How do we navigate the New Evangelization in a postmodern and post-pandemic world ?
Dr . Donald Wallenfang ’ s “ Shares the Gospel ” with a New Book and Two Podcasts
How do we navigate the New Evangelization in a postmodern and post-pandemic world ?
Dr . Wallenfang , OCDS , Emmanuel Mary of the Cross , is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary . Dr . Wallenfang specializes in Catholic theology and philosophy , Carmelite spirituality , phenomenology , and metaphysics . His newest book , co-edited by Professor John Cavadini , Motown Evangelization : Sharing the Gospel of Jesus in a Detroit Style , invites readers to contemplate the meaning of the New Evangelization within the disorienting context of the postmodern and postpandemic world of today . Through the contributions of several of the leading scholars on Catholic evangelization in the 21st century , Motown Evangelization offers readers practical suggestions for sharing the Gospel of Jesus with friends and strangers alike with renewed vigor , urgency , and vitality .
Dr . Wallenfang also hosts two podcasts as part of his online apostolate : The Catholic Fragments Podcast , where he features expert commentary on Catholic excerpts of Catholic theological tradition , and The Shoeless Podcast , co-hosted with his wife , Megan , where they offer candid discussion of marriage , family life , and Catholic spirituality .
How did the book Motown Evangelization : Sharing the Gospel of Jesus in a Detroit Style come about ?
Edited by Professor John Cavadini , the McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame , and myself , “ this book originated with the 2019 symposium of scholars hosted by Sacred Heart Major Seminary at the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in Detroit , entitled Enter through the Narrow Gate : The Urgency of the New Evangelization in the Third Millennium . The chapters of this book are derived from presentations given at that symposium as well as a couple of additional essays to round out the collection . Authors include one bishop , two Jesuit priests , and seven laypeople . This demographic distribution of the essays is indicative of the resurgence of the lay vocation in the Church today , as well as the Jesuit impetus of missionary evangelization . The essays are divided into five groups , under five headings : ( 1 ) Merciful Evangelization , ( 2 ) Urgent Evangelization , ( 3 ) Sacrificial Evangelization , ( 4 ) Diversified Evangelization , and ( 5 ) Sanctified Evangelization .”
What does it mean to evangelize in a “ Detroit style ”?
To evangelize in a “ Detroit style ” signifies the perpetual motion of sharing the Gospel of Jesus . Motown evangelization means a Gospel with wheels , a Gospel with soul ! Good news on-the-move , onthe-go ! Reminiscent of the portmanteau of “ motor ” and “ town ,” and the successful Motown music movement that emerged from Detroit in the 1960s , Motown evangelization expresses the 21st century renaissance of Catholicism in Detroit and beyond . This is what is called the New Evangelization . In a similar vein , the vibrant history of the automotive industry in Detroit serves as a vivid analogy for Catholic evangelization — an itinerant and bold missionary adventure of leading souls to Christ through the global inculturation of the Gospel . Because the hidden meaning of the French word Detroit is “ strait ”— a narrow , constricted passageway — evangelizing in a “ Detroit style ” contemplates and cooperates in the Holy Spirit ’ s desire to be at work in the most desperate and restricted sectors of human existence . Two paradigmatic figures of Motown evangelization are Blessed Solanus Casey and the late Deacon Alex C . Jones Jr . In his 2006 book No Price Too High : A Pentecostal Preacher Becomes Catholic , Deacon Jones writes , “ It is a tremendous hindrance to tell someone seeking the truth to stay where he is .”
32 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring / Summer 2023