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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Unity

by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 29, 2008

Lane

Detroit — In the 1960s, Detroiters watched the ferocious football star Dick "Night Train" Lane put the hurt on running backs and wide receivers who faced the Detroit Lions.

In April, they're going to hear from the late football star's son, Richard Lane. A convert and lay Catholic evangelist residing in Missouri, Richard Lane wants to tackle the powers of darkness and division, and the busyness that keeps men from Christ.

"In a lot of our Catholic churches, there are not enough men involved," says Lane, who will be addressing thousands of men gathered at University of Detroit's Calihan Hall for the annual Catholic Conference for Men April 12. "Men are so worried about trying to build something for our families, trying to get a better job, earning income to send kids to college — we don't take enough time out for Jesus. We don't take time out for God."

Having been raised in Detroit during his father's NFL career, Lane says he's been excited to return to the area. Important, too, is that Lane is one of just a small number of black Catholic evangelists in the country.

Paco Gavrilides, director of the Archdiocese of Detroit office for evangelization, which sponsors the Men's Conference, says the local Church is charged with bringing Christ's invitation to men of all races and ethnicities. To reflect the large African American population in Detroit, organizers would like to see more black men at the conference than in years past.

"The heart of Christ is for every man, from every race, culture, and so on — without exception," Gavrilides says. "We aspire to draw men from different ethnic, racial, social and economic backgrounds."

Lane spent a six-year career in the United States Army Military Police Corps after his graduation from Morehouse College in Atlanta. He converted to Catholicism in 2003, and in 2005 became a street-corner evangelist.

Since, Lane has built a name for himself on the Catholic speaking circuit, having appeared on the syndicated "Catholic Answers Live" radio program, on Ave Maria Radio, and at various speaking engagements. Currently, with his wife, Donna, he runs Qorban ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading God's Word. He also is co-host of a Catholic weekly radio program in St. Louis and a sought-after speaker for Catholic events.

Lane acknowledges his important role as a black evangelist, as well — saying that African Americans have a lot to discover in the Catholic Church, and that Catholics, both black and white, have to extend the invitation.

"Out of 38 million African Americans in this country, only 2.8 million are Catholic," he says. "We have to do a better job as one Body of Christ, to reach out to others. We have to learn how to share our faith with other creeds, nationalities and races."

He says Catholics can draw more black men to the Church just as Christ drew men to Himself.

"The only way people are going to be interested in coming into the Catholic Church is if they see Christ in those of us who are Catholic," he says.

In a city as diverse, yet as racially divided, as Detroit, Lane adds, it helps when white Catholics experience worship in predominantly black churches — and the other way around, too.

"Everyone is One Body of Christ, and everyone has to look out for each other," Lane says. "We have to embrace the richness of our Catholic faith."

Already, local Catholic priests are making efforts to evangelize in largely black communities. Fr. Theodore Parker, pastor of St. Cecilia Parish on Detroit's west side, says a large part of inviting black men into the faith community has to do with relationship building.

For example, Fr. Parker says, St. Cecilia opens its doors to young men for sports programs. Indirectly, the men get a sense of the Catholic community by being in the gym.

"One of the keys, I think, to ministries with men is to establish real friendships," Fr. Parker says. "And it has to be based on equality and a real sharing."

Also important, Fr. Parker says, is the connection between service and the Church. Because Detroit has a large poor population, he says, the Church does well to feed the hungry and give shelter to the homeless — but also to invite them to prayer and fellowship.

"Somehow they'll see where there's a place where there's food, there's a place where there's prayer," he says.

Lane says he will be in Detroit a couple days before the Catholic Conference for Men, both learning about the local Church and being part of interdenominational efforts. He's glad, he says, that the well-known name of his father, who died in 2002, has opened the door for him.

"I know my father's in heaven, and I know he had a lot to do with this invitation," Lane says.

He says, too, that he hopes as many men as possible come together to allow the Holy Spirit to change their lives.