Education is critical reflection on our lives of faith in the light of the gospel. It is a reforming process that aims at producing ever more faithful lives and communities. It implies growth and change.
Instruction is the acquisition of knowledge, such as the contents of Scripture, and skills, such as the ability to interpret Scripture. It is an informing process that provides persons with the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in critical reflection or education.
These processes are interdependent, and all are necessary; however, it is formation that is foundational to the fashioning of Christlike persons. Both education and instruction are required for faithful formation; instruction alone is inadequate.
Ritual Participation: Rituals are repetitive, symbolic actions of word and deed that manifest and express the community’s sacred narrative. Participation in these actions, or rites, is the single most important factor in shaping one’s faith, character, and consciousness. It is for this reason that, in the history of the church, whenever the church believed that it was not being as faithful as it should, it engaged in liturgical reform. At the heart of evangelization is faithful participation in rites that are true to the gospel.
Environment: We shape our space and what we see, hear, taste, smell, or touch within it. This space, in turn, influences our lives and how we behave. For example, arrangement of
Chilcote, P. W., & Warner, L. C. (Eds.). (2008). The study of evangelism : Exploring a missional practice of the church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Created from amridge on 2022-10-21 03:59:40.
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space can encourage communal or individualistic understandings of life. Pictures of women or men engaged in particular activities establish perceptions of appropriate behavior for each. Liturgical space that separates a nave for the laity and a sanctuary for clerical use may encourage a sacred-secular dualism. Proper evangelization will consider what catechumens see, touch, taste, feel, and smell in the church.
Ordering of Time: Our calendars and how we order a day, a week, and a year influence our understanding and behavior. What we remember and celebrate does the same. It is important that the church’s story order our lives if that story is to be manifested in our living. If it is not, some other narrative will be. The period of evangelization needs to cover at least one yearly liturgical cycle so that the whole story can be experienced.
Organization of Life: How we are encouraged and supported to spend our time, talents, and treasures influences us greatly. It is important that we live with the realization that all we have belongs to God, that we have a right to keep very little for ourselves, and that we are obliged to use all we have in God’s service for the good of all people. During evangelization, persons need to be encouraged to tithe, for the mission of the church and its ministries, their time, talents, and money.
Human Interaction: How we treat one another and how we expect persons to behave shapes our behavior. For example, do we respect the dignity of every human being, do we love others the way God loves them, and do we offer others what they need rather than what they deserve? We learn how to behave by experiencing how others behave toward us. Faithful evangelization makes certain that catechumens observe and experience the Christian life of faith.
