Catholics don't have a great history of inviting people to join them at church. And yet the mission of the Church is to evangelize, to lead people to Jesus Christ, and sometimes that happens best through personal invitation. Here are some tips for inviting people to join us for Mass:
 

1. Pray first – pray about who God is calling you to invite to Mass, and then pray specifically for that person or family before extending the invitation
2. Be natural – the invitation doesn’t need to be a separate conversation; if you see this person regularly at the gym or for coffee, be natural and look for a window to bring up the conversation about coming to Mass
3. Be compassionate – talk about the importance of your relationship with this person and acknowledge any reasons you may know of why this person doesn’t go to church
4. Share some of your own story – talk openly about your own faith and the impact Jesus, the Church, and the Mass have had in your own life
5. Invite someone to join you – be specific in inviting this person to join you at Mass, even arranging for a time and place to meet; it’s much easier for someone to accept an invitation if they know a friend or family member will be there, too
6. It’s ok if the answer is no – if a person is not ready to come to Mass or isn’t open to the conversation, don’t take it personally; continue praying for this person or family and be ready for possibly follow-up conversations in the future

Adapted from a blog post by Julianne Stanz, Director of Discipleship and Leadership Development for the Diocese of Green Bay, posted on www.catechistsjourney.com

Simply put, evangelizing means consciously opening doors that can lead to new faith for inactive Catholics. It means identifying, strengthening, and successfully using seven doors into parish life, or seven complimentary stages in the parish evangelization process. These stages are not new, and they are rooted in the New Testament and in the teaching of the Church:

1. Befriend People: Welcoming and befriending inactive Catholics is at the heart of reaching out. It happens at the doors of the church, through parish programming, at picnics, through an Internet presence. The list is endless. Befriending means building quality relationships in families, in parishes, and when we serve others through works of charity and social justice.
2. Share Faith Stories: We encourage faith sharing when we listen in a caring way to life stories and ask, “What does this mean for you?” or “What roles does faith play in your life?” We also encourage faith when we share similar experiences and the ways that God has been present in our own lives. And we affirm faith when we acknowledge new steps toward God or toward the Church.
3. Retell the Christ Story: We can help open the door to Jesus. The Good News of the Gospel is that we are not alone. When the time is right, we can share our understanding of Jesus, who is Shepherd, Lord, Brother, and Redeemer. By sharing this news, we put flesh on the tenets of the Apostle’s Creed, our baptismal vows, and even the Sign of the Cross. Our confidence in God’s love becomes contagious.
4. Invite to Conversion: When someone’s lifelong journey of faith gets sidetracked or halted, we can offer inactive Catholics an awareness of Christ’s loving presence. We can facilitate new encounters with Jesus Christ. We can invite someone into reflective silence or into praying aloud with us, asking the Holy Spirit’s help to rediscover Jesus and to welcome the embrace of the Church.
5. Bring into Community: Jesus is already present to all the baptized. But we can affirm the actions of the Holy Spirit who draws us all together. When the time is right, we can invite someone to a small or large gathering of our faith community or to an evangelizing parish event. If our invitation is rejected, we refocus on God’s unconditional love for those we invite. We may also invite inactive Catholics to return to the Eucharist, as we seek God’s guidance about engaging them in the fuller, deeper life of discipleship within the parish. For example, we might seek meaningful ways to include inactive Catholics whose marriages are not recognized by the Church and cannot receive the Eucharist.
6. Call to Discipleship: We can open the door to more meaningful Catholic discipleship by extending ongoing, open-ended invitations to let Jesus transform every part of our personalities, actions, relationships, and choices. We can call them to a life of love and faithfulness through the vocations of marriage, single life, religious life, or the priesthood. We can help them explore faith in daily life as the key to transforming the world. We can assist them in exploring ways to apply Gospel values at home, in the community, and in society at large.
7. Call to Stewardship: We can invite others to service in God’s name, to consecrate gifts and resources by laying them at the apostles’ feet just as the early Christians did (see Acts 4:35). We can encourage stewardship as a normal flowering of discipleship. Stewardship is not the same as philanthropy. One hundred percent is given to God. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response speaks of stewardship as the fruit of intentional discipleship to Jesus Christ, lived out in the Church and the world

Reproduced from Keys for Welcoming Catholics Back to the Lord's Table by John and Therese Boucher. © 2012 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.