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This is an interesting subforum (evangelization). I've never really seen Eastern Catholics getting the word out about the East; if I wasn't already Catholic and interested in the East, I probably wouldn't know it existed if I didn't seek it out myself. Not saying there aren't Eastern Catholics trying to do that, you would know better than I (it looks like that's what you guys are trying to do with this forum), but that's just my perception as a person coming from the Western tradition, and probably of an average westerner. Most of the Eastern websites I have visited seem to either focus on basic concepts of the Eastern tradition, and explaining themselves to Latin visitors; not too much for a non-Catholic or a non-Christian who is wondering why they should be Catholic. Roman Catholics have many such resources, such as Catholic Answers. Maybe this is because the East teaches through Liturgy, but you have to get people to the Liturgy to teach them. I'm thinking maybe the Eastern Churches are so preoccupied with just preserving their own identity that they really don't have the resources to actively spread the Eastern tradition to new lands and peoples.

I think of Latin Catholic groups that present the Catholic faith in Latin form without any conscious need to justify themselves in light of the Eastern Church. For example, they'll say something like, "The Rosary is essential to Catholic spirituality", whereas an Easterner might say, "Icons are essential to Eastern spirituality", putting the emphasis on Eastern, which maybe reinforces the perception that Eastern Catholics are something "extra" to the mainstream Catholic Church, and not an equal partner with the West.

I think the Eastern Catholic Churches could really build themselves up if they went out to spread their tradition to the Western world. I think non-Catholics and non-Christians would be receptive to the beautiful tradition of the Catholic East. It's a shame that Eastern Catholic Churches are a rare phenomena in America. My hometown once had 4 Roman Catholic Churches (one is now closed), and it's only 2 square miles. I think I read that Eastern Catholics are only 2% of the Catholic population.

Anyways, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm learning about the East myself right now at a Melkite Catholic Church. I'm an evangelizing-minded person, so I have grand visions of not only proclaming Christ and his Catholic Church, but bringing people to the East, once I am properly acclimated myself, and building up my local Church. I have this idea that if everyone focuses on evangelizing their local area, we will convert the world. If everyone reforms and evangelizes locally, it will all come together and the universal Church will be renewed. I'm young, I know my visions are probably delusions, but what else are youth good for but dreams, hehe. The few times I have gone to an Eastern Church (including a Russian Orthodox Church once), the people seemed very friendly because it didn't seem like they got many new faces, and they introduced themselves because newbies stuck out; you never see this in Latin Churches, because people come and go all the time. I would love to see the Eastern Churches built up to become a real presence in the Catholic Church, and not identified with Latin only anymore.

I think if the Eastern Catholic Churches want to convert people in the Western world, they will have to return to the missionary spirit of the Apostles, going out two-by-two and proclaiming the Gospel to people, not just waiting for people to come to us. How many people know what an Eastern Catholic Church is, let alone that there is one in their city, or nearby? Western Catholics have this same problem with going out and evangelizing, but I think that Roman Catholicism is so ingrained into Western culture, that they can rest on the backs of thousands of years of Saints and others who laid the groundwork. There's a Roman Catholic Church in every city, so the need isn't that urgent, although it may be if they don't continue to replenish the missionary zeal.

Era,

This is something I've been working on myself. I'm going to start a thread in this forum about answering the questions of non-Catholics and non-Christians.

Thank you.

Era,
this has been discussed quite a few times in this Forum, and too often the problem is that we have a few dinosaurs that feel that Eastern Catholicism or Orthodoxy and their respective ethnic group are one and the same, and if you are not Ruthenian, Greek, Ukrainian, Russian, or whatever, you really don't belong. like most dinosaurs, their roar is so loud that that it drowns out the voices of those in the respective EC groups that would welcome you with open arms. that situation in itself seem to cancel out much evangelization that could and should be done. so where is an asteroid when you need one?may be it's a Northern thing, this ethnic/ecclesiatical ghetto mentality, down here, EC and a growing number of Orthodox parishes are quite diverse.
on the subject of Latin churches, up there, it's a mob scene with reminders of a football game's attendees, so many, no one notices you, nor if you didn't return, would they miss you. Latin churches down here can be the same. I guess you would have to go to a small parish in a rural county where you would be noticed by someone besides some one from the parish finance group seeking a pledge card from you.
I hope you never lose you zeal,Era.
Much Love,
Jonn

Era and John,

I don't believe that the rosary is essential to Catholic Spirituality. Never has a counsel addressed the question of either the Rosary or the Chotki. Icons may be essential to Catholic and Orthodox spirituality but I don't think so. I believe that that Nicaea II defined them as wonderful and acceptable windows to heaven but not as mandatory. Iconoclasm was condemned. Iconography was not mandated.

I bring people to the Church and let the experience do most of the evangelizing.

CDL

My parish has a strong Ruthenian ethnic heritage, and the Minnesota Rusyn society meets at our Church. But I do not think our ethnic identity is so strong that it undercuts our welcoming spirit. My parish was very welcoming to me when I joined, very warm.

We have some vibrancy in our parish. We have some young couples and families that have joined us. For the most part, they are either converts or transfers from the Roman Rite who became interested in the Byzantine Rite through their own seeking. I myself am grew up Roman rite, and do not have Rusyn ancestry (I am a mutt; by the time you get to my great grandparents, the all come from widely different backgrounds).

I had left the Catholic Church in my 20's (I am in my 40's now), for fundamentalism. In my early 30's I met a Greek Orthodox priest who made his faith very attractive. I would have joined them, but I found out at that time that there were Catholic Churches that practice the Byzantine Rite, and so the rest is history.

What we do not have it an active evangelistic outreach. About the only evangelistic thing we do is our fall parish festival, which is some what ethnically based. This year, we took people on tours through the Sanctuary, and had literature about our faith and Byzantine Rite available. So I think people are open to evangelization. The Sunday school teachers seem very dedicated.

I love our rite; I do believe in the "Come & See" style of Byzantine Evangelism. But I would like to have us develop effective evangelization strategies. It is not only the case that our Rite is beautiful; but there are a lot of unchurched Christians, that need a parish home, and there are a lot of souls that need salvation.

I am going to be working with one of my friends in the parish to develop a Sunday Adult education curriculum.

I will share our progress if people are interested. I would also enjoy hearing what others have come up with for evangelism.

One idea have which I have seen other churches do- put a notice in the paper when you have an interesting Sunday school or Adult education topic; you may draw some people in.

Blessings,

Lance

Dear Lance,

Unfortunately most newspaper advertising goes unnoticed, and this is proven from several studies. You may want to see if the local radio stations through their community advertisement requirements (which should be free under the public service requirements regs from the FCC) will run spots through a period of time. I am sure you may get better responses from that. I hope this helps.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Fr. Anthony, thanks for that feedback. I did not realize that the radio might be more effective.I will share this information with my colleague.Thank you!

Lance

Fr. Anthony,

You bring up an interesting marketing point I had not considered. Do you know where to find more information along these lines (what is effective)?

The FCC requires that each licensee must provide at no cost or nominal fee Public Service access for non-profit organizations. Each licensee must have a written policy publicly available, and make access also for all non-profit organizations for promotional spots. You can either review the regulation and requirements through the FCC website or by contacting you local radio or TV station. Each licensee must provide a log of these PSA (Public Service Announcements) in order to be granted a license renewal.

I hope this helps.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Direct response mail works very well.

Put a flyer/newsletter in a regular envelope. One like grandma would send to you, not a business envelope. It must be hand addressed and first class stamped.

Include in the newsletter some fun facts, upcoming events, spotlight on the priest/deacon/bishop or a parishioner, talk about the church or offer a FREE tour.

Send out at least one newsletter per month. Extra pieces of mail should be sent when there is a festival coming up to remind them of the BIG FUN!

Dr Eric,

It can be one of the more costly ways of getting the message out since you are charged not only for printing (the distributor sets the standards) but an insertion charge per piece also. If the piece is mailed, then you have postage costs. If many are like myself, most are never read but filed with the other junk mail when I get in the door. Several studies have shown that print media is behind in effectiveness as to other forms of media. A web search as to advertising effectiveness will prove that point in any effective campaign. I know that our archdiocese's Dept. of Outreach and Evangelization has directly recommended against such because of this, except for in parish mailings.

I hope this clarifies this from those that work in this area.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Don't have the printer do the stuffing and collating, have the youth group do it.

Direct mail works great for doctors!

It might be different for churches. Cold calling of course doesn't work.

I've also heard that you can get infomercials done surprisingly cheap, but I don't know off the top of my head where to get the info for the company.

Dr Eric,

It may work for doctors, but it is PROVEN to very ineffective for churches and most non-profit organizations. Also most printers have rules that bar organizations that are not directly employed by them from doing the stuffing and sorting.

If you are looking for infomercials, remember they may be able to be produced cheaply, but I suggest you call your local TV outlet and find out how much they want for one time slot. Our local cable carrier, while being able to deliver on public access for non-profit organizations, infomercials do not fit in that realm and are charged at commercial rates which depending on the market, are quite costly.

I strongly suggest, radio media, web publishing, and podcasts, both MP3 & MP4 for getting out the message.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Father Anthony,

What is an MP4? A fancier MP3? Does it require more sophisticated hardware or software to make or listen to it?

Dear Wondering,

A MP4 is a video version of the MP3 also referred to as video podcast by most at times. It can be downloaded and viewed on a computer or portable media player, such as video enable iPods. It can be viewed on most computer media programs that come stock on most computers such as Real Player, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+