In this episode, Clark and Laura talk how Simple House developed a model of Catholic evangelization based on accompaniment. They discuss a “schism” around charitable work that existed in the Church in the early 2000’s when Simple House was founded. There was a division between “social-justice” Catholics excited about charitable work, and orthodox Catholics. At A Simple House, Clark and Laura’s goal was to hear God’s call and the cry of the poor, to help people, to be in solidarity with them, and to speak the truth to them—to be missionaries in the full sense of the word. In some ways, they were too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives. They also discuss how Simple House came to develop a theory of mission work—what can be taught, and what comes down to the intuition, grace, and discernment when it comes to evangelization and service.
In this episode, Clark gives a State-of-the-Ministry update, reviewing the ministry we did during our Thanksgiving and Christmas outreaches—our busiest times of the year for our mission. We visit neighborhoods that we serve, go door-to-door, meeting families and getting to know them and praying with them. Inviting someone else to lead the prayer, Clark notes, is an important act of evangelization: not only is it a display of respect and solidary with the poor, but you are getting that person to pray. He also describes what we call our “Party-in-a-box” ministry, something we do often during the holiday season: a time where we celebrate and eat with the poor families we serve. He also discusses our visiting seminarians, our upcoming silent retreat, and visiting Catholic college student groups. Clark ends the podcast with a recent story about one of the friends that we serve.
In this episode, Clark interviews Mike Tenney, long-time supporter and friend of A Simple House’s ministry. Mike reflects on the growth he’s seen since the founding of Simple House’s mission: from the early days of Laura, Clark and other missionaries deciding they want to serve God radically in voluntary poverty and seek out the poorest of the poor to serve them spiritually and physically, to scores of missionaries coming to serve the poor over the almost twenty years that the ministry has existed.
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