"Over the next few months, we knocked on every door in the parish boundaries. Never once did he ask, "Will you come to church?" Instead, he asked: "What's keeping you up at night?"When people answered, the priest listened. He helped however he could and never made false promises. Anxious about a needle-strewn park? Join the church's efforts to reallocate city funds to build a better one."
"She sobbed, ashamed that she couldn't afford a funeral and that she had no close family or friends to send him off with dignity.The priest ministered to her movingly. As always, he never asked "Will you come to church?"Instead, he went back to the Mexican American matriarchs who led the parish prayer group. They got to work, cooking trays of lasagna and enchiladas to deliver to her daily."
A person with a secular background began church-based community organizing in 2010 with minimal religious knowledge. The parish focused its evangelization on listening and tangible problem-solving rather than inviting people to mass. Organizers knocked on every door and asked residents what kept them up at night, then offered help with city advocacy and enrollment in energy programs. Assistance was provided regardless of parish membership, generating gratitude from residents. When a widow could not afford a funeral, parish prayer-group leaders provided meals and organized a dignified service. The work reinforced the leaders' faith and countered criticism of the church.
Read at The Nation
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