St. Paul Street Evangelization: Learning About Our Faith and Drawing Closer to God’s Love

What do you think when you hear the word “evangelization”? For many of us, the idea of sharing our faith with someone else may be an intimidating concept. What would you say? How might the other person respond? However, for the members of St. Paul Street Evangelization, their desire to share with others about their relationship with God helps to quiet the voices of doubt.

“We’re a grassroots organization,” says parishioner Greg Thompson, who coordinates the group. “The idea is to provide a public witness to the truth of the Catholic faith out in front of places like Walmart or the farmers’ market — anywhere that people gather.”

After growing in his own faith as an adult through adult faith formation classes, as well as Catholic radio, Greg began to realize how much misinformation was out there about Catholicism, even among Catholics.

“It just seemed like something that needed to be done to help people understand the faith, to get out there and help people understand,” Greg says.

Although things have looked a bit different for the group over the past year, St. Paul Street Evangelization typically gathers once a month to share their faith in front of the Walmart in Yuba City. In addition, each summer, they host a table at the Yuba City Fair.

As you can probably imagine, stepping out to share your faith for the first time can be quite intimidating. However, the group has Rosaries and Miraculous Medals that they share with people to get the conversation going. “It was scary the first time,” Greg says. “When you go out there, you don’t know what’s going to happen. But most of the time people are just interested and wanted to hear what we had to say. We would offer people a Rosary and we’d get all kinds of reactions. Some people would ignore you or say, ‘Maybe later,’ and you’d have Catholics who were interested in a free Rosary. Then you’d get somebody who didn’t know anything about the faith, and they might be interested, and ask you questions.”

During this time when they are not yet back in front of Walmart, the group has a table outside of Mass, providing people with resources to share the faith with their family and friends.

“We hope people are encouraged to draw closer to our Lord,” Greg says. “We have all these brochures, and we hope they’ll read those and learn a little more about the Catholic faith if they’re not familiar. Or, if they are Catholic, we hope that they’ll take their faith to a little bit deeper level.”

Greg encourages his fellow parishioners to consider whether God may be inviting them to grow in their faith by becoming a part of St. Paul Street Evangelization.

“You have to take the action — faith without works is dead,” Greg says. “Put your faith into action and you’ll deepen your relationship with our Lord.

“You don’t have to be a theologian,” he adds. “You just have to be willing to share your love of Jesus with others and communicate what He’s done in your life.”

If you would like more information, or to learn how you can become involved in St. Paul Street Evangelization, please contact coordinator Greg Thompson at gregandjill565@gmail.com or 530-713-9909.

St. Paul Street Evangelization is a ministry of sharing the faith with others, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.