The Thresholds of Conversion (Sherry Weddel, Forming Intentional Disciples, 2012):

1. Trust

2. Curiosity

3. Openness to Change

4. Serious Seeking

5. Intentional Discipleship

Fallen-away Catholics and members of other faiths could be in any of the first 4 thresholds, but many will need to build or rebuild Trust and Curiosity with Christ and the Church first.  To lead people into deeper trust and curiosity, try the following:

• Have a regular “front-porch” style event at your parish that’s 90% social/food, 10% faith content (prayer, brief reflection by the priest, parishioner witness, etc.).  It should be easy for people to bring their non-Catholic or fallen-away friends.  Every attendee should receive a further invitation to learn more about the parish and attend a deeper faith encounter (such as Alpha, The Search).  Some examples of a front-porch event could be:

  • Parish festival or cookout

  • Lenten fish fry

  • Ice cream social

  • Basketball/drinks/cigars with Father

•  Once the front-porch event is occurring regularly, take time as a parish staff once per year to personally call parishioners who have fallen away.  This call has two simple goals:

  • Invite them to the front-porch event

  • However they respond, ask them if they have any prayer requests.  Pray with them briefly on the phone if appropriate.

• Make your parish and the Catholic faith a visible presence in your community

  • Eucharistic procession through town on Corpus Christi or on a parish feast day

  • Arrange and promote large outings to local food pantries or other charities

  • Sponsor an open-mic or talent night at a local brewery or coffee shop (this can be especially great for young adults)

  • Train small groups to do door-to-door ministry in the neighborhood, asking for prayer requests, assisting neighbors, and inviting them to your front porch events.  See Sent Evangelization on FORMED.org or St. Paul Street Evangelization for strategies and training resources.

• Invest in beautiful liturgy, and especially in excellent music and preaching. 

  • Most people only encounter the parish community once per week: at Sunday Mass.  Participating in this Eucharistic worship of God together is the source and summit of our faith and is at the center of every healthy parish.

  • If you work hard to invite people back to the faith, but they return to a Mass that seems sloppy, irreverent, or doesn’t help them grow, they may leave again and be even harder to reach in the future. 

  • Beauty is the “arrowhead of evangelization” (Bishop Robert Barron, Word on Fire).  If your Mass is celebrated with beauty, it will naturally increase curiosity in the hearts of those whose faith is weak or new. 

• Preaching:

  • When preaching, try to communicate one thing you want your people to KNOW, and one thing you want them to DO.  See Fr. Mike Schmitz’s excellent free course on preaching at reviveparishes.com.

• Music:

  • Choose music from a wide variety of the Church’s musical tradition, including traditional hymns and chant (Sacrosanctum Concilium paragraph 116).  Try not to limit music to certain age demographics or group preferences (unless the celebration calls for it, such as a student/youth mass, or a culturally specific mass e.g. Spanish). 

  • Young people, especially Generation Z, are largely attracted to the ancient, unchanging traditions of Catholicism, both in liturgy and moral teaching.  This is often a reaction to our cheap, frantic, “mile a minute” secular culture.  For many of them, authenticity and a solid foundation are more important than fleeting “relevance” or entertainment.  See this article.

  • Music at Mass should enable and deepen the prayer of the congregation.  Always avoid music that is confusing or contrary to the faith.  See the USCCB’s guidance here: Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church.

  • Source and Summit: Physical and digital resources to elevate the liturgy through beautiful music.  Includes tools for music directors, choirs, and hymnals for congregations.

• Establish a digital “footprint” for the parish with a beautiful website, social media presence, and updated information on public sites.

  • The internet is a modern “town square” where your parish is called to preach the Gospel.  If your parish has a solid online presence, more people will be able to find you, especially young people.

  • The purpose of a parish website and social media should always be to invite people into a real, incarnational relationship with Christ and your parish.  Ministry relationships can start online but should never stay there. 

  • Our Sunday Visitor: Beautiful and affordable parish website design and support

  • Make sure your information is up to date on websites like MassTimes.org.  Anyone on your staff can edit your mass and confession times on this widely used site.

  • Different social media platforms appeal to different age groups – contact Annie Lust (alust@toledodiocese.org) for more information and strategies, and also see ToledoParish.org/Communications (password: LeoXIV).

Evangelization

Healthy parishes

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