‘Pastors of the Streets’
One year ago, Franciscan friars launched a street ministry to start conversations that open a door to exploring faith while caring for those on the margins. The ministry is called SEARCH – “Seek, Encounter, Accompany, Renew, Convert, Heal,” – but it’s peoples’ search for meaning that underpins their work. (Troy C. Hull and Liz Chandler | Catholic News Herald)
CHARLOTTE — It’s Saturday night and two Franciscan friars in brown robes walk into one of Charlotte’s most popular South End breweries.
Heads turn.
“Hey wizards,” a man drinking beer with his buddies shouts over blasting music.
Actually, the friars explain, we’re Catholic priests.
The man wisecracks: That may be so, but you still practice sorcery.
Fathers Casey Cole and Tito Serrano smile and keep moving through hundreds of revelers gathered at Monday Night Brewing. After a year of ministering on the streets, in bars, on college campuses and on the light rail, they’ve heard it all. Their hooded habits always attract attention.
“We’ve been called wizards, Jedi, assassins – from the video game Assassins Creed. A lot of people think we’re from Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings,” says Father Casey, 37. “But usually when people find out we’re priests, they come over and apologize and strike up a conversation, and maybe share something they’re struggling with.”
“Not every interaction is fruitful,” he says. “Sometimes, there’s no connection made whatsoever, and there are lots of off-handed comments. But if just our presence can plant a seed of faith out in the world, then we’ve succeeded.”
Indeed, says Zack Maher, a young engineer, the friars’ ministry has inspired him. He went from searching for a Catholic community to regularly attending the friars’ events.
“They break down every wall they can to connect with people,” says Maher, 28, whose always had an affinity for St. Francis. “They are just fun, pleasant, holy guys to be around.”
Ministering on the margins
A typical day for the friars often takes them from ministering to the homeless on the streets of Charlotte to events in local bars that help young adults connect to their faith while enjoying fellowship.
The friars launched their outreach ministry called SEARCH with a simple goal: to start conversations that open a door to faith.
SEARCH stands for “Seek, Encounter, Accompany, Renew, Convert, Heal,” but it’s the searching – people’s search for something more in life – that underpins their work.
“For me the encounter is the pivotal part of our ministry,” says Father Tito, 39. “We are willing to encounter people wherever they are…Once we do that, the rest is about facilitating an encounter with God.”
The friars’ ministry certainly is not all about barhopping. On this Saturday, Aug. 15, the Feast of the Assumption, the friars begin with morning Mass and prayers for people they’d met the previous day. Then comes gardening, video editing and an interview with CNN.
At 5:30 p.m., Fathers Casey and Tito arrive Uptown, in full habit, in 90 degrees, pulling a wagon filled with peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, crackers, candy and water. Over the next hour-and-a-half, they walk a 1.3 mile-circuit – up Tryon Street from St. Peter Catholic Church, to The Square, to the bus station, and back – handing out comfort to people living on the streets and others in need.
Many of these people know the friars, perking up at the prospect of food and water. One woman calls them “The Pastors of the Streets.” The friars fist-bump and chat with people on benches and sleeping on the sidewalk. One of their regulars – Moses – downs a cup of water, then a second, and asks Father Casey to fish medicine out of his backpack. He’d recently lost a leg to diabetes and now parks his wheelchair across from Charlotte’s iconic Firebird.
“Reaching out to people in need is an important part of evangelization – it is the work of the Gospel,” Father Casey says. “And when we’re downtown, a lot of people going to work see the witness of what we’re doing.”
At 7 p.m., the two friars meet a group of 14 young people at a brewery called 4001 Yancey for a “guerilla” Bible study with beers at high-top tables. At 9:30, they head to Monday Night Brewing – a warehouse with lines eight-deep at the bar and an acre of outdoor space – where they meet the “wizards” wisecracker and go on to engage in more than a dozen more meaningful conversations with strangers.
Friars reaching young people
Father Casey Cole leads a “guerilla” Bible study at a local bar. The friars will often show up at a local establishment, break out their Bibles, and talk with anyone who stops by the table. What began as a humble ministry of walking and talking has become a robust operation with thriving events, street outreach, campus ministry and more – all intended to “meet people where they are.” The pair of
Father Casey and Father Tito began as a trio and now is recalibrating responsibilities since Father Jason Damon was recently called back to serve as a parish priest.
The friars chose Charlotte because of its high concentration of young adults – roughly a third of the population is between 20 and 39 years old, with a median age of 34. Bishop Michael Martin, himself a Conventual Franciscan, loved the idea and offered to host the ministry in his diocese.
“Opportunity is the word for what we see here in Charlotte,” Father Casey says. “I think the seeds have been planted, but the full nature of what we’re trying to do here has not been realized yet.”
The seeds are sprouting for people like Zack Maher, who regularly turns out for friar events including their recent “Rosary and Rye,” hosted by Father Tito, which featured saying the rosary followed by a whiskey tasting.
“The fact that Charlotte is continuing to grow and change seems to make people more open to the unique and the new,” says Father Tito, “and in the case of our way of life, the very old.” It has been 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi, the Franciscans founder.
If whiskey does not appeal, the friars invite people to:
- Free Wednesday dinner-and-discussion nights in South End
- Monthly trivia nights at St. Gabriel Church
- “Brews and Good News,” an informal Bible study at local breweries.
- Young Catholic Professionals’ events.
This fall, they’re also planning a weekend retreat – $50 for two nights at a mountain getaway.
“The friars keep me coming back,” Maher says. “They are very devout and also very genuine.”
He joined the friars on a recent visit to Pins Mechanical Co. – a lively bar with duckpin bowling, pinball, retro games and craft beer – and felt moved by the connections they formed with those who approached them.
“They were consistent and loving whether people just wanted to chat or go deeper,” he said. “One woman really wanted prayers and to get something off her chest, and it was powerful to see how intentional they were with her. I just sat back and watched them work, watched them pray with her right there in the middle of the bar. It was a powerful, true imitation of Christ.”
Friars on campus
Colleges have proven to be particularly fertile ground for sharing the faith, the friars say. They regularly visit UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro and Belmont Abbey College – and have ventured out to Appalachian State University in Boone and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.
“There’s a tremendous openness to faith right now among college students, definitely something going on nationwide,” Father Casey says.
They set up tables on campuses – and sometimes on street corners – and begin discussions with passersby. No topic is off limits.
Those tabling events stuck with Jessica Mathew last year as a senior majoring in computer science at UNC Charlotte. Although she volunteered with campus ministry, the friars’ outreach motivated her to do more to reach out to others.
“It pushed me to learn new things about the faith,” said Mathew, who has since graduated. “It helped me realize where I might be lacking...opened my eyes a bit more in the sense that I need to better prepare myself to answer such questions in daily life.”
— Christina Lee Knauss and Liz Chandler
Want to help?
At www.charlottediocese.org/giving/franciscan-friars-donation: Support SEARCH with a tax-deductible donation
