, 200 years from now, until Kingdom come. The only way to drive that kind of success is through community. 5 stpaulse.com

7 Create the Opportunity for Others to Encounter Christ Now that you are creating a stable community of disciples who will evangelize together you can use the St. Paul Street Evangelization model to start welcoming people into the parish. It is even better if your team goes to the same parish, or at least has a member at a parish that you have identified as the ideal parish in your community to send people to. Unfortunately not every Catholic parish is in a position to start receiving inquirers. Make sure you understand the situation in your own diocese. What parishes are thriving and open to new members? What parishes are operating in maintenance mode and might not be well equipped to reach people interested in the faith? Try to identify a parish that is running Alpha for Catholics or another similar program, has strong small faith sharing groups (not necessarily Bible studies), or a strong, dynamic and year around RCIA program. It helps to have a member on your team that is also connected to one of those groups so people you meet will be able to identify someone they know when they do show up. We are planting seeds and usually do not get to see them grow, but sometimes we get to walk with people we meet all the way to their baptisms or to being received into the Catholic Church. We have to be ready for what the Holy Spirit is going to do! Once you are ready to hit the streets with your new team you can use our other materials to start your team and obtain everything you need to go and evangelize. It is easy, fun, and fruitful. Don t let the fear of evangelizing get the best of you. You can do this! Our evangelists are soccer moms, bus drivers, retirees, as well as priests and church employees. Everyone is called to evangelize. Start your team: Register as a team with St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our online training (or attend a live workshop). Order the resources your team needs. Identify places to evangelize: Business districts where people walk. College campuses. 6 stpaulse.com

8 Parish festivals. Other parish events you are welcome to be at. Downtown intersections. City or town festivals. Carrying out the work of evangelization is as easy as getting a bunch of rosaries, a sign, and a book to keep prayer requests in and then going out and giving away the rosaries and taking prayer requests. Identify Team Leaders: Team Director The Team Director is responsible for the overall leadership of the local SPSE team. His or her responsibility is to recruit team leaders and other Catholics willing to get involved with the apostolate. At first, the Team Director may be doing the bulk of the coordination, although one or two other people may help. This is a fine way to start but the Director should always be looking to fill the other leadership positions with capable Catholics. The team director must: 1. Take the SPSE Certification Courses and complete ongoing monthly training modules. This may be done at one s own pace. All current Team Directors will have a 30 day window to complete the first series of certifications. New leaders will need to complete certification before they can evangelize as an official SPSE team. 2. Make a profession of faith and take the Oath of Fidelity as defined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for those assuming an office exercised in the name of the Church: 3. Fill leadership positions with capable Catholics. 4. Order signs, pamphlets, Rosaries, and the other materials necessary to start the local SPSE team. 5. Check the local team website for accuracy and make sure the getinvolved form is working properly. 7 stpaulse.com

9 Station Leader A station leader is responsible for leading the team out on the street. All evangelization activities in public by an SPSE local team must have a Station Leader or Team Director present at all times. Many teams will have several stations set up in various locations on any given day. Each one of these stations must have a Station Leader present or nearby. Station Leaders must: 1. Take the SPSE Certification Courses and complete ongoing monthly training modules. 2. Make a profession of faith and take the Oath of Fidelity as defined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for those assuming an office exercised in the name of the Church. 3. Keep track of materials for his or her station and restock when necessary. 4. Be responsible for the teams when they are out in public, making sure that no laws are being broken and that team members are representing the Faith with fidelity and charity. SPSE Certified Evangelist An SPSE Certified Evangelist is a Catholic who would like to get involved with a local team and share the Faith with others but who does not want to take on the responsibility of being a Station Leader. An SPSE Certified Evangelist must: 1. Has received Basic Certification through our live workshops or through our online Basic Evangelization Training course. A yearly review will be necessary to keep your certification current. 2. Make a profession of faith and take the Oath of Fidelity as defined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for those assuming an office exercised in the name of the Church. Evangelist An Evangelist is a faithful Catholic who has not taken any certification courses but wishes to participate with the apostolate by sharing the Faith on the streets anyway. An Evangelist must agree to the SPSE Code of Conduct and 8 stpaulse.com

10 Membership Agreement and evangelize with SPSE only when a Team Leader or SPSE Certified Evangelist is nearby. Community Relations Coordinator This person is responsible with reaching out to local churches, the community, and the media. The goals are to create awareness of and support for the apostolate, attract new team members, and build awareness of the need for ongoing faithful prayer support. Some examples would be: 1. Contacting Parishes to get inserts placed in the bulletin, to speak after a Mass or event, or set up a table in the vestibule after Mass. Displaying a sign. Having interested Catholics write their name, , and phone number on a signup sheet for further information. 2. Contact local Knights of Columbus and other Catholic Lay Organizations to find out ways to get them involved. 3. Contacting the local Catholic radio stations to get them to do interviews with local team members and to play the Public Service Announcements. 4. Organizing fundraising events, such as potluck dinners. 5. Keeping an eye on the community calendar for evangelization opportunities: a parade, a public fair, farmers markets, sporting events, a pro-life conference, and so on 6. Watching for Catholic events occurring in the diocese and requesting a table Team Communications Coordinator The Communications Coordinator is responsible for keeping everyone on the local team informed about upcoming events and outings. The coordinator should: 1. Maintain a list of evangelists and other contacts 2. Contact by telephone or all evangelists in advance of outings and get commitments from people for going out 3. Find out what day(s) would work best for each team member 4. Maintain a schedule of who is going out for different events 9 stpaulse.com

11 5. Follow up on leads received through the website, , signup sheets, or other contacts made at booths or events arranged by the SPSE Community Relations Coordinator. Prayer Outreach Coordinator The job of the Prayer Outreach Coordinator is to contact all the local religious communities, churches, and prayer groups and ask them to pray for our apostolate, our leadership, evangelists, and those we evangelize, both locally and on the national level. Our prayer is that God make grow the seeds we plant and bring about many reversions and conversions to the Catholic Faith. SPSE Prayer Warrior An SPSE Prayer Warrior is a very important team member. Leaders should actively seek them out and recruit them. There are several types of SPSE Prayer Warrior activity. An SPSE Prayer Warrior may be someone who wants to join us on the streets but feels called only to praying while out there, rather than engaging in active conversations. An SPSE Prayer Warrior may also be someone who dedicates a certain amount of prayer and sacrifice for the intention of the team s successful activities. An SPSE Prayer Warrior may also be someone who gathers with others and prays in a chapel or elsewhere at the same time that the team is out on the street. No training is necessary for this position. Spiritual Advisor Each team should try to find a trusted priest who is willing to act as their spiritual advisor. The team should meet with him on occasion for direction and support for their local activities. 10 stpaulse.com

12 Carry Out That Work in Union with the Church Even though most of our teams are independent of a local parish (as team members come from across different parishes in a particular diocese) we work under the permission, guidance, and blessing of our priests and bishops. Every member of an evangelization team is required to sign an oath of fidelity that they are a member of good standing in a Catholic parish. What type of team will you run? 1. The Local Team The local team is the most common type of SPSE team. Our teams are often invited by parishes and other organizations to come in and evangelize at their events. Anyone can start a local team and evangelize wherever people are gathered. 2. The Parish Team The parish team is operated under the guidance of a pastor at a Catholic parish and is accepted as an official ministry of the parish. This usually means going through an approval process starting with the evangelization commission and then the pastoral council. This can be beneficial if the parish can fund the team. We offer special member packages for parish and youth group teams. 3. The College Team The college team is a team organized by college students and recognized as an official campus organization by the student government or administration. College teams have more access to a college campus than a local team has who otherwise might be required to stay in free speech zones or off campus. 4. The Youth Group Team A youth group team is the only way for minors to be involved in our work due to safe environment concerns, which we take very seriously. Youth group teams are organized and run by youth ministers. All adults who work with a youth group team are compliant with the USCCB charter for the protection of children. Once you build a community of Catholics who share your love and passion for the work of evangelization you can get your team started and go out and evangelize. We encourage our teams to evangelize once every other week (or weekly if possible), but at least once a month. 11 stpaulse.com

13 Christian Brotherhood Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote in The Meaning of Christian Brotherhood that however important it is for the Church to grow into the unity of a single brotherhood, she must always remember that she is only one of two sons, one brother beside another, and that her mission is not to condemn the wayward brother, but to save him. The Church, it is true, must unify herself to form a strong inner brotherhood in order to be truly one brother. But she does not seek to be one brother in order finally to shut herself off from the other; rather she seeks to be one brother because only in this way can she fulfill her task toward the other, living for whom is the deepest meaning of her existence, which itself is grounded wholly in the vicarious existence of Jesus Christ. (80) A community of disciples is the basis of the new Israel. It is founded on lowliness, but also on the joy of the Resurrection. Building friendship through our evangelization teams is itself evangelistic we can welcome new people into that community and watch it grow. St. Paul Street Evangelization is a grassroots, non-profit Catholic evangelization organization, dedicated to responding to the mandate of Jesus to preach the Gospel to all nations by taking our Catholic Faith to the streets. We do this in a non-confrontational way, allowing the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of those who witness our public Catholic presence. As an on-the-street Catholic evangelization organization, St. Paul Street Evangelization provides an avenue for you to share the Person of Jesus Christ and the truth and beauty of the Catholic Faith with a hungry culture. 12 stpaulse.com

14 Build an Evangelization Team Checklist St. Paul Street Evangelization Believe in Jesus Christ and be his disciple. Be a fully initiated active member of the Catholic Church. Pray & discern if you are being called to start a team. Invite other people who are intentional disciples over for a meal. Be prepared with material from St. Paul Street Evangelization to share, such as our start a team prospectus. Enjoy a meal together and talk about evangelization and how to fulfill the needs of your community. Get to know one another if needed (use our ice breaker questions). Decide how often you are going to meet and socialize. Decide what type of St. Paul Street Evangelization Team you are going to start. Recruit additional members by inviting them to your social events first and then to evangelize with you. If they want to join you just to evangelize that s great to. Register as an official SPSE team. Access our member s area. Take the training and share that training with your team. Obtain the materials you need to start your team. Use your local website and addresses you gather from your team members to schedule evangelization events. Share materials and advertisements with your local pastors and bishop. Evangelize! 13 stpaulse.com

15 Exercise: Ice Breakers - Questions to Get To Know One Another 1. Share your testimony. How did you come to know Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church? 2. What is the high point of your week? 3. What do you think heaven will be like? If you could ask God one question, what would you ask him? 4. Name one person that is not a family member that has had the greatest influence in your life. 5. If you had to live this week over again, would you change anything? If so, what would that be? 6. What Catholic books have been influential in your life? Why? 7. If your house was burning down, what three objects would you try to save? 8. If you are at a friend or relative s house for dinner and you find a hair in your salad, what would you do? 9. If you could have dinner with any person alive in the world today, who would that be? 10. If you were banished to a dessert island, would you rather be there alone or with your worst enemy? 11. If you could go back and visit any time period, what time would you travel to and why? 12. What s the strangest thing you ve ever eaten? 13. What is your favorite TV show or movie and why? 14. If you could take a vacation right now, where would you go? 15. If you could meet a saint, who would you want to meet? 16. What is a gift you have received that you will never forget? 17. If you had the power to change one problem in the world today, what would that problem be? 18. What is one thing you really like about yourself? 19. Does your first or middle name have any significance (or were you named after another family member)? 20. Tell me the first thing that you ever remember in your life. 14 stpaulse.com

16 Profession of Faith & Certification Signature Page I have recited the Profession of Faith and hereby affix my signature to the St. Paul Street Evangelization Code of Conduct Page. I understand both are required for certification. Basic Evangelization Training Certification is approved by the National Board of Directors. Code of Conduct and Membership Statement In taking part in the activities of St. Paul Street Evangelization, I hereby affirm that: 1. I am a Catholic in good standing. 2. In word and witness, I will promote active assent to all the teachings of the Church, as declared by the current Catechism of the Catholic Church. 3. I do not formally cooperate with groups promoting active or passive dissent from the teachings of the Catholic Church, nor will I promote active or passive dissent from the teachings of the Catholic Church. 4. My lifestyle does not constitute grave, manifest scandal. 5. I will cooperate with all legal and canonical authorities. Name Date 15 stpaulse.com