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Evangelization Teams

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As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
-John 20:21

Who Should Be on the Team?

To understand the mission of an evangelization team, it is first necessary to understand the mission of Jesus Christ himself.  The word “mission” comes from the Latin word missio, which means “sending.”  Frequently in the Scriptures, Jesus identifies himself simply as “the One whom the Father has sent.”  Jesus never separates his proclamation of the Gospel from his identity as the Son who is sent by the Father.

Like Christ, our work in service to the new evangelization must be deeply characterized by this same sense of missio.  We are first and foremost those who are sent by Jesus Christ and this, as an extension of Christ’s own being sent by the Father.  This means that our vocation to make missionary disciples is fundamentally something that we have first received from God.  We are not masters of our work, but instead we are stewards of a work entrusted to us by God.  As Christ comes from the Father and comes not to do his own will but “the will of Him who sent me”, so we enter our ministry with a firm detachment from our own will and a strong desire to be in service to God’s will.

Forming Your Team

Guide: Starting Evangelization Ministry in Your Parish

The spiritual health of your team is essential to the fruitfulness of your work. The best evangelization ministries in the country recommend that you use the acronym F.A.C.T. for the qualities to look for in a team member:

  • Faithful: goes to Mass and Confession regularly, has a steady prayer life, believes in and strives to live the teachings of the Church
  • Available: has time to give to this ministry
  • Contagious: joyful in their faith and relates well with others
  • Teachable: has a docile heart, is willing to learn new things and take correction

Article: Choosing people who are F.A.C.T. – Faithful, Available, Contagious, Teachable

A good team will be a mix of people, representing the many dimensions of your parish:  members of other parish committees, “new” people who have not regularly served in parish ministry, young and old, married, single, consecrated, and representatives of the different cultures and languages groups that make up your parish. For a full list of resources that will help you form and train your evangelization team, visit phillyevang.org/disciples

Networking and Support

D/CAFFE Networking Meetings – Visit our Events page for upcoming meetings
(D/CAFFE=Directors/Coordinators of Adult Faith Formation and Evangelization)