By Rita McInerney

Catholics are not “arm-twister evangelizers,” but prefer to touch the world around them by their works, in the opinion of Father Ray Kemp.

The Washington, D.C., priest led the Beginnings and Beyond Institute on the Christian Initiation of Adults held July 21-26 at Agnes Scott College, Decatur. Sponsors were the archdiocese of Atlanta and the North American Forum on the Catechumenate.

Parishes that “reach out to make a difference in the world,” by confronting social ills, including abortion, AIDS, housing, joblessness, are evangelizing in the best possible way, he believes.

“By their works you shall know them in scriptural guidance that creates an “open, welcoming environment” in a parish.

Another potential-filled area is the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for children, “usually from families who have drifted away. We have great success in getting the families involved,” Father Kemp said of his own experience.

At this year’s Easter Vigil, 18 young people between the ages of eight and 16 were baptized, confirmed and given Eucharist at Holy Comforter/St. Cyprian, his 1,2000-family integrated parish in the nation’s capital.

Catholics can evangelize better, the priest said, by developing the ability to “articulate their faith, to talk about their own faith journey.”

This can lead them to acquire the sense “this story may be important to someone else struggling with the same problem, and create a climate where sharing faith becomes the central aspect of parish life. You can’t sit on the gift you receive, you have to share it.”

RCIA gets lots of people involved on different levels, Father Kemp said. “By sharing stories you build a sense of community and people draw strength from each other. A lot of people need to hear this. All of us are hurting.”

“Adults don’t learn by old classroom techniques, but by a process of people facing the truth of their own lives,” Father Kemp claims.

He observed that the Atlanta Forum for the Catechumenate “is a couple of years ahead of much larger dioceses” with implementing the RCIA.

“In 1990 it was clear that the Forum had created a network where people who are doing it are resourcing one another.” Father Kemp led a one-day archdiocesan seminar on RCIA in January, 1990, at All Saints in Dunwoody.

There is a level of sophistication in this archdiocese in implementing the process, he noted, a “good sense of Scripture” and a solid group of parishes that “know what they’re doing” in celebrating the rites of RCIA. This, he added, is strengthened by “the many priests who know what they are about in preaching and presiding” and by Archbishop James P. Lyke’s “encouragement and support” in mandating the implementation of the RCIA process in every parish.

Archbishop Lyke made a surprise visit to the institute the morning of July 15 after arriving back in Atlanta. He had planned to welcome the participants Sunday evening, but had to cancel to attend the funeral of Auxiliary Bishop Harold R. Perry in New Orleans.

He thanked everyone for attending and commented that he has been “so moved by the whole community of RCIA since I’ve been here.”

He told the group that he had never had the opportunity to be involved with the process as a pastor, having been named bishop at the time “the rite was beginning to lift off the ground.” He praised Vatican II that has really captured the spirit of the early church.”

The institute model took its participants through the catechumenate, evangelization and welcome, to the various rites leading up to the Easter Vigil. Adaptations of the rites found institute attendees serving as catechumens, candidates, sponsors, and choir.

On arrival July 21, participants were divided into two tracks, one for those new to the process, the second for people already experienced.

One hundred and 23 attended. About half were from 29 parishes and missions of the archdiocese, according to Mary Mauldin, a workshop presenter for the Atlanta Forum on the Catechumenate, who coordinated the institute. She is director of religious education at St. Philip Benizi, Jonesboro.

Other participants came from Texas, neighboring deep south states, and Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Minnesota. About 20 people represented parishes or chapels on military bases, including Fort McPherson in Atlanta and Fort Rucker in Enterprise, Ala.

Father David Stachurski, OFM, moderator of the Atlanta Forum and pastor of St. John Vianney, led a seven-member group from that Lithia Springs parish. He agreed with Mrs. Mauldin that the institute had a “retreat dynamic.”

Team members presenting the institute with Father Kemp were Father Tim Fitzgerald, Sister Loretta Theresa Richards, MA, Tom Conry and Joanna Case.