{"id":1768,"date":"2007-08-26T10:32:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-26T10:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/08\/reaching-americas-second-largest-denomination.html"},"modified":"2007-08-26T10:32:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-26T10:32:00","slug":"reaching-americas-second-largest-denomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/08\/reaching-americas-second-largest-denomination.html","title":{"rendered":"Reaching America’s second-largest denomination"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s one of the most vexing problems facing the Church: how to woo back sheep who have strayed, Catholics who are no longer practicing. An Arizona newspaper has a profile<\/a> of some people who are trying to reach this particular group — and believe that they can, in fact, be reached: <\/p>\n

<\/a>Catholics like Pat Julian and Carrie Kemp have set their sights on what they say is America\u2019s second-largest \u201cdenomination\u201d after Roman Catholicism. It has more people than the largest Protestant group, the Southern Baptists. There are at least 17 million of them, just ripe for the picking.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re inactive Catholics.<\/p>\n

Kemp, a pastoral minister for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, calls them \u201cthe lost sheep of our church.\u201d Because they were baptized into the Catholic faith, she says, their absence affects the wholeness of \u201cthe body of Christ.\u201d Kemp, author of \u201cCatholics Can Come Home: A Guide for the Journey of Reconciliation With Inactive Catholics\u201d (Paulist Press, $17.95), will speak Sept. 15-16 at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley to launch the center\u2019s and local parishes\u2019 efforts to reach out to disaffected or grudge-bearing Catholics and seek to return them to active Catholicism.<\/p>\n

For two hours on seven consecutive Thursday nights starting Oct. 4, inactive Catholics are encouraged to come and freely share those things that have kept them away \u2014 divorce, resentment, the church\u2019s ban on contraception, an insensitive priest, a bad incident with parishioners or unpleasant memories of Catholic school. The program is titled \u201cCalled to Love: Catholics Can Come Home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julian, director of adult education for the center, recalled how many times she has heard \u201cI was raised Catholic, but …\u201d or \u201cI used to be Catholic …\u201d followed by stories about why they left. That phenomenon prompted her staff to develop the class series to be sensitive to people\u2019s old hurts and deep-seated issues. It\u2019s a population crossing all demographics that needs to be addressed, Julian said. She believes reconciliation is possible, in part because people have changed since they walked away from the church.<\/p>\n

At the first session, attendees will be free to fill flip charts with likes and dislikes of the church. They will be allowed to vent, Julian said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is that we should begin from an honest place,\u201d Julian said. \u201cWe want to begin from a place where somehow these people have been attracted to come and see what it is all about again.\u201d Each session will focus on reconciliation and touchstones of the Catholic faith that set it apart, including the sacraments. The hope is that they can return to active life in a parish.<\/p>\n

Julian said the effort will draw from the center\u2019s \u201cFranciscan way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur lives as Franciscans focus on the experiences of life,\u201d she said. \u201cIt comes from moments in our lives that stay with us and shape us. … Our faith is about believing Jesus came to be more human and divine \u2014 and it puts great accent on humanness. It is from God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kemp, who started her ministry more than 15 years ago, said the starting point should be people\u2019s current spirituality and what their life experiences have been.<\/p>\n

Many have been taught that the Catholic Church is a set of specific things. \u201cI visualize a frame. That is what the church is,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t agree with everything inside that frame, you are out. So they get to the point where their life experiences, or acquired knowledge, or their own deep faith, in many cases, put them at odds with some of those things in that frame.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s much more at the link<\/a>, with details of how their program works. Some, I’m sure, will be skeptical. There’s a strong strand of Catholicism today that holds that to be Catholic means: it’s all-or-nothing. I like to offer these words of Blessed John XXIII: “Accept what you can and pray over the rest.” It’s good advice for anyone, no matter where you are on your journey. <\/p>\n

Or, as Mother Teresa told Malcolm Muggeridge: \u201cThe personal love Christ has for you is infinite \u2014 The difficulty you have re His Church is finite \u2014 Overcome the finite with the infinite.”<\/p>\n

Photo: Pat Julian by Paul O’Neill, East Valley Tribune<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s one of the most vexing problems facing the Church: how to woo back sheep who have strayed, Catholics who are no longer practicing. 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