The Rev. Susan Garrity

          Evangelism.  It is word that is soooooooo misused and misunderstood.  So the quandary is do we insert a different word to ease our minds and hearts, or do we use the word with the hope that we can recapture the spirit of the word in its first century sense of wonder, energy, and spirit-filled faith?  And the answer for me is “Yes!” to both.  What is helpful is that we begin the dialogue of unpacking the misunderstandings and false meanings that send us running from this biblically commanded word.  It is not about separating ‘us’ from ‘them’. Unity of all religions, all the faithful, all of God’s children can be described as one of God’s greatest dreams.  It is not about converting the lost souls and making them ‘just like us’.  Evangelism, if it is dangerous at all, is a reciprocal action and reaction with mutuality at its center. Your faith is definitely at risk of growing stronger and deeper.

Evangelism is about setting something holy and sacramentally commanded in motion.  It is a story that just has to spill forth from your lips and life because to keep it to yourself would be exceptionally selfish.  Sometimes the story has words and sometimes it is told by your actions or your touch, a hand on someone’s shoulder, or even the simplicity of a smile. And in that moment of your vulnerability, your courage, God’s grace reaches into another’s heart and makes the connection, your story to their story.  Faith comes alive, another faith journey is begun or jump-started, and y’all are now pilgrims on the way of the cross together.

Sometimes we are unintentional evangelists.  We had no idea that what we said or did would cause another to move closer to God.  But I believe that we are called to be intentional evangelists as Christians.  It is biblically commanded and baptismally promised. “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?”  and our answer is “I will, with God’s help.”  ‘Proclaiming’ is another way to describe telling your story of faith, bearing witness to the Truth that holds your life together.   But there are two questions in our Baptism service that come before that one. 

And those two questions are the key to discovering the words that make the story compelling and finding the courage and humility to step out of the boat and tell it the story: “Will you continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers?”  and  “Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?”   Living out these two promises sets you in a motion that literally will pull you to the heart of the Christian faith.  We call it Christian Formation. And there is no way to fulfill that promise in isolation, you can’t just read about it in a book, bible or any other learned work!  Fellowship and worship are required.  We have to come together as a community and journey together in dialogue with each other and God.  Christian Formation is a life long journey of listening. 

I invite you to search out opportunities to stretch and grow your faith in small groups in your own parishes, or even in neighboring churches.  Learning with others offers possibilities for dialogue filled more with truth than facts and certainties.  It is in the dialogue that relationships are given life, where history is begun in compassionate listening and caring response. Christian Formation has a way of opening up our hearts to God and taking our faith ever deeper into the heart of God. 

And there is a transformation offered by God’s grace in those moments that leads us directly to the brink of our last two Baptismal promises: “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” and “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”  Recently I had two seven year olds who were about to be baptized say to me, “That’s the really hard part!”  And my answer to them is the same as it is to you, “Yep, and aren’t we glad that we don’t have to do it alone!  We have each other AND we have God’s help!”  True evangelism depends on both Christian Formation and radical hospitality. There is great power in invitation and welcoming that sets our faith on fire and leads us along the pilgrims way together.    

Keep your eyes and hearts wide open on Sunday mornings where newcomers enter quietly, even tentatively searching for sanctuary. Look with new eyes for those familiar faces around you whom you have never even exchanged two sentences with, let alone a full story. Opportunities to fulfill your baptismal promises are right there in our midst! Sort of pre-evangelistic moments!  Invitation and welcome stories are on your lips!  Let them spill out!  I promise that each time you tell your faith story it gets a little easier.

In the coming months you will be invited to join a morning or afternoon where will we begin to give new meaning to the word Evangelism for the Diocese of New Hampshire. Just as the Bible is particular to the context in which it happened, evangelism for us will be particular to our lives of faith here.  We will meet in the North Country and we will meet somewhere south of the Lakes region, so that travel will be easy.  Check this part of the website for updates in the coming weeks. Come with friends, not just because gas is so expensive, but rather so that the conversations can begin in anticipation and end with a sharing of new insights, new stories.

The Outreach and Youth and Young Adult focuses are well on their way.  If you have participated in one of those ongoing discussions then you have already begun to tell your story.  If you have experienced a time of reaching out with compassion, if you are a teen or twenty-something who feels called forth by God to active ministry, then we need to hear your story!  The Evangelism focus is woven so deeply into the other two areas that it begs for some clarity and definition so that we all may recognize, name, and claim our part of God’s Story in order to better share it with those who have never heard it.

Evangelism will happen when you least expect it.  You will hear those words of our Sunday closing prayer echoing in your heart and soul, “Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord.”  With gladness and singleness of heart you will look into the eyes of your neighbor and a story will beg to be told from your grateful and generous heart!  Let it happen!  Let it be! Amen.

Thank you for opening up and spending this time reading this first article.  Send your thoughts and ideas to The Rev. Susan Garrity.