Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Today Dave “Open Book, Closed Heart” VanVickle and I talk about extraordinary and ordinary means of fighting the devil, which leads (naturally) into a conversation on evangelization and how to lead when you’re not in charge. Snippet from the Show “One person can bring about dramatic change at a parish.” We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. SHOWNOTES How do you lead when you are not in a leadership position? Try to be close friends with the current staff on evangelization teams. Try to win the front of “what is the truth” and make sure everyone is on the same page on what they believe. Give talks on what the life of catechists and parish workers should look like. Encourage the use of Scripture and the new Catechism for formation. Give talks on how to have a personal relationship with Jesus in the context of the Catholic Church. Offer a talk on the history of the Catholic Church in America since Vatican II. Pray for the leaders and with them. Work with your priest to prioritize and organize an annual staff retreat. Have a “ministry leader summit.” If people are refusing or rejecting evangelization, work with your pastor to make sure the appropriate people are in the right positions. Go in trying to win souls for Christ, not fight them. Remember to always be praying for these people. When confrontation has to occur do not do it out of hate for people but in service to people who are missing out on the gospel. You need to have the courage to stand up for the truth and gospel when needed. 5 Practical Tips Go to NewAdvent.org and search the name of a church father (St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Athanasius … ) Pray for the CCD staff (or another staff group) and their openness to the gospel. Listen to Mike’s talks on the kerygma at Soundcloud.com/AMDGomer. Meet once a week with your pastor and discuss the kerygma. Send this podcast to your CCD Staff. Check out the resources from this episode at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbowSupport Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

We need leaders in the Church. If you want ministries at your parish, that aren’t happening (or aren’t going very well) this may be your que to step up as a leader in evangelization. In this episode, we talk about how priests, lay employees, and volunteers can be leaders in their own right, and you don’t have to wait for someone to formally empower you to lead others. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “The word ‘leader’ can be intimidating, but the Holy Spirit is the primary agent of evangelization. You’re just the lead follower of the Holy Spirit.” SHOWNOTES Priests The homily needs to be kerygmatic. Give a call to action every homily. Win your staff. Make sure your staff is on board with the mission. The parish priests need to be available to the people, especially for sacraments. Try to imitate St. John Vianney. Lay Employees It is poor form to give a class or workshop on something you are not willing to do. Model what you are teaching. Set up regular meetings with your parish priest. Witness to your fellow employees the same as your parishioners. Don’t view working at the church as a chance to make money. Volunteers Continually discern how God is calling you to lead in your parish. Don’t grow comfortable with someone as a leader just because they have been doing a good job. Help onboard new leaders before they are needed. Be a good disciple outside of your volunteer position. 5 Practical Tips Priests: Ask yourselves honestly, and ask others “how is your leadership holding back the parish?” Kerygma: Explicitly share the gospel with someone. Employees: Are you waiting for empowerment or permission to serve the gospel? Identify areas where you can be more active in the kerygma and come up with an action plan to start implementing this. Prayer: Prayerfully read Acts 14 and read the kerygma from Paul and Barnabbas. Volunteers: Spend more time praying for those people God has placed in your ministry. Resources from the Show Douglas Hyde Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Dave “Thunderdome” Van Vickle and I are talking about the importance of digital evangelization. If we are trying to meet people where they are, we need to be online. We cover best practices for parishes and individuals to spread the Word on the web, as well as examples of things we’ve seen work really well (like this podcast). We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Check out the shownotes and resources at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbowSupport Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

We have a great show today. Not that we don’t usually, but today is especially good. We start with a question from a parish leader about intercessory prayer groups (Dave’s group is #goals). Then we cover what individuals and parishes can do for the newly converted and what tools we have for someone after their initial “yes” to Jesus. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “Walking alone is the greatest way for the devil to destroy your newfound faith.” SHOWNOTES Questions from our listeners: How do you start an intercessory prayer group? What resources are there? Start by finding the people who are already praying. Give each intercessor a job description (example: one Memorare a week, holy hour a month). Add fasting and prayer days with sign-ups (daily, weekly, monthly). Plan a monthly holy hour where we pray for the parish. Boost prayer life through monthly conferences. What Happens After They Say “Yes” to Jesus? Teach them to communicate with God. Devotional Prayers Mental Prayer Meditative Prayer Create a community outreach to interact with new parishioners. Introduce them to reading Scripture. Moral and intellectual formation - there is a huge difference between knowing your faith and living it. For our 5 Practical Tips, as well as a list of resources from this episode, check out the shownotes at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbowSupport Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Hallelujah! It's the Easter Octave and I for one am glad Christ rose from the dead. This week it's just me, Mike "Gomer" Gormley, your humble co-host of EKSB. I wanted to offer you fine folks an Easter message on discipleship and the Resurrection. Our regular show will return next week! Happy Easter!Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Calling all DREs, catechists, youth ministers, and parish volunteers! Have we got a show for you. (Yes, that was a VeggieTales reference.) We start off today answering some tough questions about the kerygma, and then pivot to ways you can infuse evangelization into programs your parish already has like baptism prep, marriage prep, and religious education. Our advice isn’t the only way to do it, but it is a (pretty darn good) way to do it. How do you evangelize at your parish? We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “People aren’t going to surrender their life to Christ if we’re hitting them over the head with moral issues and their failure … but there is no gospel without repentance.” Check out this episode at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow for shownotes and resources from the show. Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

You’ve got frequently asked questions, we’ve got infrequently given answers. We tackle questions about what to do when you encounter someone purchasing the Plan B pill, what to do when people (especially family members) give dumb reasons for why they don’t go to church, the role of Mary in evangelization, and talking to family members about having a sacramental wedding when they’re angry with the Church and you’re long distance. (Whew.) We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. _Snippet from the Show “We so desire the conversion of our friends and relatives and neighbors that we feel disappointed when the outcomes haven’t happened. But the success is in the evangelizing. The conversion is up to Jesus. One sows the seed, the other waters, God alone gives the growth.”_ Check out the show on ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow to browse the resources from the show.Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

We’re talking to the one and only Jeff Cavins, Catholic speaker and author of the new book, The Activated Disciple. We’re pumped to interview him about discipleship and sharing the Faith (and so are our moms). Jeff’s book really gets to the heart of discipleship. It gives us a practical roadmap to a path of discipleship and explains what it actually means to be a disciple. We also get Jeff to give us his practical tips for evangelization. You can get Jeff's book at ascensionpress.com. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. _Snippet from the Show “There’s a difference between having a branch named Jesus on your vine vs. realizing that you are a branch on the true vine that is Christ.”_Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

The New Evangelization invites baptized Catholics to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church (according to the USCCB). Started by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI, it’s a call for the Church (aka, you and me) to reach out to fallen away Catholics and bring them back to the sacraments. We want to talk about how to bring this movement to your parish and community. Starting with Carole Brown’s Gems for the New Evangelization: Shamelessly Pilfered from Various Treasuries of Church Teaching, we then add some additional points that we’ve discovered along the way. There are a lot of different things you can do, but the important thing is to start. Snippet from the Show “My favorite thing is to take every part of the Catechism and tie it back to the Cross and resurrection, because you can do it with everything.” We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. SHOWNOTES The Five Points for the New Evangelization Recover the importance of kerygmatic proclamation. Build explicitly Christ-centered witness testimony into everything. Talk in the explicitly evangelical language of the New Evangelization popes. Saturate yourself in the world of God (Bible studies, lectio divina training…) Establish a permanent discipleship track in the parish. Dave and Mike’s added points for parish evangelization Establish a formalized intercessory prayer group to bring about conversions. You can’t do it alone. Start with the programs that people must attend, to draw in people who might not be involved otherwise. Start trying to meet everyone at your parish and learn their names. The Five Practical Takeaways Read paragraphs 1- 21 of the Catechesi Tradendae by Pope John Paul II. Consider joining or starting a Bible study at your parish. Begin a conversation with the pastor, DRE, or director of religious evangelization about evangelization at the parish. Look for touchstone moments (baptism class, marriage prep class) and how you can be a volunteer in those ministries. Buy a Catholic Bible for someone who doesn’t have one in your life. Resources Mentioned in the Show Michael Gormley – Radical Communities Bible Studies from Ascension Press The Great Adventure Timeline Catholic Bible Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

We tackle the biggest, most complicated, stickiest moral issues–contraception and same-sex attraction. How is a Catholic evangelist to approach such a minefield when proclaiming the gospel? In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So we know that we have to tell people about moral issues, but we need to make sure we’re doing it in a way that actually helps. We talk about when, how, and why to bring these issues up, and examples of times these strategies have actually worked (we promise we’re not using you as guinea pigs). We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment–or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show Holiness and happiness are coterminous in God. Me seeking my own happiness is what God made holiness to be–seeking union with him forever in Christ Jesus.Support Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)