Commission on Evangelization

Educating for Inter-Church Understanding—Listening Sessions

From Father Dennis Holly, Lafayette, Tenn.

It is a common experience for Catholics in small towns to be frustrated by misunderstandings concerning the Catholic Church’s beliefs and practices. When Father Dennis heard these feelings being expressed in parish council meetings, he asked the group whether other Christian churches might experience being misunderstood by Catholics. From these discussions developed a series of six listening sessions. It was decided that the focus would be listening by the Catholics not challenging, apologetics or debating.

For each session a minister from the area was invited to make a presentation concerning that congregation’s belief and how they put those beliefs into practice. The ministers were from the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian, Southern Baptist, a Pentecostal Church, the Mennonites and a local Church of Christ. Consequently, there was a wide spectrum of beliefs and practice. The churches that were invited already had relationships with Catholics—either with the pastor through the local Ministerial Association or because of interchurch families. For instance, the relationship between Catholics and Church of Christ is often fraught with many mutual misunderstandings. It was through the persuasion of one of the parish leaders whose family had ties with that church that the minister agreed to participate.

The format of the one-and-a-half-hour session consisted of a 45 minute talk by the minister with at least 30 minutes devoted to clarifying questions from participants. Following each session was time for food and fellowship. The sharing which had begun during the formal session often continued. Father Dennis remarked that the crucial factor in doing these sessions is to have good participation from the Catholics. In the future he hopes to develop a simple way to help Catholic parishioners prepare for the sessions.

For more on Preparing for Ecumenical Listening Sessions

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