Pray at work, do not gossip and be fair in your dealings with others: these are some of the ideas put forward by the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in an evangelisation drive inspired by Pope Francis.
A leaflet sent out to parishes gives a series of ideas under the title of “How to Evangelise Everyday” – in home, work and parish settings – and says it is taking inspiration from Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”).
Catholics in the workplace are encouraged to be open about their faith including wearing crosses, taking a few moments to pray “even at your desk”, being honest and fair and “never taking part in gossip or backbiting”.
At home, people are encouraged to turn off the television in order to pray, live simply and stay up to date over matters of social justice; while in parishes Massgoers are urged to make friends with those who send their non-baptised children to Catholic schools in order to encourage them to consider baptism, and to reach out to non-practising families at funerals to encourage them to return to the faith.
The initiative is being co-ordinated by Patricia Carroll, pastoral resources director at the archdiocese. She is in the process of setting up evangelisation teams in the parishes of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, in the Diocese of Portsmouth, Bishop Philip Egan has called for the setting up of evangelisation teams made up predominantly of lay people. He wants each pastoral area in the diocese to have a team ready after Easter 2015 and then larger, deanery teams in place by early 2016.
He wants the groups to identify local areopagi – taken from St Paul’s sermon on the Areopagus in Athens – which might include hospitals, schools, local media and shopping centres.
Bishop Egan’s top priority for the diocese is to “seek out and draw in the unbelieving and unchurched”.
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