Evangelisation, says Canberra-Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse, is not about shouting louder – it’s about walking closer. Source: Catholic Voice.
“The Church doesn’t need more programs,” Archbishop Prowse told those gathered at the second session of three sessions in the archdiocese’s Synodal Formation Series.
“It needs people of encounter – disciples who listen deeply, walk humbly, and share Christ through love.”
He described synodal evangelisation as “a movement from isolation to communion, from talking at people to walking with them”.
Drawing on the Gospel stories of the Samaritan woman and the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he said true evangelisation “happens eyeball-to-eyeball, face-to-face. Christianity is not a theory or a doctrine – it’s meeting Jesus personally.”
The archbishop’s call to “move from maintenance to mission” was met with reflection and practical insight from a diverse panel: Anne Kirwan, CEO of Marymead CatholicCare; Bree Thomas, youth minister with the John Paul II College Youth Team; and John Kennedy, long-time lay leader.
For Ms Kirwan, Pope Francis’s call to “Be shepherds with the smell of the sheep” is more than a slogan – it’s her staff’s daily reality.
“We meet people on the hardest days of their lives,” she said. “That might be someone experiencing homelessness, family violence or mental illness. Every encounter is a chance to offer the gift of time and dignity.”
She said the Church’s presence in social services is one of its most powerful tools of evangelisation. “We care for around 20,000 people every year – most of them wouldn’t step inside a church. But when they meet us, they meet the Church. That’s evangelisation in action.”
Archbishop Prowse agreed. “Caring for the poor isn’t separate from proclaiming the Gospel – it is the Gospel,” he said. “When we reach out to those on the margins, we reveal the heart of Christ.”
He said evangelisation in a synodal Church is marked by energy and openness, led chiefly by the Holy Spirit.
“The Spirit is awakening us to be missionary again — not through power or programs, but through presence.”
FULL STORY
‘Walk with, don’t talk at’: Evangelising the Synodal Way (By Jeanine Doyle, Catholic Voice)
