Commission on Evangelization

Mission parishioners Hazel Sanders (Sts. Mary and James, Guthrie, Ky.) and
Betty Parks (St. Susan, Elkton, Ky.) talk about their ministry as members of the Landings team.

Two Small Churches Launch Landings

By Lorraine Vancamp

When I sat down with the six parishioners who form the Landings team for St. Susan Church in Elkton, Ky., and Sts. Mary and James Church in Guthrie, they were fired up to share how this evangelizing ministry has blessed them. The impetus to begin this outreach began with a Landings training workshop in Nashville, Tenn., which two of the team members attended. Their enthusiasm continues to spread.

In a small town, parishioners may be aware of those who are not coming to church. But as Betty Parks of St. Susan commented, “Some people would like to come back to church, but don’t know how.” The Landings process gives these people support, prayer and companions.

Inspiration was a word that was used repeatedly as these team members talked about how this ministry has impacted their own faith. Sharing and listening to others’ faith stories has inspired them to make religion an integral part of their everyday lives.

As a group they have been inspired to extend a personal invitation to people they know. They emphasized how important it is to have a group available where people can connect with other church members. Last spring two people used this Landings group to reconnect with church members and to renew their faith life. One member summarized the feelings of the team: “It’s fun!” Everyone agreed that in their commitment to this ministry they had personally discovered new riches in each other and their church.

As this team reflected on their experience with Landings, they identified some of the benefits to the parish. Landings “keeps the responsibility to reach out to inactive Catholics on the shoulders of parishioners,” not just the pastor. The process allows everyone in the group to participate. By rotating team roles each week, individuals do not dominate the group. However, the team emphasized that confidentiality concerning the personal information shared in the sessions is the foundation of the process. That spirit of confidentiality is a precious gift in small, close-knit towns.

The team advised that a parish desiring to begin Landings needs at least five or six members for a team with someone willing to be a leader or facilitator. Glenmary Brother Ken Woods, the facilitator, commented, “This meeting process is so easy! It’s not set up to teach doctrine but to challenge adults to talk about their experience of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the church.”

Each session lasts two hours. There are ministry roles which members of the team take turns filling: time keeper, prayer leader, someone who shares a spiritual journey story, hospitality and someone who starts the discussion with suggested questions for the weekly theme.

Some suggested questions: Why follow Jesus? What are you saved from? What are you saved for? It is through this sharing, sparked by the theme questions and the spiritual faith sharing of those who are returning and of the team, that the Good News of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

These two parishes use autumn for team training. During the winter, parishioners are asked to identify names of those to visit and invite to the Landings group in the spring.

From a table filled with household objects, I asked the team to each choose one object that symbolizes what this ministry has come to mean for them. Yeast was chosen to symbolize the “something in our souls rising. Our spiritual lives are being built up.” A door knob meant that “this team has opened up a door in me. It has helped me by others’ sharing of their lives and trials.” A bottle of Oil of Olay stood for “how in the process of sharing one’s life and faith, there is relief—the wrinkles fade!”

The team agreed that it was best summed up by the person who chose a tea bag, saying: “It’s comforting to know that you really can come back.”

For more information, visit www.landings-international.org

Please Share Your 'Idea That Works': If you have an evangelization idea that works, please share it with Glenmary's evangelization consultant, Lorraine Vancamp.

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