Detroit — What is Jesus 101?

How can parishes, charged with being “evangelizing outposts” in their communities, present the Gospel to someone for the first time?

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron discouraged pastors from dropping “truth bombs” (Unleash the Gospel, Marker 1.2), instead inviting the community to experience Christ through “shallow entry points,” laid-back environments that are welcoming and create a no-pressure atmosphere to receive the Gospel.

These environments center on food, hospitality, praise and worship, music and a talk designed to draw in those who, perhaps, haven’t set foot in a church in years.

St. Scholastica Parish in Detroit hosts “Become the Fire” prayer gatherings on the first Friday of every month. The gatherings usually are less than an hour, including a short introduction, a 10-minute teaching and some praise and worship music followed by a period of reflection and Eucharistic adoration.

“The gatherings are geared toward anyone and everyone, there is no targeted audience,” said Fr. Jim Lowe, CC, pastor of St. Scholastica. “The idea is whoever comes to the prayer gathering — atheists, non-Catholics, non-Christians, fallen away Catholics — they can come here to experience the power and greatness of the Holy Spirit.”

Fr. Lowe said he and the Companions of the Cross, the order assigned to St. Scholastica, wanted to create an environment that is welcoming to people who aren’t familiar with Mass.

“Mass is very structured, formal, with specific responses and actions,” Fr. Lowe said. “We give people a worksheet with all the names they can call God, so they are comfortable calling God by different names.”

Informal church gatherings allow people a chance to “dip their toes” into parish life.

St. Louise de Marillac Parish in Warren has a praise and worship service following the 6:30 p.m. Mass, usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month. The prayer service focuses on contemporary Christian music and invites people to offer testimonials of how God has impacted their lives.

“It’s good to hear the people who sit in the pews, who work in the office, speaking in church about God’s impact in their lives,” said Adam Plomaritas, music director at St. Louise. “We haven’t delved into charismatic spirituality, but there is some decent catechesis about singing and praise and worship.”

Just like “Become the Fire,” praise and worship gatherings at St. Louise are designed to be informal gathering in a church setting where people can learn why their friends and neighbors come to Mass.

“If you’re not a practicing Catholic, you’re not going to be left in the dust when everyone goes up for Communion,” Plomaritas said. “Mass isn’t designed to be accessible. In the early days of Catholicism, you didn’t go to Mass until initiation.”

That’s part of the reason St. Louise and other parishes have embraced Alpha as a primary way to introduce people to the faith.

“Alpha is our program for the unchurched, but really a program for those who may be going to church, but have never encountered Jesus,” said Gloria Cameron, Alpha coordinator at St. Louise.

“When people come in, they engage in a small group environment, hearing the Gospel in a way they haven’t heard since they were little children.”

Cameron said the parish is still new to Alpha, so the focus now is on getting existing parishioners to go through the program before expanding it to the community.

“Nothing happens without that personal encounter with Jesus,” Cameron said. “A lot of people come in skeptical, but at the end of the program, we ask how many people love Jesus more since they started Alpha, and about 75 percent of the hands go up. It’s life-changing in our parish.”

At St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms, the parish has formed study groups to look at Unleash the Gospel, which has led everyone in parish ministry to examine what can be done to invite the outside community to come to church.

“We’ve had five or six discussion groups come together to really unpack Unleash the Gospel and answer some questions about what the Holy Spirit is saying to us,” said Ann Graves, coordinator for evangelization programs at St. Paul on the Lake.

These discussion have sparked efforts to encourage parents of St. Paul on the Lake school students to attend Mass with their children, and have led to invitations for alumni to attend class reunions on campus.

“We have a picnic every year where we’re trying to be more intentional in connecting people, inviting people and asking them what’s going on in the parish,” Graves said. “Our Vacation Bible School is reaching out the community about summer programs, where we invite parents to a women’s book study, regardless of whether they’re in the parish.”

Graves said no matter the program, the attitude that accompanies the invitation is important.

“The ladies at our front office, they are the best evangelizers on campus, because they have a heart for hospitality,” Graves said. “Anyone who comes through our doors has to be greeted; that is the first step to making new disciples.”

The story previously reported Ann Graves as the evangelization coordinator at St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park. She is the evangelization coordinator at St. Paul on the Lake in Grosse Pointe Farms, where she discusses the parish's evangelization efforts. The Michigan Catholic apologizes for the error.