One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Allison Riley

“After becoming Catholic, and RCIA ended, I had a hunger to learn more about my new faith,” says Allison Riley, who converted to Catholicism ten years ago, while in her mid-twenties.  “I loved being involved in my parish and began teaching CCD classes.”

For Allison, the mother of five children, one of the most common struggles in her own continued understanding of Catholicism in finding ways to learn more about the faith in a way that would also help care for her children.  “This is something that other churches do VERY well. I am not talking about childcare at Mass, but for other events in my parish. I know moms and families that would love to learn more but we are at home being open to life. Our Catholic churches need to figure out how to better embrace large families, which are the very core of our faith.”

When looking at the New Evangelization, Allison says, “I see more people getting involved, but sometimes I think the message gets watered down as people try to make faith fun.”

By volunteering in other ways, Allison began to see the hunger she experienced for her faith was not her own.

“My hope is that parishes get back to the core truths of our Church,” Allison says.  “Teach people about their Catholic faith and stop worrying about offending people.”

One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: John Clem

“I first heard the call to the New Evangelization through Blessed John Paul II and the universal call to holiness,” says John Clem, a life-long Catholic from the Diocese of Richmond.  “I was inspired to do more and to start Catholic Web Services to help rebuild the digital Church.”

Through John’s efforts, Catholic Web Services has developed into an online community of Catholic webmasters, developers, social network gurus, and content creators who share knowledge in service to the Church, as well as free websites and other internet services to parishes.

“We hope for our ministry to help all Catholic websites be better in content, presence, and inspiration,” John says.

Despite efforts online, John still experiences many of the same challenges in knowing, living, and sharing the faith as others do offline.  “Taking the time to read and pray, secular skepticism, and remembering to carry faith with love, goodness, beauty, and truth,” are the biggest obstacles John faces.

Yet through these challenges, John is hopeful for the Catholic Church and the New Evangelization.  “I pray for the entire Catholic faith to have many years of growth in the love of Christ,” he says.

You can learn more about John’s efforts as a new evangelizer at www.CatholicWS.com.

One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: John Proffitt

John Proffitt believes he has a desire to share his faith journey, and to do it in the most creative way possible.

“I am in the process of trying to write my own book, based on a prayer that I felt I was given a dozen years ago,” John says.  “If I finish that one and it is deemed publishable, I have an idea for a second book that I would also like to write.”

His writing stems, in part, from his desire to read more.

“I have actually spent a considerable amount of time building up a library of Catholic authors and books on apologetics and other topics to learn my faith better,” John says.  “I feel like I am getting a lot more comfortable with the basic knowledge of the faith.”

Even still, reading and remembering are two different things.

“What I wish I could do more of (should do more of) is memorizing some of the scripture references to support the various aspects of the Catholic faith that are the least understood by non-Catholics so I can change their perspective of what Catholics believe and why.”

Like many, John’s past is often a hindrance to having confidence as a New Evangelizer, and sometimes makes it difficult to live his faith.

“I was such a dog for so many years, overcoming the bad habits is certainly a challenge,” John says.  “The older I get, the less patient I seem to be with the process, which just angers me.”

Nevertheless, John holds to great hope for the future of the Church and his own faith development.

“My hopes are that more of those who call themselves Catholic will actually begin to understand and embrace their faith more faithfully,” John says about the New Evangelization.  “I think there are plenty of things that are making us actually decide for or against the Church – the HHS mandate for example. The differences between black and white, right and wrong, good and evil are becoming more apparent, with less opportunity to sit on the fence.”

One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Cheryl Dickow

Cheryl Dickow has a passion for sharing the faith through the written word, not only as an author in her own right, but as a publisher of others, as well.

“I began Bezalel Books to provide a forum for authors who did not have “names” or “connections” but who were, themselves, trying to respond to the new evangelization,” says Cheryl.  “It has been a real blessing to meet these men and women who simply want to be part of the body of Christ with their talents and gifts.”

In addition to trying to make inroads on a global scale, Cheryl also maintains focus on a local level through a number of volunteer positions including leading Bible study and teaching adult faith formation.

Though she’s engaged in education and writing, Cheryl still encounters several challenges in knowing her faith.

“I participated in a program titled ‘Called and Gifted’ and found out that my gifts were in areas of knowledge, teaching, writing and evangelization,” she says. “While that confirmed for me that I am where God wants me and can use me, I have found the biggest challenge to knowing my faith to be the limited time I have to take it all in. The older I get (I am currently 54) the more challenged I am to prioritize what I need to read, do and accomplish so that I can live fully for Christ.”

For the New Evangelization, Cheryl has high hopes, especially “that Catholics who have platforms will be more willing to open doors for Catholics who don’t but who are still the body of Christ. There are so many people who have been given a passion and the gifts to accomplish something for Christ but need the help of their Catholic brothers and sisters whose own apostolates have been blessed by God–and maybe who have forgotten where their blessings come from and for what purpose they are to serve.”

You can visit Cheryl’s website at www.bezalelbooks.com.