In a world filled with disquieting, negative headlines, the SPC Evangelism Ministry presents a four Sunday series (12-1pm, February 18, 25, March 3, 10, Guild Room) giving you the tools you need to spread the good news to the world at large about loving, welcoming, joyous Christians alive and active at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral!
The heart and motivation of all Episcopal evangelism is love of God, church, and others. Evangelism has no theological bounds. It isn’t talking people into beliefs or scaring them with horror stories of hell. It’s showing people through actions, words, and deeds that faith in Christ manifests itself in unselfish love: inviting all, welcoming all, and connecting all to a better, richer, truer life in Christ.
We are so richly blessed at St. Paul’s with numerous ministries reaching out to our internal and external community through events, our music program, parades, and more. We turn our beautiful Cathedral into a theatre, a concert hall with world-class music, a mystical sound-healing venue, a site for Candidate Forums, Blessing of the Animals, and more. We welcome all, wherever they are on their walk of faith: from the questioning to the convinced; visitors, newcomers, members, and families of all ages, as we show God’s limitless love, redeeming compassion, and all-encompassing inclusion in gloriously traditional as well as gloriously creative ways.
Participation results in joy, enthusiasm, love, and trust which expresses itself better than words ever could. Promoting these events gathers the community to us and is evangelism in its highest form.
In 2023, our Evangelism Ministry opened our Great Hall to a Community Summer Cinema series, showing free movies for all ages with free pizza, popcorn, and movie candies. We walked our neighborhoods, meeting and talking to people as we passed out informational door-hangers and material about upcoming events. Many friendships were made as we brought in new people and coalesced into teams of people doing our work while having a really good time.
We invited all County Supervisor candidates to a candidate forum so members of our community could meet them and ask them questions before the election.
We marched in the Pride Parade sporting a banner saying, “God Takes Pride In You” and participated with other San Diego faith leaders in an on-site blessing of the parade and communion beforehand.
We opened our Labyrinth for Thursday night services and musical performances, enriching faith through this ancient, meditative, outdoor ritual.
Soon we will have our annual Mardi Gras mass with a Zydeco band, clergy & congregants dressed in full Mardi Gras regalia with joyful communion and dancing as we celebrate our holiest of seasons. That will be followed by Ashes to Go where teams of parishioners and clergy go throughout the City bringing Ash Wednesday blessings & taking prayer requests to/from community members wherever they are.
If you are interested in becoming a member of our E-teams, if you enjoy meeting new people, and would like to invite our neighbors to learn about our various ministries and events at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, or if you just want to learn what Episcopal Evangelism is all about, please register for “Embracing Episcopal Evangelism” with St. Paul’s Lay Evangelist Phyllis Lengyel at plengyel@swbell.net by Feb. 11.
“Embracing Episcopal Evangelism” facilitators will be EDSD Licensed Lay Evangelists Susan Jester, Jennifer Jow, and Phyllis Lengyel, with a special appearance by Canon Jason Evans, EDSD Evangelism Ministry. Upon completion of the 4-week course, attendees may be eligible for lay Evangelist nomination and licensing.
– Phyllis Lengyel
Photos: SLForsburg
Design: YPsaila
