Outreach ‘79-’80 took on a new dimension recently as Father Richard Kieran addressed the staff and parishioners of Our Lady of the Assumption. Building on the words of Matthew 28, Father Kieran crystallized the mission Jesus has entrusted his Church to “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations...” His precise, realistic explanation of evangelization and of the scope of the problems facing the Church today convinced all present that evangelization is more than a good idea. It is imperative to the future of the Church.

Citing figures from recent studies, Father Kieran told his audience that 80 million Americans do not belong to any church. There are at least 12 million inactive Catholics in the United States today. Six and one half million Catholic children in our nation are receiving no religious education. Only 12 per cent of practicing Catholics in the United States do more than attend Mass on Sunday. As one layman put it, “He convinced me that we’ve got to get moving.”

Those who heard Father Kieran were ready to take on the challenge he held out to them. Over the summer the entire parish has been involved in creating a climate of community outreach. A parish prayer for evangelization was composed, printed and distributed to all. The prayer is said at all Masses, all meetings and daily in homes throughout the parish. Parish organizations take turns hosting coffees after Mass on Sundays. Parish social activities have been directed toward welcoming newcomers and promoting a spirit of parish family. Witness talks by parishioners have become a part of each Sunday liturgy. The witnesses have shared their faith commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church. The result of these efforts has been a blossoming of a very special spirit at OLA, one that seeks to reach out to others and to share the Good News.

Father William Seli, SM, pastor of OLA, and Martin and Anne Lampe, parish coordinators of the evangelization effort, led the discussion after Father Kieran’s talk. Several members of the parish shared their ideas on how to reach out to the alienated Catholics and the churchless in the community.

Evangelization is an unfamiliar role for most Catholics. Preparing the average Catholic to accept and to act on this basic mission of the Church was seen as an immediate need. Suggestions for holding a parish open house, formulating special programs of renewal and education were made. The idea of the personal invitation was stressed to invite and bring a friend to Sunday Mass, to be willing to listen to the alienated and to share one’s faith with them. All agreed that evangelization isn’t a program. To be real it has to be an on-going process of constant renewal within the Church that will attract new members, sustain them in their new faith and strengthen that faith so that they in turn will evangelize others.

Outreach ‘79-’80 will begin formally at OLA with a special Evening of Prayer on Sunday, September 9. Each parishioner will be urged to come and bring in his heart the name of one person he would pray to be brought back to the Church this year. Parish renewal will begin with the program, “We the Parish” to be held on the five Tuesdays of October. Additional programs and activities are being planned that will be of an ongoing nature. The Church has entered an era of evangelization. 1979 marks its first year.