Principles

Evangelization

This single word encapsulates the mission of the Church.  Beginning in conversion, this action is carried about by the way we live out our lives in the world (witness) and how we explicitly share our faith with others (sharing).  Evangelization is initially directed at the Church itself, and then at both those who have never heard the Gospel and those Christians no longer active in the Church.

Key Insights

1. Conversion
The first step of becoming a disciple and an evangelizer is beginning the process of conversion (metanoia), a change of our heart, mind, and way of living.  All Christians are called to continue this life-long process of being drawn closer to Christ.
2. Witness
Beginning in a process of conversion, the core of being a Christian is living a life of discipleship -- of following Jesus in everything we do -- so that we can help change the world into the Kingdom Jesus told us about.  This lifestyle of witness attracts others to our faith, and gives us opportunities to explicitly share our faith.
3. Sharing Our Faith
In addition to witnessing by the way we live our daily lives, we must explicitly share our faith and invite others to "come and see" Christ for themselves.
The New Evangelization
Pope John Paul II introduced the "New Evangelization," a recognition that evangelization is not solely directed at those who have never heard of Jesus, but also active Catholics and especially those Christians who are no longer engaged with Christ and the Church.

Quotations

We know that the word "evangelization" sometimes raises uncomfortable images for Catholics—especially in the culture of the United States, where evangelism has sometimes meant only an individual response to enthusiastic preaching, a style of mass religion, a contrived way to recruit new members, or, at its worst, a way to play on people's needs. Still, we use the word "evangelization" because its root meaning is "Gospel" (Good News) and because it calls us, even if it is uncomfortable, to live the faith of our baptism more openly and to share it more freely.
Go And Make Disciples: A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States, 24
USCCB
...Catholicism has to be proposed, and Catholicism has to be lived in radical fidelity to Christ and the Gospel. Recreational Catholicism—Catholicism as a traditional, leisure-time activity absorbing perhaps ninety minutes of one’s time on a weekend—is over. Full-time Catholicism—a Catholicism that, as the Second Vatican Council taught, infuses all of life and calls everyone in the Church to holiness and mission—is the only possible Catholicism in the twenty-first century.

The Evangelical Catholicism of the future is a Catholicism of radical conversion, deep fidelity, joyful discipleship, and courageous evangelism. Evangelical Catholics put friendship with the Lord Jesus at the center of everything: personal identity, relationships, activity.
George Wiegl, "The Rise of Evangelical Catholicism"
...there are familiar ways by which evangelization happens: by the way we live God's love in our daily life; by the love, example, and support people give each other; by the ways parents pass faith on to their children; in our life as Church, through the proclamation of the Word and the wholehearted celebration of the saving deeds of Jesus; in renewal efforts of local and national scope; in the care we show to those most in need; and in the ways we go about our work, share with our neighbors, and treat the stranger. In daily life, family members evangelize each other; men and women, their future spouses; and workers, their fellow employees, by the simple lives of faith they lead. Through the ordinary patterns of our Catholic life, the Holy Spirit brings about conversion and a new life in Christ.

Here, there are two elements at work: witness, which is the simple living of the faith; and sharing, which is spreading the Good News of Jesus in an explicit way.
Go And Make Disciples: A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States, 35-36
USCCB
Evangelical Catholics enter mission territory every day, leading lives of integrity and charity that invite from others the question, “How can you live this way?” That question, in turn, allows the evangelical Catholic to fulfill the Great Commission by offering others the Gospel and the possibility of friendship with Jesus Christ. Having responded to the Risen Lord’s call to meet him in Galilee, evangelical Catholics go into the world in witness to the Christ who reveals both the face of the Merciful Father and the truth about our humanity.  Strong truths generously lived: that’s Evangelical Catholicism. 
George Wiegl, "The Rise of Evangelical Catholicism"

Church Documents

Papal Statements
Picture
Evangelization in the Modern World 
(Evangelii Nuntiandi)
Pope Paul VI

Full Text (Vatican)
Overview (Wikipedia)
U.S. Bishops Statements
Picture
Go And Make Disciples: A National Plan And Strategy For Catholic Evangelization In The United States
USCCB

Full text
Study guide (Archdiocese of Detroit)
Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization
Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis

Full text | PDF

Books

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Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus
Sherry A. Weddell

How can we transmit a living, personal Catholic faith to future generations? By coming to know Jesus Christ, and following him as his disciples.
These are times of immense challenge and immense opportunity for the Catholic Church.

Consider these statistics for the United States.
  • Only 30 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing.
  • Fully 10 percent of all adults in America are ex-Catholics.
  • The number of marriages celebrated in the Church decreased dramatically, by nearly 60 percent, between 1972 and 2010.
  • Only 60 percent of Catholics believe in a personal God.
If the Church is to reverse these trends, the evangelizers must first be evangelized-in other words, Catholics-in-the-pew must make a conscious choice to know and follow Jesus before they can draw others to him. This work of discipleship lies at the heart of Forming Intentional Disciples, a book designed to help Church leaders, parish staff and all Catholics transform parish life from within. 

Drawing upon her fifteen years of experience with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Sherry Weddell leads readers through steps that will help Catholics enter more deeply into a relationship with God and the river of apostolic creativity, charisms, and vocation that flow from that relationship for the sake of the Church and the world.

Learn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion, how to open a conversation about faith and belief, how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the Great Story of Jesus, how to help someone respond to God's call to intentional discipleship, and much more.

And be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.  (Amazon)

Articles

Organizations & Websites

Cover image from Pentecost, a painting by El Greco.