Talking with Catholics about Jesus

Hi I’m Mark Gilbert and I’m a Reformanda Initiative Fellow and one of the authors of Talking with Catholics About Jesus.

Talking with Catholics About Jesus is a 10 unit training course written for small groups. There is a 30 min video component and a workbook available online for each of the units. Each unit takes between 60 – 90 min to complete.

The course is made up of two parts. Each part stands alone so it is really a course made up of two smaller courses. The first part is all about understanding people from a Roman Catholic background. It contains 6 units. The second part is all about talking with Catholics about Jesus. It contains 4 units.

I’m in a unique position to be involved in this course as I’ve been a member and leader in the Roman Catholic Church for 30 years, and an active member and eventually leader in a Protestant Church, the Anglican Church in Sydney, Australia for 35 years. For 10 years I was actively involved in both Catholic and Protestant Churches! Since my conversion when I was 20, I’ve been working to help people from a Protestant background understand Catholics better and have great conversations with them about Jesus. I’m also a Fellow of the Rome Scholars and Leaders Network – an international fellowship of Christian Theologians and Leaders actively involved in evangelism and discipleship of people from a Roman Catholic background. Much of the wisdom in these units has been sourced from this group.

This introduction is to help you think through whether this course is for you and for people you might be discipling and to work out which part to start with …

Talking with Catholics About Jesus is written for people who are actively involved in a protestant church. However if you have people in your group that identify as Roman Catholics, it’s O.K. for them too.

So why do a course like one of these?

Well I think it comes down to one of the four C’s:

Curiosity

Context

Coercion

Calling

You might be Curious about Roman Catholicism – as I visit many churches talking about Roman Catholicism and how to have great conversations with Catholics about Jesus … I usually find that this is the first time this subject has been raised in their church,

Yet lots of people hear about or know people from a Roman Catholic background and are curious …

Many protestants find Catholic beliefs and practices bewildering and confusing – I often get asked how did Catholicism end up where it is today?

If you would like an in depth and sympathetic presentation of Roman Catholicism as a wholistic religion and way of thinking … this course is definitely for you … you might start with the first part – Understanding Catholics

There are lots of valuable lessons we can learn as Christians by looking at the way the Roman Catholic church has wrestled with the words and actions of Jesus over the last 2000 years … both positively and negatively.

People who have done this course have commented that it has deepened their own personal understanding of Jesus and faith in him.

Secondly Context …

You might live in an area surrounded by people from a Roman Catholic background who you’re either not sure about or don’t seem to be living as followers of Jesus.

In my city, people from a Roman Catholic background make up over a quarter of the city, the vast majority don’t go to any church, and are greatly underrepresented in our churches

Your church might be struggling to reach them and you are looking for some fresh ideas and encouragement:

Either of these two parts would be great for you …

So how do you decide which one to start with?

Well if your going to do both, it doesn’t really matter …

But if you have to choose one …

The second part is full of practical suggestions and ideas to help you as you seek to evangelise and disciple people from a Roman Catholic background. If you like practical applications – this part is for you! If you have a Catholic background and get Roman Catholicism – this might be a better part for you too.

While the first part deals more with the reasons why people from a Catholic background think and act the way they do… If you’d like to understand why these practical suggestions make it easier to talk with people from a Roman Catholic background … and perhaps come up with your own ideas about how to reach more Catholics in your context … then the first part is for you …

If you’re a hands on practical sort of person, I’d start with the second part, If you like to think about things more before acting, you might like to start with the first part.

The third reason is coercion – your small group leader or pastor might have suggested you do this course … go with it  … It’ll be fun and interesting with lots of videos, pictures, art work, history and ideas you might not have heard before … I’ll even give you a refund at the end if you think it was a waste of time …. So humor them and just do it  … But Seriously … no refunds … really …. I’ve got kids to feed. If you’re really not sure you can always do the first unit of each part for free and then decide.

The fourth reason you might consider running or doing this course is calling. Our risen Lord Jesus’ last words to his disciples was … Go make disciples of all peoples. People from a Roman Catholic background make up one of the largest people groups in the world and there is no people group Jesus’ followers are prevented from reaching. Because Jesus is Lord of all … he calls his followers to disciple people from all people groups and Roman Catholics make up one of the worlds largest and largely unreached people groups.

Jesus laid down his life for them … is his Spirit calling you to?

So jump in and come along for the ride … it is such a rich, diverse and fruitful ride to take … as a follower of Jesus.