SPSE teams are self-funded, so you see a variety of team set-ups — from a folding chair and Rosaries, to a full canopied booth at a public event. Our team from Toledo, OH, found an effective middle ground.
Toledo’s annual Old West End Festival attracts thousands. So the Toledo team simply set up outside the festival boundaries, on an approach route. Five team members, joined by special guest SPSE National Director Steve Dawson, kept busy there all afternoon talking with passersby about the Faith.
For example, “Samuel” accepted a Rosary, and then proceeded to put two evangelists through their paces. He maintained that Christianity was only about love and compassion, and so it didn’t matter what “denomination of Christianity” one identified with.
So team members explained further. Catholicism isn’t a denomination, but the one, true, holy, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus. Only the Catholic Church offers the fulfillment of the Faith that Christ intended — through Scripture, Tradition, and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Samuel seemed genuinely receptive and so the team challenged him to read the SPSE pamphlets. They exchanged contact information.
Other visitors included a major politician with entourage. Sadly, most of the team’s visitors were either inactive Catholics or had left to join another faith community. Their reasons for leaving varied but our Toledo team was prepared to discuss those concerns and more. Afterward, the team reported feeling they accomplished a lot — not only to “set the record straight” about Catholicism and encourage further exploration, but “to plant a few seeds” to help some consider the Church once again.
Thank you, Team Toledo! Please, pray for Samuel and all those who encountered our team? Do you want to help people discover/rediscover Jesus Christ and the Church that He founded? Do you enjoy friendly conversation? Then you can do this, too! SPSE has developed training courses for our members, so you can be as well-prepared as our Toledo Team is. Have you already joined us? If so, thank you! If not, please pray about doing so today.