www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Learning from Protestants

I know that Protestants are often to the far side of the Roman Catholicism and it may be difficult to imagine that we could learn from them. However, here is an example of something happening that we may well learn from. This is from a friend of mine in South Carolina who left the United Methodist ministry and is now a deacon in the Anglican Mission in America. He assisting in the formation of a new congregation. Here is his report.

"Things continue to move very rapidly. In my last letter, I told you I would be meeting with a group in Greer, South Carolina about getting a new church started in the Greenville/Spartanburg area. This group has been together for about two years, but has been without any strong leadership to give them a common vision for what God wants to do through them and others of like mind in the area. Since meeting with them, I have also been put in contact with several other groups from the upstate region who are at various stages of disaffection with their current church situation. Most of them long to be a part of a church that is committed to reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but are not finding such a commitment in their present setting.



Last Thursday, I made a return trip to the Greenville/Spartanburg area along with Rev. Chip Edgar, rector of Church of the Apostles in Columbia. We met with a couple who head up a group of about 50-60 persons who meet regularly for prayer and Bible study. As a result of that meeting, and several other contacts, Chip and I decided, with the help of the congregation at Church of the Apostles, to establish the Upstate Anglican Fellowship. This group will meet on the first and third Tuesday of each month, beginning March 15. Chip will lead celebrations of the eucharist on the first Tuesday, and I will lead evening prayer on the third Tuesday. After four months, if we have a commitment from at least forty persons, we will move to weekly celebrations of the eucharist on Sunday evenings. This will coincide with the time in which I will be eligible for ordination as a presbyter in the Anglican Mission in America.



There is great excitement and enthusiasm for this new mission among the parishioners at Church of the Apostles, particularly in light of the way all the necessary elements for the Fellowship�s first meeting fell into place. After our meeting in Greenville last Thursday, Chip and I traversed up and down state highway 29, hoping to find a suitable facility for this upcoming organizational meeting that would be convenient for all parties involved. Several area churches were very supportive of our efforts but, unfortunately, they all had conflicts with the March 15 date. We were about to call it a day when we happened upon Joshua�s Way Christian Study and Service Center on West Poinsett Street in Greer, just off the interstate connecting Greenville and Spartanburg. The director of this ministry, Mr. David Rogers, graciously welcomed us and gave us use of his facility for our meeting. Joshua�s Way is an interdenominational ministry offering resources for church leadership, discipleship training, and spiritual formation�precisely the resources we will need to get a new church off the ground!

As you can tell, God is at work mightily in putting all the pieces together for this new mission to the upstate region. We have already established a web site which will include periodic updates on our activities. Meanwhile, back in Columbia, there are a lot of exciting things happening at Church of the Apostles. In addition to starting the upstate mission, we are getting ready to move into a new worship facility. Arsenal Hill Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, ideally located in downtown Columbia, will be sharing their sanctuary with us on a trial basis during the month of April. We are hoping and praying that this will be the beginning of a vital relationship between our two congregations. The sanctuary will give us more space in which to expand our worship services and the educational facilities will give us rooms in which our small groups and Bible study fellowships can meet during the week.

In the midst of this flurry of activity, I am still supporting myself doing bookkeeping for my father's sub-contracting company. But I can honestly say I have never found more fulfillment in ministry than I have over these last few weeks. I am doing ministry for free and having fun doing it! More than ever before, serving God is a sheer delight, not just a duty.

Please join with me in praying for the following concerns:

*For God's continued blessing upon the ministry of Church of the Apostles in the Columbia metropolitan area; for a smooth transition to our new worship facility and an enriching fellowship with the congregation of Arsenal Hill ARP Church.

*For clear vision and direction for the Upstate Anglican Fellowship and its ministry in upstate South Carolina; that God will draw people of vision to this group who have a passion for reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

*For this Sunday's city-wide evangelistic service by Mission Columbia on the campus of Columbia International University.

*For the Primates meeting in Ireland this week, especially that the primates of the Global South, sponsors and supporters of the Anglican Mission in America, will be steadfast and courageous in standing firm for the truth of the Gospel and for holding those in error accountable.

I deeply appreciate all your prayers and support. Be assured that you, also, are in my prayers as you seek to serve God faithfully.

Yours in Christ,"

Dan, the "home church" and smaller group approach very popular and successful with the Protestants is not at all that far off of what Catholic-Orthodox missionaries have always done since Apostolic times.

Prayer and fellowship are contagious. From homes come communities.

I for one am a big believer in leveraging the experience of other Christian communities, so long as it makes sense within our own common life!

Should the BCC go with the "home church" model, I think it will be critical to equip the leaders with training and resources to be effective. Video and audio teaching tapes are one way - study guides to the CHurch fathers and the Eastern Catholic Catechism are another.

One additional thought, especially as communities begin to form, someone should go to training in Byzantine iconography. This type of training can be extremely helpful for a couple of reasons:

1. Someone in the group will receive a thorough grounding in the theology of the image, which is a draw for many non-Byzantines.

2. Should the community construct some kind of chapel, it will be helpful to have someone who can write true icons for the area used for prayer (prints should only be a temporary solution).

I also think that there should be a "Byzantine Catholic Mission and Outreach Toolkit" put together with checklists, study guides, music, resources, a video introducing the BCC, contact names and numbers, etc...

Just a few ideas...

Gordo

PS: Maybe the Metropolia/Seminary could set up a Mission School for lay leaders who want to start new churches? It could offer a certificate program that would be offered free of charge to participants (who would only have to pay there way to the training). I've always liked some of the ways that the Antiochian's set up St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology to help catechize those who are interested in receiving an Orthodox formation. Perhaps we could start the "Holy Cross Byzantine Institute in Catholic Studies" with that (and more) in mind? Correspondence courses could be delivered via video/dvd with study guides. With so many PhD pastors in the Metropolia (and other jurisdictions), the "professors" could work "virtually" from their home parishes. It could lead to a Certificate in Byzantine Catholic Studies. Catechists could enter this (1 year?) program, paid for by their parishes. Mission leaders could take a second year to focus on mission leadership training. Of course, this would take some subsidizing to work effectively. But I bet there would be some interest both within and outside of the BCC!

We could subsidize it with fundraising...

St. Elias Byzantine Catholic Mission of Greenville, SC presents the first ever lenten pirohy sale in SC!

Who knows what might catch on!

Should the flag of Dixie be flying from the fellowhip hall? Pirohys in South Carolina. Who'd have thought it?

CDL

I was reflecting on the life of Msgr. Luigi Guissani who reposed today (memory eternal) in the light of this thread.

When he started his lay movement, it wasn't any supernatural experience or apparition. He taught high school, and while asking his kids questions, he realized that although they were "cradle" RC kids in Milan, they knew very little about their faith.

But what disturbed him even greater was the sense he got that they had no Catholic "identity". All belonged to larger RC parishes, but the sense of unique identity to their faith simply wasn't there. He detected a "just a number in the system" sort of a thing with them.

How did he respond? He began what he called the "school of community", having the kids meet at someone's house for prayer and conversation. Songs, folk music, etc. were in the mix as well.

Eventually they would move on to study a book dealing with the faith that was of mutual interest, or Scripture, etc. But that was not the primary goal or end. It was rather the recapturing of Catholic community and culture which he saw was lost in these kids.

With that, they not only learned more about the faith from their experiences with each other and the clergy involved, they also learned to love not only their faith, but themselves, their friends and family, and this new community brought out of the ashes of modern secularism.

I think there is much to be said for this approach, and it is not that different to having the Offices in someone's house, followed by food, fellowship, and good conversation.

What a great story. It reminds me a bit of another priest of Italy and one of my personal heroes, St. John Bosco. He began an apostolate to wayward and homeless boys by going to the factories and to the streets where they lived and worked. He became a father to the fatherless through his threefold method of reason, religion and kindness. His Oratory in Turin (and the world-wide Salesian order he founded) was built on the love of Christ flowing from the heart of a simple and humble priest.

I think about him at my parish. We have four or five neighborhood kids who come to church at our parish. They don't come with their parents, but they have fallen in love with St. John's because of father's dogs (they help take them for walks periodically). The parishoners have adopted these kids, and are teaching them how to pray and about the faith. A few of them are undisciplined (the kids...and a few of the parishoners!), but the patience of a few are really helping and the kids keep coming back! In a way, the church has become a "second home" for them.

It also reminds me a bit of Catherine Dougherty's "chit chat" apostolate. She reached out to people through her Friendship Houses by just being available - and providing tea. It was a powerful witness and many lives were changed by her organic witness of community.

Gordo

Gordo, Catherine Doherty indeed had many of the same sorts of ideas as did her priest-husband Fr. Eddie Doherty.

I haven't heard how Catherine's cause is coming along, but I pray for her intercession. Her Poustinia and Strannik are both great classics, and Archbishop Raya still resides up in Combermere.

http://www.communionliberation.ca/about/soc/

Information on the "School of Community" for CL.

Gordo

Gordo, our SC includes our Byzantine pastor, myself and a few other Greek Catholics and even one Coptic Orthodox lady.

It has been a wonderful vehicle as the questions and discussions regarding our Church from SC have led to interest and visits to our Parish and to other home meetings for the Hours.

One word fits well here:

YYYEEEEEHHHHHAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

(the token native-born southerner turned Melkite)