Thresholds of Conversion: Pre-Discipleship Making Disciples - Catherine of Siena Institute Focus: Lived relationship with God, whether baptized or unbaptized, churched or unchurched. 1. Initial Trust 2. Spiritual curiosity 3. Spiritual openness 4. Spiritual seeking 5. Intentional discipleship (5% of active?) (Adapted from Five Thresholds of Post-Modern Conversion, Doug Schaupp, 1998) Trust threshold 1 Curiosity threshold 2 Openness threshold 3 Non-believing, non-trusting Seeking threshold 4 Intentional Discipleship Baptism Christ Building Trust Most practicing Catholics possess initial trust - but in whom or what? Not the same as the theological virtue of faith. Faith is first of all a personal adherence...to God. At the same time, it is a free assent to the whole truth God has revealed. (US Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 37) Many non-practicing Catholics or unchurched people do not have a trusting relationship with either a disciple or the Church. They may trust God (as they understand God) but not the Church or Christians. Returning Catholics programs seek to restore trust in the Church through hospitality & acceptance so a lapsed Catholic becomes active again. But they often don t address discipleship.
Distrust is the Norm Fundamental distrust of Christianity/Catholicism is now the norm in many places. Many people s assumptions and feelings about Catholicism, the Church, or Christ, are often profoundly different from our own. They truly do not see us as good. In a post-modern culture, Christians must deliberately earn trust (in some places and situations more than others). Curiosity is Not Seeking It involves trust, but does not imply real openness to change. Not yet. We can intentionally foster curiosity. Curiosity is a natural tendency. Those who don t believe in a God with whom you can have a personal relationship can explore that possibility at this threshold. People need a very safe, non-threatening way to express their curiosity without over-reaction or pressure from us. Fostering Curiosity: Curiosity About???? Most RCIA programs focus upon Catholicism primarily and deal with Jesus Christ as a belief or topic within Catholicism. This can reinforce an impersonal or Institutional understanding of becoming a Catholic. If our goal is intentional discipleship, we must foster curiosity about the person of Jesus as the center of the Catholic faith. Stages of Curiosity Awareness. There are more possibilities than they had imagined or experienced. One such possibility might be: you can have a personal relationship with a God who loves you. Engagement: Taking steps on their own: making friends with a Christian, reading about Jesus, etc. Exchange: Intense curiosity. Not just listening but actively asking questions and exchanging ideas. Living Curiously Don t just be nice and let yourself be put in a box. Do kingdom-oriented, counter-cultural actions in daily life. Forgive Speak the truth in love Honor others with your words Live healthy relationships Care for the poor and bring others with you Pray Share your possessions Say unexpected, borderline outrageous things. This is not the time for confronting lifestyle or culture issues. Focus on building interest in Jesus and his kingdom.
Curiosity to Openness Openness is not discipleship. It is a tentative openness to God and the possibility of spiritual change. Moving from curiosity to openness is one of the hardest transitions to make. Must lower defenses (cynicism, antagonism), and acknowledge to God (if he is really there and listening!) and yourself that you are open to change. It can feel dangerous, crazy, horrific, out of control. Many internal and external pressures, fears, blocks must be overcome to reach openness. Many never make this transition. On the Verge of Openness Patience is critical. Many go back and forth between wanting change and being opposed to change. Some try on what it would be like to change - give God a trial run. We need to stifle the impulse to say this is true. You just have to believe. They need to know that we are their friend, no matter what they decide. Serious, enduring intercession is especially important at this threshold. The not-yet-open often need anonymity at this point in their journey. They need to explore spiritual things at arm s length. Appropriate Challenge Francis Schaeffer approach: show how they can t live according to their stated values: You talk like truth is relative. You tell me that what is true for me is just true for me. But you don t live that way. You have some interesting ideas about how life works. What do you do when life gets hard? Help them connect the dots. Remind them of how God has been at work in their life to this point. Fostering Openness I don t think there are random events in your life. I think God is pursuing you. I think God is doing all he can to get your attention. I think God is trying to get your attention through that dream you told me about (or that movie you saw). Your soul is yearning for God and you should listen to your soul. Remember: in our culture, openness is a good thing. They must grasp that Jesus transforms lives and be open to change and growth. Raise strategic issues that help them feel their need for change. The Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament What if we think of Adoration as a form of evangelization particularly suited to the post-modern mindset? It is accessible to the non-baptized, the non-catholic, the unchurched, the lapsed, the badly catechized, the wounded, the skeptical, the seeking, the prodigal, those who aren t sure that relationship with God is even possible. Can be part of fostering trust, curiosity, openness.
Defenses Non-believing, non-trusting Trust threshold 1: of Christ, the Church, the faith, a Christian Curiosity threshold 2: intrigued but defenses still in place Openness threshold 3: lowered defenses, open to change The Zone Baptism Christ Thresholds 4 & 5 Conscious, active, Positive seeking Defenses Spiritual Seeking Seeking is active; intentionally exploring relationship with Christ and his Church and the possibility of discipleship. It is not yet intentional discipleship. But it does require certainty that personal relationship with God is possible because that is what you are exploring. (It s dating with a purpose, not marriage). The decision to seek is a real commitment and can be confused with intentional discipleship. Those who are open don t always want to come to a conclusion. Seekers intentionally seek resolution. I need to make a decision. Becoming a seeker may not look like that different on the outside but can feel dramatically different to the one on the journey. There is an urgency. It feels like a quest. Seekers Seek Jesus Not just God in a general sense or the divine or an impersonal force. Moved to initial faith by hearing the kerygma, which is: The initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith. (Catechesis in Our Time, 25) The Story & Spiritual Development An individual can be spiritually ahead or behind their knowledge of The Story. They could desire to change and have a strong sense of personal sin but know little or nothing about The Story. They could know large parts of The Story but not grasp The Story s personal meaning because they are in an early threshold of spiritual development. (pre-trust, trust or curiosity) It is the two together that produce disciples: Learning about Jesus through his Story motivates people to make the journey to discipleship. Making the journey enables us to understand the Story of Jesus as a whole and grasp its meaning.
Tell The Story more than Once! The average person needs to hear the kerygma over and over, at least seven eleven times before they can make a meaningful response. We must break the silence; use the name "Jesus", tell the Great Story over and over because it is a living story. We have to make talking about Jesus Christ and his life, teaching, miracles, suffering, death, and resurrection on our behalf normative! Fostering Seeking We may need to challenge a person to become a seeker. If they stay in openness too long, they start to stagnate. Help them experiment with doing Jesus words. Introduce them to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Encourage them to pray. Share your prayer life with them. Let them listen to the journeys of new disciples. Model seeking after Christ in your own life for them. Share how the sacraments and the Church have nourished your relationship with Jesus. Help them confront issues of relativism, personal sin, and Lordship. For many, talking about personal sin sounds like an attack upon the self and you never attack the self! Intentional Discipleship This conversion is the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one s life to his. Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple. (National Directory for Catechesis, p. 47,48) Dropping the Net People can t seek forever. They often feel they need to make a decision or drop the whole thing. Following Jesus as a disciple takes a different set of muscles than seeking. At this threshold, we need to encourage them to make a decision. Ask them explicitly to make a commitment. If they say no, ask why not. Find out what their blocks are. Address those blocks or help them set them aside. Help them focus on Jesus and central issues and leave less important doctrinal issues for later. Should we encourage someone to follow Christ before they have decided about entering the Church? Yes. This fits the Church s understanding of pre-baptismal disposition. Perfectly appropriate in RCIA. Spiritual warfare becomes very intense on the verge of discipleship (as on the verge of openness). Intercessory prayer is very important. We Repeat This Journey at Critical Moments of Conversion Entering the Church from another Christian tradition and already a disciple. The journey is centered around the Church and the Catholic faith. Important points of deepening faith or challenge, discernment, decision-making, or difficult obediences. The journey can be fast or slow.
Marking the Decision to Follow Christ as a Disciple Find a way to mark/celebrate this decision with him/her individually and with the community. RCIA is a model for adult formation (General Directory for Catechesis, 59 Confession (a renewal of baptismal grace) Evangelization retreats, reaffirmation of Baptismal and Confirmation promises Building a Culture of Discipleship Help a wide range of Catholics become comfortable with and skilled at: Asking where people are in their relationship with God Listening well, respectfully, and prayerfully Recognizing spiritual thresholds in another Responding appropriately to their current spiritual needs Articulating the basics of the gospel in a way that invites intentional discipleship Challenging others to make the decision to follow Jesus as a disciple Celebrating & supporting intentional discipleship A culture of intentional discipleship is built and reinforced by many inputs by many people. A Director of Religious Education: One of the great fruits of Forming Intentional Disciples is that can put something deeply into the mind of a catechist (like myself) to completely reorient me from thinking "what program can I offer to accomplish A, B, or C" and I start thinking Where are my parishioners right now in their relationship with Christ, and how will our work as a staff help them take the next step and then form programs and events around that ideal. I can already see the visible changes due to such thinking. A Threshold Conversation Content: To invite a individual to talk Simply and directly about his/her lived relationship or journey with God While we listen respectfully and prayerfully, seeking to learn what spiritual threshold she/he is at Purpose: To know where to start in encouraging and facilitating him/her to take the next step on the journey to intentional discipleship. Spiritual direction Faith Sharing A Threshold Conversation Is Not: Pastoral counseling Catechesis Interrogation Judgmental Supportive Inviting A Threshold Conversation Is: Open-Ended Prayerful Respectful Companionable A threshold conversation can be started almost anywhere or anytime that an adult seeks pastoral care or sacramental ministry. It can be shortened and simplified as necessary. RCIA inquirers/ returning Catholics Parish registration Pastoral counseling Spiritual direction Marriage preparation Gifts discernment interviews Etc It can also be done with family, friends, and acquaintances once trust has been established.
Time Involved The minimum: ten minutes. A full conversation can take 10 minutes to more than hour depending upon the depth and breadth of their spiritual experience. The Life-Changing Power of Asking May be the first time anyone has asked them a question about their relationship with God and really listened. It raises the issue of lived relationship with God for those who may never have thought about it or known that a personal relationship with God is possible. When an individual has the chance to articulate what they believe about something, it often opens them up to new possibilities. Never Accept a Label It doesn t matter if the person we are listening to calls herself a practicing Catholic or an atheist or an agnostic or whatever. We can t assume that we know what she means by using a particular religious label. She has to tell us what this label means to her and what her living experience of God has been like. Never accept a label in the place of hearing a description of her actual lived relationship with God. Always ask what she means. Threshold Conversation The conversation begins with this basic question: We must listen at multiple levels. Can you describe your relationship with God to this point in your life? Basic Listening Points: Believe in God? What kind of God? (personal or impersonal) Believe in possibility of relationship with this God? Have a relationship with this God? What kind of relationship? Part of a religious tradition? What tradition? Points of trust re: Christ, Church, faith, a Christian? Knowledge of/lived relationship with Jesus Christ? Christian? Intentional Disciple? Apostle? Asking Questions When one of the listening points is not clear from what he has said so far, feel free to gently ask questions. Can you describe the God you do (or don t) believe in? You call yourself an agnostic. What does being an agnostic mean to you? When asking questions or summing up what he has said so far, repeat specific words and phrases that he has used. It will make him feel that you have heard and understood. The beginning question: Can you describe your relationship with God to this point in your life? Depending upon the response to this initial question, the conversation can go in one of 5 basic directions.
Remember: Baptized Catholics can be found in all the categories below. 1. I don t believe in God Atheist 2. I don t know Agnostic 3. Higher-Power / Impersonal Force 4. Believer in personal God; no relationship 5. Believer in personal God & relationship Atheist When people describe themselves as atheist, they may not mean that they don't believe in any God at all. They may be trying to say that they don't believe in a particular kind of God. Atheists can be surprisingly religious: 15% believe in God or a universal spirit 6% believe in a God with whom you can have a relationship. 19% are formal members of religious congregations 14% attend religious services at least yearly 5% are involved in congregational activities monthly 10% pray at least weekly outside religious services 21% believe miracles happen today 39% have talked to other people about their ideas of God (so they might well be open to talking to you!) (Pew US Religious Landscape Survey, 2008) Label: I m an Atheist Ask: What do you mean by atheist? Tell me about the God you don t believe in. Sum up his description of the God he doesn t believe in. Do you believe in any other kind of God or universal spirit? If he says yes ask: Can you describe the God you do believe in? Take the conversation in the direction that matches his response. If he says no, take the conversation in the I don t believe direction. 1. Atheist I Don t Believe Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity? Q: Have you ever believed in God? If so, why did you stop? Do you ever pray? If so, how? What gives meaning to your life? Have you had any significant exposure to religion or spirituality? Ever attended a religious congregation or school? Are you close to any religious or spiritual person(s)? Why do you like/trust him or her? What role does God play in his/her life? How do you feel about that? (if it seems appropriate) Could you ever imagine believing in God? If so, what would that God be like? Agnostics Can Be Even More Surprising` 40% believe in God, only 16% don t know. 14% believe in a God with whom you can have a relationship. 22% are formal members of religious congregations. 18% attend religious services every month/year. 5% are involved in congregational activities monthly. 18% pray at least weekly outside religious services. 37% believe miracles happen today.
36% have talked to other people about their ideas of God (Pew US Religious Landscape Survey, 2008) Label: I m an Agnostic Ask: What do you mean by agnostic? Do you believe in a God or universal spirit? If she says yes, ask: Can you describe the God you do believe in? Take the conversation that matches her response. If shey says I m not sure or I don t know, take the direction in the I m Not Certain direction. 2. Agnostic : I Don t Know Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity? Q: Have you always been uncertain? If not, what has caused you to become uncertain? What difference would it make to you if you could be sure God existed? Do you ever pray? If you do, describe when and how you pray. What gives meaning to your life? Have you had any significant exposure to religion or spirituality? Ever attended a religious congregation or school? Are you close to any religious or spiritual person(s)? Why do you like/trust him or her? What role does God play in his/her life? How do you feel about that? If he/she is at threshold of curiosity, ask: What do you know or believe about Jesus Christ? When someone says they Believe in God, we cannot assume that they mean a personal God with whom a human being can have a relationship. Many people believe God is an impersonal force 29% of Catholics 12% of atheists 36% of agnostics 40% of secular unaffiliated 35% of religious unaffiliated 19% of Protestants 34% of Orthodox 50% of Jews 3. Higher Power/Impersonal Force Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity? Q: How would you describe the Power you believe in? Does the Power have a name? What difference does this Power make in your life? Do you ever pray? If so, how?. Have you ever been part of any religious or spiritual community? Are you close to any religious or spiritual person(s)? Why do you like/trust him or her? What role does God play in his/her life? How do you feel about that? If he/she is at threshold of curiosity, ask: What do you know or believe about Jesus Christ?
4. Believer in God, No Relationship Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity, openness? Q: Could you describe the God you believe in? Why don t you have a relationship with God? If you thought it was possible to have a relationship with God, would you want one? Have you ever attended or are you part of any religious or spiritual community? If so, which one(s)? Do you ever pray? If so, how?. Are you close to any religious or spiritual person(s)? Why do you like/trust him or her? What role does God play in his/her life? How do you feel about that? What gives meaning to your life? If he/she is at threshold of curiosity, ask: What do you know or believe about Jesus Christ? 5. Believer: Personal Relationship With God Q: Are you part of a particular religious faith or community? The answer to this question can lead in different directions. No. No particular religious faith or community: unaffiliated Yes. Non-Christian faith. Which one? Yes. Christian faith. Active member of a Church/denomination/group? Which one? Or believe but not belong? Intentional disciple? 5a. Believer, Unaffiliated Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity, openness, seeking? Q: How important is your relationship with God now? Was there a turning point in your relationship with God? Is your relationship with God growing? Why? Do you pray? If so, when and how do you pray? Have you ever been part of a religious community or tradition? If yes, did your involvement with that community or tradition foster your relationship with God? How? Why are you no longer involved? Are you open to being part of a religious tradition or community again at some point? What would make you want to do that? If he/she is at threshold of curiosity, openness, or seeking, ask: What do you know or believe about Jesus Christ? 5b. Believer, Non-Christian Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity, openness, seeking? Q: How important is your relationship with God? Was there a turning point in your relationship with God? What has deepened your relationship with God? Why? How has your involvement with your religious community nurtured your relationship with God? Do you pray? If so, describe when and how you pray. If he/she is at threshold of curiosity, openness, or seeking, ask: What do you know or believe about Jesus Christ?
5c. Believer in Jesus But *Not* a Christian Spiritual thresholds: pre-trust, trust, curiosity, seeking? Q: Describe your relationship with Jesus today How did you first encounter Jesus? Was there an important turning point in your relationship with Jesus? What has deepened your relationship with Jesus? Do you pray? When and how do you pray? Why do you consider yourself to not be a Christian? Were you a Christian at one time? If so, what happened? Do you think that you might ever be a Christian in the future? Have you ever attended or been part of a Christian church or community? If so, which one(s)? Were you baptized? Did you receive some sort of Christian education or catechesis? Have you ever attended or been part of a non-christian religious community? Which one(s)? 5e. Christian: Active, Disciple, Apostle Spiritual thresholds: trust, curiosity, openness, seeking, intentional disciple? Q:Please describe your relationship with God today. DO you have a relationship with Jesus? Describe it. How did you first encounter Jesus? Was there an important turning point in your relationship with Jesus? What activities, relationships, or resources most nourish your relationship with Christ? Do you pray? If so, describe when and how you pray. Do you presently attend church regularly? Which one(s)? Have you been baptized? Are you involved in church activities beside Sunday services? Which ones? How to you express your faith (besides attending church) at this point in your life? In your relationships/family? In your job/workplace? In your community? The Last Question For All: If you could ask God one question that you knew he would answer right away, what would it be? The answer is usually a reflection of current questions, struggles, felt needs that you might be able to address or connect them with some person or resource. Don t Make Assumptions about what you will hear. Let each person begin at the beginning and tell his story in an order that makes sense to him. Ask clarifying questions if you need to. The Basic Conversation Can you tell me the story of your relationship with God to this point in your life? Listening Points Believe in God? What kind of God? (personal or impersonal) Believe in the possibility of relationship with this God? Have a relationship with this God? What kind of relationship? Part of a religious tradition? Which tradition? Points of trust re: Christ, Church, faith, a Christian? Knowledge of/lived relationship with Jesus Christ? Christian? Intentional Disciple? Apostle? If you could ask God one question that you knew God would answer right away, what would it be?