Parish
Visiting with the Sion Community
The
Sion Community for Evangelisation which conducts parish missions round
the country are often helped in their work by short term volunteers. These
are people – priests, religious and lay people - who after some
training come with them on mission for a week at a time to help with the
parish visiting that happens in the run up to the mission week.
The
one-to-one evangelisation that takes place in people’s homes is
one of the keys to the success of the mission and is a wonderful opportunity
for would-be evangelisers to be given an opportunity to share their faith
with others. Frances Martin from South Shields, who has assisted with
several of these parish missions comments, “I
always feel very humbled to be able to hear about the ways in which God
is working in people’s lives, or indeed, to hear about people’s
struggles to find Him. The people we visit evangelise me! I always return
home from a parish mission visiting week, feeling as though I’ve
been on a retreat.”
For
both practical and spiritual reasons the parish visitors always go out
in pairs, and newcomers are teamed up with a more experienced visitor.
Most of the training happens on the job but there is also a preparatory
“Pass it on” training weekend, which is held twice a year
at SENT the Sion Community HQ in Brentwood. This provides formation and
a discernment process, which together with a reference from your parish
priest, will help you decide if this is the right thing for you. Age no
barrier! Visitors can be any age from 18-80 as long as they are in good
health.
Michael
Davidson did the Pass it On course a couple of years ago and thoroughly
recommends it. He comments,
“We learnt how to give a three
minute testimony about something great God has done in our lives or how
we came to faith in Him. We also learnt the four basic truths of the core
Gospel and how to share them and other tips on how to evangelise Catholics.”
Afterwards
he became a regular visitor with the team. He still remembers his first
experience of going door to door visiting and found he really enjoyed
it.
“We listened to people talk about
their experience of parish life, their faith and their families. The Holy
Spirit seemed to pop things to say in my mind and it was the most amazing
experience. At the end we offered to pray with them for something they
suggested.” Were they ever turned away? “Ninety seven times
out of a hundred people are glad to see us and they are so friendly that
they invite us in before we have to say anything at all.”
Do
you feel called to share your faith with others, but find you don’t
have a natural opportunity to do it? Why not "Come and See"
and be part of a Sion Mission?
To
find out more then contact us.
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