Catechesis and Evangelization

1
Catechesis and Evangelization

• Growth by Faithfulness to the Historical Theology
  of Christs Church

2
The Church Situation Today

• Todays Church setting is increasingly similar to
  that of the first four centuries of the Churchs
  life- the time of the Catacombs.
• There were more Christian martyrs in the 20th
  century than in all previous centuries combined.
• The 21st century looks like it will give the last
  century a run for its money. Before the rise of
  ISIS, the average number of Christian killed for
  their faith worldwide was about 465 persons per
  day, which is about 19 new martyrs per hour, or
  three a minute. It is higher now. Men, women, and
  children- confessors who refuse to reject Jesus
  who are 5 or 8 or 12 years old- are being
  beheaded with knives, crucified, burned alive, or
  shot. Movements in the US wants to make rejection
  of deeply disordered acts criminal. Hate crimes
  and faith crimes are new categories of tyranny.
  

3
Reasons Primary Dangers

• The latest Pew Research data shows a decrease in
  self-identified Christians in the US. In 2007 it
  was 78.4 In 2014 it was 70.6, down almost 8
  points in 7 years. Those whose affiliation was
  none, including atheists, agnostics, and so on
  moved from 16.1 to 22.8 in the same period.
• Of those young people, ages 18 to 29, with a
  Christian background, 59 have, at some point,
  dropped out. Some will return to some form of
  Christian practice. Many may not.
• Of those turning 18 around the year 2000 and
  afterward, 25 claim no religious affiliation at
  all.
• Why is this?

4
A Hostile Public Environment

• The obvious surface level reason for this change
  is the militant imposition of various atheist
  views in the public arena. The core elements of
  materialism, individualism, subjectivism, and a
  rationalism unhinged from reason and tied to
  tyranny, are the core heresies of our age.
• This includes increasingly hostile government
  intervention at numerous levels, including
  manipulation of the courts and security agencies,
  and, through government policies, all areas of
  the economy.
• It also includes the mass media, educational
  institutions, and entertainment industries.
• Thus it embraces and penetrates all aspects of
  current life.

5
The Enemy?

• The primary enemies- the world, flesh and satanic
  armies- fight against goodness, and against the
  standards of goodness, both revealed in the
  Natural Moral Law, and in Revealed truth (Holy
  Tradition), rooted in the Family and the historic
  Church.
• Natural Law, Revelation, Family and Church take
  the position of moral judge over groups in power,
  and limit them.
• The elimination of the Family and the Church are
  the main objectives- and have been explicitly so
  for Marxism and all satanic movements in history.
  
• The Family and the Church, when healthy, both
  catechize against major errors, replacing them
  with Truth.

6
Catechesis?

• Catechesis means the formation of not only the
  intellect or mind, by the learning of truth, but
  also the entire way of life and thinking which
  echoes back the life of God to God and to one
  another.
• Catechesis means to echo back in thoughts,
  words (the Creeds, Scriptures, etc.) and actions
  (practical morality).

7
We must know Whom we have believed.

• For this reason I also suffer these things
  nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I
  have believed and am persuaded that He is able to
  keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
  Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you
  have heard from me, in faith and love which are
  in Christ Jesus.
• 1 Timothy 112-13

8
The Enemys Catechesis

• The primary focal point, and success tactic of
  the Enemy has been catechesis. That is, both
  formal and informal instruction by all these
  groups, and pressure or coercion in terms of
  practice.
• Both children and adults have been formed in this
  whole way of thinking by militantly atheist
  agendas, which are religious but not identified
  as such.

9
Atheist Religion

• Religion is a system of thought and value
  oriented around something ultimate. There are a
  number of different scholarly definitions for
  religion in use, but they are all very close to
  one another in meaning. That used by Paul
  Tillich- religion is "one's ultimate concern" -
  is very helpful in keeping the focus where it
  belongs, and being comprehensive. This means that
  religion isn't simply about beliefs, but about
  beliefs which orient one's whole life (they
  provide what is called a "worldview"). Religion
  has to do with something which is ultimate- which
  is more important than anything else.
• This includes a number of non-theist religions,
  and that it isn't just scholars of religion which
  classify non-theist religion AS religions (though
  the American press, some parts of governments,
  and some other institutions seem to ignore this
  on a routine basis). Secular Humanism and Atheism
  are both officially recognized as religions.

10
Atheist Religion (cont.)

• Humanism has its own organized belief system,
  publications and preachers. Like other religions,
  it also has a goal the supplanting of all other
  religions with its own. It also receives a
  religious tax exemption. (Free Inquiry, winter
  1986/87)
• It even calls itself a religion. (The Humanist,
  Sept. 1984) The title of an article in The
  Humanist, Feb. 1983, for example, describes the
  movement as "A Religion for a New Age." In the
  article, teachers are charged with the role of
  "preachers ... ministers of another sort."
• And, all the way back in 1961, the Supreme Court
  classified Secular Humanism as a religion. "...
  among religions ... are Buddhism ... and Secular
  Humanism." The Supreme Court, in Torkoso v.
  Watkins (1961)

11
Atheist Religion (cont.)

• A 2005 federal court of appeals ruled that
  Wisconsin prison officials violated an inmate's
  rights because they did not treat atheism as a
  religion.
• "Atheism is the inmate's religion, and the
  group that he wanted to start was religious in
  nature even though it expressly rejects a belief
  in a supreme being. Without venturing too far
  into the realm of the philosophical, we have
  suggested in the past that when a person
  sincerely holds beliefs dealing with issues of
  'ultimate concern' that for her occupy a 'place
  parallel to that filled by God in traditionally
  religious persons,' those beliefs represent her
  religion. Atheism is, among other things, a
  school of thought that takes a position on
  religion, the existence and importance of a
  supreme being, and a code of ethics. We have
  already indicated that atheism may be considered,
  in this specialized sense, a religion. See Reed
  v. Great Lakes Cos., 330 F.3d 931, 934 (7th Cir.
  2003) ('If we think of religion as taking a
  position on divinity, then atheism is indeed a
  form of religion.') The Supreme Court has
  recognized atheism as equivalent to a 'religion'
  for purposes of the First Amendment on numerous
  occasions."

12
Atheisms False Claim

• All this needs to be kept in mind when people
  start debating over the idea of keeping religion
  out of education, government, the workplace, etc.
  It is not a matter of religion versus
  non-religion (as if Secular Humanism or Atheism
  were not religions), but of which religions will
  be accepted in public discourse, and which are
  being rejected. Atheists and Secular Humanists
  often THEIR views presented as fact, and
  all other religions to be suppressed. It is,
  ultimately, ironic that Atheism, dedicated to the
  extermination of religion, is itself a religion.
• The growth of numerous religious tax-exempt
  Atheist groups, and even Atheist Churches show
  the common claim that atheism is not religion but
  science to be a crass lie. Such organizations
  include the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the
  American Humanist Association, the American
  Ethical Union, and HUUmanists, and a growing
  number of Atheist Churches.

13
The Focal Point

• The focal point has been on sexual matters. The
  so-called Sexual Revolution is pushed, and has
  been, for decades in all forms of TV, movies,
  educational instruction (which has focused not on
  academics, but Progressive i.e. Marxist-
  socialization, especially following John Dewey),
  and government programs.
• This attach was originally on marriage and on
  procreation, both by artificial birth control and
  by abortion, and the pushing of free love
  (which was neither free nor love).
• This attack has now extended to the is now being
  extended to infanticide, euthanasia, genetic
  engineering, homosexual pseudogamy, and the
  compulsion of acceptance of these.

14
Distortion of Sex and Gender

• One aspect of this is the distorted and mentally
  imbalanced idea that gender (a matter of
  grammar, not biology anyway) is now an open
  category. So Facebook lists 56 genders. No
  rational person believes there are anything but
  two sexes male and female.
• Ideas being pushed include not only homosexual
  pseudogamy, but self-marriage, people
  marrying pets, marrying inanimate objects
  (objectum marriage), polygamy and various forms
  of group marriage.
• The sacred (and intended sacramental nature) of
  Holy Marriage, and the Marital Embrace as the
  expression of this, are simply rejected. We are
  taught to lie with out bodies- to say I am yours
  and you are mine and not mean it.

15
Catechesis as Key to Faithfulness

• Catechesis has always been the center of the
  Church way of life. The goal of the Christian
  life is formation in the image of God, and growth
  in His likeness.
• This is not limited to one area of life, but is
  holistic, and includes absolutely everything.
• This is not temporary, but life-long.
• It involves everyone, not just clergy.

16
The Antidote Against Death

• The answer to the Enemys attacks is Jesus, the
  God-man. No program is any kind of substitute for
  the Triune God Himself, made known in the real
  Jesus, made known in the Scriptures and whole
  Tradition of the Church.
• For this reason I also suffer these things
  nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I
  have believed and am persuaded that He is able to
  keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
  Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you
  have heard from me, in faith and love which are
  in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was
  committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who
  dwells in us. 2 Tim. 112-14
• Catechesis means we are grafted and grow in Him.

17
Realms of Catechesis

• Liturgy both the Divine Liturgy AS catechesis
  and catechesis about the Liturgy.
• Also the entirety of life as Liturgical, a
  inaugurated participation in the life of God and
  heaven.
• Daily Vocation is thus liturgical, and a realm
  for echoing back who we are.
• The Christian Family and its structures is a
  basic framework, with parents being catechists
  for their children.
• Church life is itself familial (covenantal), and
  involves the whole mystical body of Christ in
  each place.

18
True Catechesis is

• Being joined to the fullness of the Church.
• Transmitting and receiving the Truth of the
  Faith, with humility and faith.
• Not fleeing from but rather to Truth, looking for
  refuge from all false claims of life and human
  flourishing presented by the culture. This is not
  limited to some aspects of life.
• Acting in the agape of God, poured out into and
  through us for the life of the world, to
  radically transform it by setting it free from
  sin and death.

19
False Catechesis is

• An exercise of pride and self-sufficiency,
  focused on our wants rather than on Christ.
• A compartmentalized way of thinking about God and
  His Church.
• A temporary activity from which we graduate.
• Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites!
  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte,
  and when he is won, you make him twice as much a
  son of hell as yourselves.
  - Matthew 2315

20
Concessionary False Catechesis

• Another form of false catechesis concedes truth,
  in the hopes of winning people by being
  conciliatory.
• One cannot concede an inch to the old sinful self
  (the Old Adam), the sinful world, or Satan, and
  still win the victory. This is absolute war, and
  only the weapons of absolute unbending, divinely
  stubborn Truth will do. One does not pour
  gasoline on peoples disordered desires and at
  the same time help them escape from them. This is
  what the Church Growth Movement and all mere
  marketing approaches can never understand.
• This results in false teaching- both for church
  members and for those outside the Church.
• For a multitude of examples, see unChristian by
  David Kinnaman, (Baker Books, 2007) where misuse
  of data leads to all kinds of false ideas.

21
False Models

• Catechesis as mere marketing. People are not
  objects or commodities, and neither is the
  Gospel. Words like market share and branding
  are symptomatic of a major distortion in
  perspective.
• Catechesis as updating the teaching of the
  Church. The premise is false- nothing God has
  instituted for all time is out of date. This
  produces heterodoxy.
• Catechesis as somebody elses responsibility.
• Catechesis as something we complete and leave
  behind. This expresses the root sin of pride.

22
False Model Example

• Rolling Hills Community Church in 2008 launched a
  new evangelism program Confessions of a
  Sinful Church. They advertised a five-week
  program centered around five apologies
• Were Sorry for Our Self-Righteousness and
  Hypocrisy
• Were Sorry for Our Endorsement of Slavery
• Were Sorry for Our Mistreatment of Homosexuals
• Were Sorry for the Medieval Crusades
• Were Sorry for Saying the Earth is Flat
• A more asinine and deficient approach could
  hardly be imagined, since, setting aside their
  judgment of themselves in number 1, all the
  remaining points are simply falsifications of
  history.
• This program is being imitated elsewhere, in what
  is being labeled as a new kind of confessing
  church, begging the cultures pardon. See lt
  http//www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leaders
  hip/the-new-confessing-church-11583323.html gt.

23
Problems in Diagnosis

• Diagnosing the problems as something other than,
  at their root, spiritual, is a mistake. The
  primary issue is a worldview which rejects
  historic Christianity, and has never heard it
  defended - ever.
• Recent research from Barna Group found that 67
  of millennials prefer a classic church over a
  trendy one 77 choose a sanctuary over an
  auditorium. The word traditional, however,
  does not find favor (only 40 preferred it over
  modern whatever that means. They are
  frustrated with slick or shallow expressions of
  religion, and are not looking for the
  sensational, flashy, or particularly
  relevant. One said, I can be entertained
  anywhere. At church, I do not want to be
  entertained. I do not want to be the target of
  anyones marketing. I want to be asked to
  participate in the life of an ancient-future
  community. Among those who dont go to church,
  87 see Christians as judgmental, and 85 as
  hypocritical. Only 8 say they dont attend
  because church is out of date. But many see
  many moral issues through thoroughly secular
  eyes, and so gauge authenticity falsely.

24
Addressing Root Problems

• This means that historic Christianity is rejected
  because youth are brainwashed (or brain-defiled)
  by popular culture, the educational system, and
  so on, and are incapable of seeing Christianity
  through non-secularist eyes. The only medicine
  given to us to undo the damage is found in
  catechesis and the Means of Grace- patient,
  consistent application of these from the earliest
  possible time.
• We cannot compromise with the world, flesh and
  demons. Until we actually see secular
  presuppositions and culture as the major problem,
  which cause the death of civilization, and
  therefore shut it off, and destroy its arguments
  with a clear articulation of truth, no progress
  should be expected.
• We only fool ourselves if we do not take this as
  a deadly serious reality, or hope it will go
  away.

25
The Positive Remedy

• The only real remedy is the Triune God, the
  God-Man Jesus Christ, the Church, and her Liturgy
  and Sacraments. We must not confuse this as a
  matter of taste, and must remove it from all
  consideration of it contaminated by that way of
  thinking. What matters is not this specific book,
  whether the 1928 BCP or whatever else, but
  faithfulness to Christ.
• The real connection to Gods remedy is what
  Catechesis means and is.

26
Steps in Catechesis

• Guest
• Inquirer
• Catechumen
• Reception
• Integration
• Perpetual Growth

27
Elements of Initial Outreach

• Be visible in the community, so people can find
  you
• Use communication tools (websites, but also
  personal contacts)
• Families bring in families
• Pray
• Be open to questions and concerns when they come
• Programs vs. Agape
• Reject a gatekeeper mentality
• Put an integrated system of sponsorship in place

28
Some Useful Tools for Guests

• Use Visitor Cards
• Do not single out people
• Have substantive material for people to take home
• Use Greeters at the door(s)
• Invite people to coffee hour
• Provide services for people in need of counseling
  or other help

29
Inquirers

• Prepare a simple Introduction- people may know
  nothing. People may not even know they dont
  know. Watch for theological and philosophical
  baggage!
• Spend time and get to know them- so catechesis
  can be tailored to meet their real needs. No
  cookie cutter approaches!
• Invite inquirers to Liturgy, Offices, as well as
  parish events.
• Be willing to answer questions, and supply
  material to read or watch, both on Liturgy and
  its meanings.
• Assign potential sponsors to those willing to
  have them.
• Saturate the parishs life with catechesis and
  liturgy as a matter of course.
• Pray for all who are searching for Christ (but
  not by name unless asked!). Flog our enemies
  with the Name of Jesus.

30
Catechumens

• Officially receive them with the prayers of the
  Church.
• Take your time- rushing this is always a mistake.
  This is true no matter who does the rushing.
• Be sure they come to services, not just classes
  (so the perspective isnt distorted).
• Integrate them into the community, and use
  sponsors.

31
Essentials of Catechesis

• Jesus Christ
• The Trinity
• The Church
• Holy Tradition (Scripture properly used and
  understood)
• The Divine Liturgy/Mass and Daily Offices
• Sacraments
• The Ecumenical Creeds
• The Ten Commandments
• The Our Father

32
The Ancient Catechesis Model

• Basic Elements The Gospel, Scripture, the
  Trinity, Christology, Creation and Anthropology,
  the Ten Commandments, The Creeds, the Sacraments,
  the Our Father, and the Liturgical context and
  connections.
• Take questions and concerns seriously.
• Include hands-on activities that show the various
  elements of Church life, both at the parish
  building and elsewhere.

33
Reception into The Church

• Follow the guidelines of the ACA and rubrics in
  the BCP and related liturgical sources, as
  appropriate for the age and background of each
  catechumen.
• Use the seasons and feasts of the Church. See
  Missione Ecclesiae Catholicae Evangelio.
• Do not rush this!
• Be certain that reception is always in connection
  with the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the
  gathering of the whole community.

34
Preparing for Reception

• Baptism vs. Confirmation
• First Confession as age appropriate.
• Involve sponsors!
• Give plenty of notice beforehand.
• Walk through the Liturgy beforehand- just like
  you would do for a wedding.
• Plan a parish reception.

35
Actual Reception

• Involve the whole parish.
• Make it special.
• Include a meaningful gift from the parish
• Invite family members of those being received, as
  appropriate.
• Again, always receive new members in conjunction
  with the regular Sunday or festival Divine
  Liturgy/Mass.

36
Integration into the Parish

• Keep them involved.
• Remember that sponsors do not stop being
  sponsors!
• Make it clear that no one is done. Show
  opportunities for continuing catechesis. Remember
  that new members wont see this as important if
  the parish as a whole doesnt.
• Specifically go though opportunities for service
  and involvement based on their abilities,
  background, personalities, and so on.

37
Continuous Growth

• Remember that the ongoing goal is to build up the
  Body of Christ by faithfulness to Him and to one
  another.
• This is NOT a numbers game. Our focus is
  persons.
• Emphasize quality over quantity, realizing that
  the growth and sustaining of the Church is a
  matter of Gods oath and covenant faithfulness,
  that the gates of Hades shall not prevail
  against My Church (Matt. 1617-19). Either we
  believe Him or not.
• We are not called to be successful by any other
  measure than faithfulness of Christ.
• This means we must each take up our cross and
  follow Him.
• The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church"
  (Tertullian, Apologeticus).

38
An Initial Resource

• Missione Ecclesiae Catholicae Evangelio
• Theology Practice of Gospel Proclamation,
  Catechesis, and Growth in Anglican Parishes and
  Missions is offered to the Church as a very
  imperfect, but beginning resource for Catechesis
  and Proclamation of the Gospel in an historic
  way.
• Improvements and additional materials will be
  needed, but we must begin our return to the
  ancient model .