At the Evangelical Catholic, we don’t train volunteers. We train missionaries.
Sometimes parishes ask us if our Mission Training process will help them fill in volunteer slots in their ministries.
Our answer? Maybe.
But we don’t know for sure. Why? Because in our training, we turn people toward God and help them listen for the Holy Spirit’s instructions about how to use their lives.
Often, God guides people to invest in the parish community. But not always. Lots of times, the Holy Spirit prompts people to spend time away from the church building, investing in relationships with people who would never go there, no matter how nice the parking lots or bathrooms are.
Learn more about our Mission Training process here.
Here’s our definition of a volunteer: A volunteer executes the vision of someone else. They wait for instructions. Volunteers need to be coordinated and managed because they don’t hold the vision. A volunteer is important, but they’re fulfilling the vision of another.
We want missionaries. What does a missionary do? They internalize the vision and carry it out as their very own.
We want people who will fight for the mission, sacrifice for it, and take responsibility for it because it has become theirs.
In the words of one parishioner at an EC partner parish: “Two years ago, I was lukewarm. I thought, sure, I could do something for the parish, but it was self-centered. I was thinking about being useful, being needed. Now, no matter where I go—whether the pastor wants to invest in Reach More Mission Training or not—I’m going to evangelize and make disciples. I’m not cold or lukewarm. I’m on fire for this, and I’m not going back.”
Missionaries take initiative.
Missionaries take ownership.
Missionaries are creative.
Missionaries are persistent.
Missionaries are attentive to the voice of their Shepherd.
Are they lone rangers? No. They need community among other missionaries who share the vision and conviction.
Are they superheroes? No. Like all of us, they need guidance, encouragement, and shepherding to grow as instruments of God’s presence and action in the world.
But people who have drawn close to God’s heart and felt his love for the world, are moved to act. They are moved to go to the people and places where God wants them to go. Jesus calls them and they follow.
We can’t predict what God will ask missionaries to do or say to spread the gospel, but it will be more than filling a volunteer work slot. We’re called to be a little more like Mother Teresa than we may realize, responding to Jesus’ plea to “go amongst them, carry Me with you into them. How I long to enter their holes, their dark unhappy homes.”
Be a missionary. Work among the people of the world, carrying Jesus to them. Go to all the places he wants to enter through you. Your pastor and parish staff can help you discern God’s calling, but you have to seek God’s mission for your life. Listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one. Bring him there. He will lead you.
Andrea Jackson is a Content Creator and Ministry Consultant at the Evangelical Catholic. The Evangelical Catholic’s mission is to equip Catholics to live out the Great Commission. Learn more.
