Evangelism joy …

This Monday our parish walked in our local Memorial Day Parade. I did a lot of cajoling to get our parishioners out among the community that day. But I must admit, that morning all I wanted to do was stay in bed. I had experienced some sleepless nights with the little one, Monday is normally my day off and walking in the parade would mean losing not just my day off but a holiday too, and it is a rare weekday that I get to have my whole family together. So despite all my haranguing about our need to evangelize, all I wanted to do was stay in bed (or at least stay in my pajamas, since little ones do not believe in sleeping in around our house).

But as soon as the crowds began to gather, I realized how good God is. While walking to the parade, we ran into one of my daughter’s friends from kindergarten. Later, we ran into the clergy and staff of our neighboring Lutheran church and preschool, who had not seen our younger child since our preschooler graduated last spring. I found myself introducing St. Margaret’s parishioners to non-church friends. We managed to gather the largest number of parishioners ever to walk the parade. And, quite honestly, I had fun.

That’s the funny thing about evangelism. We get all nervous about what will happen. We wonder what we will say. We fret about how people will react when we talk about church. We worry it will be awkward. But Monday gave me a renewed spirit for sharing the Good News. Sharing your joy about church isn’t really all that awkward. In fact, it tends to segue into other conversations, because joy is contagious. Thanks for reminding me about my joy, St. Margaret’s! Let’s do it again soon!