Lent is a time of anticipation for everyone involved in the initiation process. Our elect are on the final forty days of their journey toward baptism, and we’re all hard at work making sure all the rites and activities go as planned. It’s a time where those going through the process have a certain excitement about what’s coming next.

Unfortunately for a number of our catechumens, this also time of deep disappointment and confusion because they’ve been told they’re not yet ready for baptism. I fear that this is an all too familiar story for many of us in this ministry, but it’s also a situation that is completely avoidable if we learn how to better manage the expectations of our seekers.

This takes me to the story of George. Many things have gone wrong with George’s journey through the process, and I would like his story to serve as a lesson for all of us.

Introduction to Initiation

Let’s start with how George was introduced to the initiation process. In George’s case it started one day after Mass with a visit to the church office. A fairly typical way in which seekers come to us.

Perhaps the most important thing to note that while this moment may mark the formal start of their initiation, this is not the beginning of their faith journey. All of us, ministers and staff and parishioners alike, must recognize that George’s faith journey didn’t start at the church office door. It actually started much earlier. George, like all our seekers, do not come to us as a blank slate, but rather, as someone with a lifetime of experience. Experiences that eventually lead to the gift of strength and courage they received from the Holy Spirit to knock on our door.

Recognizing that it is that action of the Holy Spirit that drives our seekers to us, we must respond in kind. Not with a registration form or a stack of papers. Not with a date for when the sessions start. Whoever greets this seeker must greet them as Christ would greet them. Unfortunately, time, malaise, and bureaucracy have a tendency to rule our parish offices and staff. More often than not, seekers aren’t greeted by Christ, but with a form to fill out. Such was how George was introduced to the initiation process.

So how do we help our parishes improve their approach to leave seekers with a more positive experience of church? It starts by helping all those who serve on the front lines of inquiry how to act as Christ when encountering an inquirer.

All of us, ministers and staff and parishioners alike, must recognize that a seeker’s faith journey doesn’t start at the church office door. It actually started much earlier.

Being Christ with others

I have seen a lot of deacons and priests who are very good at this because they understand what it means to be acting in persona Christi: in the person of Christ. On more than one occasion, I have been waved over by one of our priests, after Mass or during a parish event, to be introduced to a seeker.

Or I have gotten phone calls from them so I can reach out to these seekers. This is how we need to begin the initiation process—not with forms and paperwork and schedules, but with simple conversation, or at the very least, being given the contact information of someone who can have that conversation with them. No forms required.

To help with this in my own parish, it started with a conversation with those who staff our front lines, our secretaries, assistants, and other persons who staff the front desk or answer phone calls. This is best served by a one-on-one conversation, not necessarily through a staff meeting. Many of these people are operating from legacy information and methods—they don’t know how the initiation process has evolved. Here’s an opportunity for them to learn how to be in persona Christi. Here’s an opportunity for them to learn that the initiation process begins once they make contact. And most importantly, they need to know who on your team they should talk with and exchange contact information with them.

There are lots of ways we can better manage our initiation process so that we can make their journey much smoother and more successful, and it starts at our front door.