Ted the evangelist

Hi Folks, some of you will have noticed that there are ads put in by Google that surround this blog, and I can't remove them without paying large sums of money - so until I can set up a new blog on another site can I just suggest that you ignore the ads

If anyone knows of a good blog site that will accept cur and paste from Word and has no ads then let me know and I will move to that one

bear with me on this!!

Ted

Hi Folks been reading through the material reference the concept and practicality of both the lay and ordained pioneer ministry. Just wondered what people thought of these new ventures and what effect they might have on both Evangelists and Readers.

There is, to my mind a real ministry in the context of these new developments, not too sure as to where someone like myself would fit, assuming a call to such a ministry. Certainly I see my role, and calling as both evangelist and reader to fit well with the lay pioneer ministry role, and perhaps the training we are to do in January will guide and inspire us in that direction.

Anyone else with thoughts about this, as MSC and SBG take root and develop through the mission partnerships it will be interesting to see how the current lay ministries integrate with these new ones.

Ted

Hi Folks, been looking through a number of web sites and wondered what people thought about courses such as:

Emmaus
Beta
Living Faith
Freedom in Christ

to name but four, I have looked at some of the material, have run Emmaus in the past but wondered what others thoughts, what experience you had etc.

I know that Anne is working on the pack of material, and this really can't come quick enough for me and she is to be thanked greatly for that work - but we still need to know who has run some of these and what the reactions were.

Audrey and I are going to the Alpha conference in May of next year, taking one of our helpers with us, will keep you all posted on that, but is anyone else going?

Enough for now

best wishes

In His name

Ted

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses” Acts 1:4,8

In what ways does the Book of Acts illustrate the importance of the Holy Spirit in evangelism and how do we apply its message today?

Written by Ted Hutchin

Introduction

One of the great gifts is patience – something I usually lack in great abundance. My style is not that of a patient man. Once I know what it is I have to do I want to get on with it. I know that if I delay then I could so easily lose interest, get frustrated, and do something else. Yet here we are with a great commission from Jesus, we get all excited, and then he says “wait”. I know the gospel, I know how to preach, I know how to teach – I have been doing it for years – why do I have to wait – others yes, but why me? There are many people who will know exactly what I am talking about. But still we are asked to wait!

Luke begins the story of Acts with the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost and continues through those great days of the spirit filled community of Jesus. Indeed some people, such as Bengel and Pierson have suggested that a better title of the book would be the “Acts of the Holy Spirit”. Indeed Pierson ends his book with this stirring challenge:

“Church of Christ! The records of these acts of the Holy Ghost have never reached completeness. This is the one book which has no proper close, because it waits for new chapters to be added so fast and so far as the people of God shall reinstate the blessed Spirit in his holy seat of control”

This is some challenge. Throughout the book there are continuous references to promises, gifts, outpourings, witness and guidance, all from the Holy Spirit. But it is not the Holy Spirit alone that achieves these things; it is in combination with the Apostles and those many unsung heroes of the new Christian community, that the Holy Spirit finds a voice, and a force, ready and willing to proclaim the Good News.

So this essay examines the importance of the Holy Spirit within evangelism – and the relevance of what happened then to the need of today. One thing is already clear – the church would appear to many to be a club for Christians, keeping them fed and watered, but not much else. It would be fair to say that for many the relevance of the Christian church has been lost – and it may never recover the true relevance without a great deal of work, prayer, and above all, the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost

This was the time of the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Here is how Luke describes the event.

AC 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues n as the Spirit enabled them.

Wow! And as Peter goes on to preach to the people around them he says these words:

AC 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."

So here the gift of the Holy Spirit is proclaimed as a promise for “you, your children and for all who are far-off – for all whom the Lord our God will call”.

This is where it becomes real for us today; we are by any definition far off, not just on geography but also in time. Yet the same applies today, the Holy Spirit is a promise given to us – defined as “all for whom the Lord our God will call”. All we have to do is to repent and be baptised. This theme of promise is echoed by Christou when he quotes F.D. Bruner: “The Church will receive the Holy Spirit inclusively and indicatively – as a promise. The Holy Spirit comes as inclusively as he does unconditionally. Both belong to his character as a gift.” (p34)

Christou goes on to state that the “coming of the Spirit at Pentecost was not just a promise for a select few disciples, or the Jewish people – it was a gift on a universal level for all nations” (p35)

This is central to the wider perspective of the evangelical commitment. This process that had its inauguration in Jerusalem was to expand in a fairly short period of time to most of the known world. It would expand throughout the Mediterranean countries, beyond towards India, beyond towards the north and beyond towards the south. It would move beyond the Jew to the Gentile. This was the true nature of the universality of the gift – it was designed to spread, and spread fast. Again Christou “The magnitude of the historical significance of Pentecost is undeniable. It is the inauguration of the new age of salvation, through the giving of the Holy Spirit.” (p36)

This new dimension of the Jewish faith was not to be hemmed in by anyone or by any other interpretation of religion – it was going to spread irrespective. And let us not forget as Christou reminds us “It is the Spirit who energises the evangelism of the church and drives its often unwilling members into the task for which God laid His hands on them: mission” (p39) This also works in the other direction. Many people feel a great desire to preach and teach the Gospel, they feel empowered to do so, and this empowerment can only come from the Holy Spirit. And in so doing, we seek more and more from the Holy Spirit, our prayers change into a new dimension, a seeking after both power and insight to deliver the message, a seeking after grace and fortitude to embolden us in the tasks that lie ahead. Without the Holy Spirit we are without all power, without all direction – but with this power and direction then we become true ambassadors for Christ. Thus Pentecost was the true birthplace of evangelism – governed and driven by the Spirit.

Evangelism Today

So if Pentecost was the true birthplace of evangelism, what can be said of the child of Pentecost today? What can we learn from those early days that has relevance today? Peter knew Jesus personally, as all the apostles did, and that is certainly not the case for us today. But we can still learn from Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. But this begs the question of spirituality – just how spiritual are our church leaders and evangelists today? Do we follow in the path laid out for us by the early church? Are we engaging in the concept of holiness? Do we demonstrate and practice what the early church did? There is a need to recapture the vibrancy of the early church and that means we have to open up to the power of the Holy Spirit. The sequence is defined by Christou, quoting John Stott, in the following manner. “First they were related to the apostles (in submission) They were eager to receive the apostles instruction. Secondly they were related to each other (in love).. supporting each other and the needs of the poor. Thirdly they were related to God (in worship). Fourthly they were related to the world (in outreach). They were engaged in continuous evangelism…” (p59) This gives a kind of model to follow. It starts with the notion of submission as the starting point, submitting to the power and majesty of the triune God, and through the examples of the apostles. They understood the importance of Love – and not just as a notion – but a real and empowered love that did things especially with the poor and the needy. They then understood the true nature of worship in all manner of ways, and finally they understood that they were not expected to keep this good news to themselves – they had to preach to everyone, without exception. Christou states with some confidence “The Holy Spirit is a Missionary Spirit, so a Spirit-filled church is a missionary church” (p59)

Turning Evangelism into practice

OK so we have to do evangelism! But how? This is not the place to critique the various methods such as Alpha and Emmaus, rather to consider how to manage the process of evangelism. Content is relatively easy, there is a huge volume of material just waiting to be used – that is not the question – the real question is how do we make it work today?

First an observation, when the church is not doing evangelism it is no threat to the devil – it simply appears irrelevant and sidelined. When it is doing evangelism the devil must be alert – now the church is in the eye of the storm. It should expect difficulties, oppression, attack, and all balanced by the joy of seeing more and more people come to know and accept Jesus as Lord! So as God the father directs, God the Holy Spirit empowers.

So what are the steps of evangelism? It starts with a deep understanding within the local church of what is meant by the term ‘evangelism’ and how that links with other activities the church is already undertaking. Just where is the focus of the local church? What level of spirituality exists? Is the leadership focused on the importance of outreach, or has it become bogged down on the day to day issues that affect most if not all churches? How good is the local church at spotting talent, those with gifts that lend themselves to the process of evangelism? Has the church laid out a platform for evangelism, recruited people to drive and lead the process, given them training, and support in the formation of a focused team? Now this might all sound like some consultant preaching his own particular theme, and that is partly right. Yet history shows that those who understand the task in hand and the goal to be achieved are much more likely to achieve it. What is the goal of evangelism? What is the goal of the church? Without asking, and answering these questions, then there is no doubt that any church, and any evangelical activity will only produce limited, and very localised, results at best. Having created a team ready for evangelism, are they praying together? Are they studying the bible together? Are they tapping in to the shared experience that they all bring to the evangelical activity? These elements all work towards creating an effective team within the local church – and beyond. But much more important than all of these necessary but insufficient elements is one final question. Are they waiting, as the original apostles did, for the Holy Spirit to come and empower them? This is why it is important to wait until the Holy Spirit has given the team power – they cannot be effective witnesses without it! All the training, all the reading, all the studying, all the praying in the world cannot be effective until the Holy Spirit empowers, then and only then can we be effective evangelists, be effective witnesses to the Good News.

Conclusions

Evangelism is central to the development of both Church and the Kingdom of God. Church because this is the time of Church, and the Kingdom of God because that extends well beyond the life of Church. The two are connected – but they also make different demands.

The picture of evangelists joining in the story of God is a powerful one, and one I wish to be a part of. A story that began many years ago – and will end with the second coming – and one in which we are all to play a part. But this is all dependent on working within the power of the Holy Spirit. If evangelism is about the proclamation of our encounter with Jesus, then it is the Holy Spirit that provides the words. There is a clear message in both the Old and New Testaments that the Holy Spirit is the prime mover of events. Those in tune with the Holy Spirit receive the blessing of the Spirit, those not in tune give no fruit.

Evangelism is about proclamation and demonstration. You simply cannot have the one without the other. The closer we are to the power of the Holy Spirit the greater the impact of the message, and the results of that message.

References

Christou, S 2004 Evangelism and Collaborative Ministry Phoenix Books
Stott, J. 2003 The Book of Acts

Mission-Shaped Church

Paul Bayes

Reflections written by Ted Hutchin

This slim volume sets out to examine things like missionary values, church planting and fresh expressions of church, and all in twenty eight pages. There is nothing like a challenge in the world of writing, and this is certainly a challenge. The book is essentially a review of the concepts that are contained in the report of the same name and to a certain extent other sources such as “Breaking New Ground” first published some ten years ago. What the author does see is the bringing together of these two documents as part of a major opportunity for the church for growth and development.

The book begins with the usual suspects being lined up, falling membership, lack of respect towards the church, much internal gnashing of teeth but not a lot going on outside etc. And yet “We still believe the gospel, and we believe in the power of God through the preaching of the gospel to grow the fruit of the Spirit and transform the world. But somehow the way we are shaping the church is not bringing that fruit in the way we so much want to see.” (p4) So what is happening seems to be the cry? Bayes then quotes Ralph Neighbour “We don’t think you should change a single structure in your church until you have established the right values in your church”. (p5) This is quite a critical statement. Coming from the world of business, the first step in moving any company towards it’s goal is to check the current situation, determine the current level of performance versus the goal and ask searching questions about the problems that exist and why. This is a causal argument leading to consensus on the problem facing the organisation. Without this consensus people are able to pursue minority solutions with no regard as to whether they address the problem or not. In recent months I have a read a great deal about the problems facing the church today, but I have read very little real analysis as to the causal relationships that exist and what the core problem of the church might be. Asking questions about core values seems as good a place to start as any.

We read a great deal about solutions but very little about core problems. We read much about what the church must do, but there is little discussion about why the church is in the position it is in to begin with. Andy Groves, the CEO of Intel writing some time ago discussed what he calls the strategic inflection point – that point in the growth of the organisation that will determine precisely what happens over the next few years. If a company misses this point it might never recover, doomed to stay in the shadow of those it once dominated. Is the church now facing a strategic inflection point? Is this, perhaps, the kairos moment that Bayes suggests? Of course, for Bayes, the answer is both yes and it means church-planting. Well if we use the process of industrial analysis using the Theory of Constraints, what this means is that if church-planting is the answer to the question asked, then what was the question in the first place, what was the problem, and as soon as we do this, difficulties arise. Bayes has not bothered to develop his description of the core problem, simply jumps to the solution – one that he regards as THE solution – and that is that. Remember also, that the absence of your chosen solution is never the core problem of the organisation. So to suggest that church-planting is the solution just because there is very little of it, and what does exist is still considered to be unusual, simply misses the point.

Bayes, quoting Breaking New Ground supports the view that “When a congregation looks outward in mission, and considers strategies for evangelism, it may be that some of the most exciting possibilities for that parish involve planting a new church….” (p6) I would argue that the first part of the sentence is certainly correct, congregations must look outward, and they must consider strategies for evangelism and these strategies may include the formation of new churches, but they are not the only solution, and should not be seen as such. I would not disagree with the observation that the church, and any process of evangelism must take note of the communities in which they exist. Just as society has changed, then so has the need for the church to reflect these changes, and not just in the evangelist role. Central to this changing environment is the realisation that the whole church must be committed to evangelism and not just the poor evangelist operating at the margins of the church. On page eight Bayes recites the Declaration of Assent and it is to the last two lines that I feel attract the most attention “to proclaim afresh in each generation.” (p8) This is what we are about is it not – to proclaim the gospel afresh, to proclaim what happened all those years ago, but in the language of today, with all of today’s nuances and contexts, but the same core message nevertheless.

So what are we to do? Quoting Archbishop Rowan, “Mission, it’s been said, is finding out what God is doing and joining in” (p9). What a thought, joining in with what God is doing, is that not what we should all be seeking to do? The first startling point is that God is already doing things! “What things?” we might ask, but then that would reveal the real extent to which we are not working with Him! How many of us would rather God worked with us, indeed many prayers today seem to be asking Him to join with us rather than the other way around? God is already operating as an evangelist, working with people around the globe, affecting lives, through the Holy Spirit challenging and inspiring lives in a manner we can only wonder at and what are we doing about it?

So, first things first which, according to Bayes, is an understanding of the importance of theology and prayer. This takes us neatly to the five marks of mission and the five values for a missionary church. This is, for me, a clear statement of what church is all about, what being a Christian is all about. There is no need to repeat them here, just visit page 12 and 13 of the book and they are there. Indeed, if this was where Bayes stopped then it could be argued that he has achieved his objective. The mission shaped church requires these five marks and five values which are necessary and sufficient for a church which is a powerhouse. If all the people within the church take these marks and values on-board then the church would not be in the position it finds itself today. Bayes now goes on to discuss the values in more depth, but the focus of what he has to say is now clear. He does highlight a crucial factor when he states “In the end a church shaped for mission is one shaped to meet its cultural context and therefore by definition not a church shaped to suit the preferences of its own members” (p15) This is a challenging statement as many people today consider that the church has been set up to keep people out, not bring them in! This means that what brought us to the church many years ago is not what brings people today, and that we must change what we do in order to accommodate those who need to come now.

I do like the notion of the transformational church, one that “exists for the transformation of the community that it serves, though the power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. It is not self-serving, self-seeking or self-focused. The kingdom of God is its goal, and church is understood as a servant and sign that God’s kingdom in its community, whether neighbourhood or network” (p18). This goes beyond, but does not demean, the concept of parish, just re-defines it in a modern context. It also raises the notion that there will be groups within the church addressing different issues, related yes, but also different. These are not competing groups, but groups which individually, and collectively, proclaim the gospel to a wide and varying audience. If they each share the same focus, the values of mission, then there is little problem. However, if they feel that there little bit is the only bit of vale then there is still much work to be done! Whether it is be church planting, by creating specialist groups for evangelism, by opening doors that have been closed for many years, the message is clear and unequivocal, we have a duty to proclaim the gospel to the world around us and beyond. We have also failed to do this for many years, that is why we find ourselves marginalised, ignored, and treated with contempt in some quarters. It is not God’s fault but our own, and we must rejoin Him in His work, he has not stopped, He has kept going. We must re-engage with God and rekindle the excitement of the early church and preach the good news.

Beyond Belief

Barriers and Bridges to Faith today

Nick Spencer
The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity

Reflections written by Ted Hutchin

The basic concept of this book was to interview a selected group of people who were neither strong Christians or at the other end of the spectrum. This is supposed to be the middle ground, where there will be honest opinion, some scepticism, some reflection, some thought about the questions being asked.

There are two questions that lie at the heart of the research study, the first being “What are the barriers to faith?” and the second, “What are the bridges to faith?”

These might seem fairly straightforward questions, but the answers are very revealing, but perhaps not in the way expected.

In order to help the people responding the questions cover four distinct elements. There are, in turn, Cultural, Personal, Ecclesiastical and Intellectual. I suppose it was thought that this would help with both data collection and also understanding on the behalf of the respondents.

Taking the first part, barriers to faith, what comes across is an appalling indictment of our educational system. The responses, which appear to be raw data with no attempt to try to dig behind the statements made, are in the most case bizarre. People make comments on the basis of no knowledge whatsoever, and feel that any comment is valid if they have said it! As far as research goes this makes the results, if such they can be described, almost meaningless. This in turn robs of the book of the primary focus. What can be learned from this catalogue of conflicting and incoherent statements is that our schools have badly let down our nation, if this is a reasonable cross-section of former pupils!

If this is the educational level that the majority of our nation aspires to then it is not difficult to understand why we are having so much difficulty with many developments which are supposed to be creating a better future for our grandchildren. Not only does this confirm that we are truly living in a post-Christian society, we are also living in a fairly uneducated one as well.

One thing does stand out though – the church is not getting the message across – the message of the risen Christ across – the message that God Loves – the message that in the Christian faith there is a place for all mankind. (a cynic might be tempted to add that even it were the level of understanding that the population is capable of taking on board is well below that necessary to even go this far)

Both aspects of this book are therefore flawed. If the barriers to belief are as convoluted as those portrayed, then the bridges are not much better. The same level of faulty thinking that dominated the first section is carried forward to the second. So on the basis of the material presented where do we go from here.

I am tempted to suggest that if wanted to get to there, I wouldn’t start here, and in some part that is a valid observation. This study does not offer an meaningful insight to the way forward for the church.

It does offer a few challenges however. If the average member of the public has this level of understanding about life and belief, then we have to start again from scratch. The whole message has to begin, as it did two thousand years ago, with a programme of teaching and preaching that carries with it none of the assumptions that could reasonably have been made even twenty years ago.

The message of this report is crystal clear – we have to think again about what it is we are saying to the world, and why.

The many courses that we offer to people such as Alpha and Emmaus must assume this level of understanding and comprehension. We can always be pleasantly surprised, but if we do not have this starting assumption then the message will never be captured by the listener.

As with the early Christians, the message must be based on actual experiences and not a simple retelling of stories that appear to have no meaning, or a faulty meaning to many people today. This gives a concrete base for our on-going discussions which must inevitably follow. We, as Christians, must also recognise that we are part of the problem. We have allowed the message to be watered down, to be explained away, rather than keep to the simplicity that Jesus used. We must also address the many myths that have grown up around Christian belief, not the daft ones such as the immense wealth that the church is supposed to have – this will never be a task within our ability. But we should make sure that the basic financial position of every church in the parish is know through local press, publications, etc. We may not be able to address the nationwide view but we can do something about what the local people think.

The report ends with a number of thoughts many of which make sense. Yes there is a need to address many of the issues raised in these recommendations, if that is what they are. Certainly we need to equip the ordinary Christian to face the modern world, with all of the faulty logic is takes so much pride in and shatter the illusions about what we stand for. Erroneous assumptions must be shown as such, we must make it clear what we believe in, and why. Above we must live the life that Jesus expects of us – our works must be a demonstration of our faith – why else do we follow Christ. Perhaps then, in a few years time, there can be another research study which might just show that the church has won back the debate, taken the high ground, and through faith and works, shows to the world what being a Christian is all about.

One final thought, there is one challenge that we must rise to now – the children in our schools. If we allow the current standards of education to continue then we are not going to be able to have the debate we need so much. The church must go back into the schools of our nation and teach, teach children how to think, how to use the knowledge that is around them, be able to analyses that is being presented to them, and how to assess that knowledge and not just jump to any old conclusion. We have a message for the young people of our nation, of our world. The church has a duty to respond to the need for that message by speaking out, in a loud voice, to those who must at least hear with clarity the message we have to give to the world.

Retelling the story

From The Mystery of Salvation
The Doctrine Commission of the Church of England

Reflections written by Ted Hutchin

I have chosen three aspects of this picture of Jesus from the chapter. The first is that of Christ in our place – the notion that he took our sin, our tragedy, our death upon himself and set us free. The second is the Christ who justifies. This takes the concept of a broken promise and explains why, in the person of Jesus, the promises of God towards mankind, and the response of mankind are held in the one person of Jesus. The third is Christ the victor. This is a response to the evil nature that we see around us and the fact that Jesus, in the resurrection triumphs over evil. Within each of these aspects there are two key dimensions, the first is how St Mary’s has adopted them into the culture of the church and the second focuses on the dangers that might occur if attention is drawn away.

For the final aspect of this assignment, that of discussing the gospel with a non-church friend I have chosen the section describing “Salvation and a suffering God”.

Christ in our place

The starting point of the chapter is the aspect of Jesus in our place. This is based on a threefold diagnosis of the problems facing people today. They are sin, the meaningless tragedy of life and death itself. To address this diagnosis, Jesus was born, was crucified and raised from the dead. He died in great pain, he was seen as a failure, and he died as one of us. As the writers put it “He died our death, sharing our failure, condemnation, despair and godforsakeness” (p103) This was the mission Jesus was given by God. The key to this aspect is that Jesus took our sin upon himself. He freed the people he met from both their physical pain and their spiritual prison. He experienced the tragedies of life at first hand. Innocent he stood accused and condemned. Not one stood with him, he was truly alone. But after all this, comes the resurrection, he rose from the dead. In one life he dealt with sin, tragedy and death. The answer may not have been as the people of time envisaged it, but it was THE answer! As the section ends the final sentence sums it all up “The light of Jesus’ resurrection dispels the shadow death casts over life”. (p104)

Within St Mary’s this aspect of the life Jesus led and the mission contained within it is a core of the work. The work throughout the parish places the notion Jesus in our place highly and at the core of many of our activities. The whole thrust of the new Samworth centre is to take the message beyond the four walls of the church and make a statement to the community at large. To promote the message of a risen Christ, one who took upon Himself, our sin.

There are within this aspect the opportunity for misunderstandings to occur. If Jesus has done away with sin then why do we have to do anything? If he has taken our place then surely we are free from sin, tragedy and death – so let’s get on with life. These sentiments are not quite what were intended. Equally others might say that if He has done this then why does sin still exist? Why am I experiencing great tragedy? Of course both of these opinions miss the point of what Jesus is about. They represent a misunderstanding that the church ha a duty to address. This is where the people within the church must take a responsibility to make the message clear and unequivocal.

Christ who justifies

This must be a crucial part of our relationship with God. “Broken promises are amongst the most disappointing feature of relationships” (p106). Now all is changed, “Christ keeps the promises of God to us and for us that God neither lets us down nor finds us lacking in keeping our promises” (p106). History shows us that it is human failure that has consistently frustrated what God was seeking to achieve. The article highlights the new covenant with God. Jesus being fully divine, and fully human, is able to bridge the gap. He is able, in His own person to restore the relationship himself. “The result of this is our justification or righteousness, since we are now in a right relationship with God again because of what Jesus Christ has done.” (p107) Now it is down to us to either accept or reject what God has provided in the example of His son.

The focus of the new covenant is the Last Supper. It is no surprise that the church places a high priority to the Eucharist within both theology and practice. It is the point at which we remind ourselves of this covenant. The Prayer of Humble Access starts with the words “We do not presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness” and for good reason. Without the living example of the risen Christ there is no new relationship, there is no way to repair the damage done by promises broken over the centuries, promises broken by our side of the bargain, not His.

This aspect is a key feature of life within the church, and my church is no exception. There is always an early morning service which places the Eucharist at the centre, and most other services have the same level of importance attached to this. But there is more to being a church than simply focusing all efforts and importance to the activity of the Eucharist. Obtaining the right level of balance is critical and something which is considered often within St Mary’s. Mission goes beyond the simple adherence to a ritual, no matter how key to the life of the church. If attendance at the communion service is the only criteria for a living and growing church then we should not be experiencing the decline that is all too evident. The process of communion has to be set into the wider context of God’s mission on this Earth, central yes, core yes, but it is not the whole picture and should not be presented as such. That is to diminish the message that God encourages us, indeed, commands us to preach.

Christ the Victor

No matter what might be said by the church, the experience of our lives is that evil appears to dominate. Whether it be individual evil or that of groups, or even nations, the dominant force in our world today appears to be one of unleashed evil. Yet the writer states “The God who creates the world and sees that it is very good is the righteous God who judges and condemns evil, working to liberate His children from the idolatry of false Gods, enslavement to principalities and power of this world and the ultimate denial of meaning in death.” (p117) They go on to argue that “The New Testament writers see the redemption achieved by Jesus as the definitive victory of God over the power of sin and evil.” (p117) Simply put, Jesus is the victor by what happened in the crucifixion and resurrection. Yes he does die, but it is not the end, “ from death he is raised in triumph.” (p118)

Within the church there is a real sense of victory, no false hope but real hope, hope which can only come from a sound foundation in Christ. The resurrection plays a central theme within the church. It is at the core of the gospel that we are commissioned to preach. Within the church we have taken the step to make a commitment to the local community which involves a clear message of salvation, of Christ as King. What could be misunderstood – nothing if the message is kept simple and clear.

Salvation and a suffering God

Our society today is acutely aware of what mankind is capable of doing. In recent memory the brutality of the holocaust, the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and Africa, and the brutality of the current events in Iraq, are all examples of man’s inhumanity to man. This is not what God intended. Yet at the same time the message that the people hear from the church is that of a distant age. Seeing God as patricial is not what people want to hear. The need of today is to meet the suffering, the tragedies that many people experience in their daily lives. On the cross Jesus suffered, as did God. God indeed allowed suffering to affect him. He has shared suffering in the brutality of Jesus’ crucifixion. He then triumphed in the wonder and mystery of resurrection, what a message!

It seems an odd thought; here is an all-powerful God who permits himself to be affected by grief, by loss, by injustice, by appearing to be, and actually being, vulnerable. “This perception of a God who freely makes himself vulnerable to the suffering of his creation has converged with the strand of atonement theory stemming from Abelard to create a new emerging consensus that has as its central conviction the solidarity of God in Christ with our sin and suffering.” (p112) The relationship we are supposed to have with God has been broken by our wilful departure from His way. He creates the bridge back through the presence of His son Jesus. The only way to achieve this bridge is by the death of Jesus, and His resurrection. To enable this to happen God had to expose Himself to pain, to false accusation, to a sense of lostness, in Jesus.

We live in a world of pain, where self-interest has led to a real sense of lostness. Many people spend a great deal of time searching; searching for meaning, searching for something that makes sense of the life they are living, the world around them. Now that we are all free to choose – we don’t know what to do with this freedom, especially when someone else’s freedom impinges on ours. People are to be found searching in drugs, in the pursuit of money, in attacking what they believe represents evil in their lives. The oft-used phrase that “one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” has, in the wake of events in both the USA and Iraq taken on a much more sinister meaning. What is irrefutable is that people are searching for, and failing to find, something that satisfies their inner self, something that genuinely satisfies rather than gives illusory, and momentary, pleasure.

But this search will remain fruitless. There is only one answer for the real question they are asking. The answer is Jesus – the risen Christ. The question is, to my mind, “Why am I lost?”, or to put it another way, “Why does nothing satisfy me for long, make me feel as if I belong?” The great news I have for you, whoever you might be, is that God has also experienced the same pain in His separation from His people, and His son. He did so for one simple reason, that you might, if you choose, and yes you do get to choose, to find meaning to life, your life, in the person of Jesus, the risen Christ.

Just consider this, “our creator….is present in the darkest affliction, shares our pain, bears our sorrow, and sustains us through it all, creating good in spite of evil, so revealing the true nature of divine power as showing mercy and pity.” (p113) This says it all.

The Evangelist’s Notebook

John Peters

Reflections written by Ted Hutchin

This book examines the position the church is on today and what evangelists might think and do about it. I began the book with great expectations but came away disappointed at the end of the first chapter. This was a great ego trip for the author. His personal story which started the book was a great advertisement for the “I” culture, but I found it rather patronising. I have no idea why it is there, but having started on such a low note, I thought perhaps that the rest of the book would illuminate the life of an ‘evangelist in training’. The answer, as it turns out, is rather a bit of a curate’s egg – good in parts, very good in some, but overall I am not sure. It is probably an excellent example of how one person’s style of writing creates a problem for at least one reader

So Chapter two – all doom and gloom the church in decline (though only by the measures of declining congregation numbers which is about the least relevant metric it is possible to have). There are some good observations such as “We should focus on Jesus crucified and risen and on the gift of the Spirit freely given to all who believe. These are our essential truth claims”. (p29) Yes but there is more to it than that, but at least this is a great starting point. I did like the thought of evangelists as people who “..do not and should not be expected to wait forever for churches to release them”. (p31) I did agree with the notion of trying, failing, and then trying again. I would like to think that my ministry as an evangelist would show an upward curve of performance, with even the odd high spot.

Chapter three moves to the gospel and to the fact that “…we need to be sure that it is in fact the authentic gospel we are preaching.” (p33) This might seem rather obvious, but the history of the church is littered with those whose knowledge and understanding of the gospel was limited to say the least, and in some cases just plain wrong. Peters makes the statement “so the gospel is a declaration of the facts about Jesus – who he is and what he has done for us – but also the gospel IS Jesus – his present power to make effective in our lives what he made real in Galilee and Capernaum” (p41) Actually Kafa Nahum is in Galilee.

He then goes on to confirm the observation made by Luke, “…for Luke personal encounter with Jesus is indispensable to the proclamation of the gospel, because the gospel is all about the person of Jesus”. (p42) This is a very powerful statement, which means that that if we are not proclaiming this personal encounter then there is no evangelism. People must be able to hear us proclaim the gospel, but they must also see the presence of Jesus in our lives. Proclamation without demonstration is of little value. This whole chapter places the gospel at the heart of the work of an evangelist and rightly so.

At the end of the chapter there is an interesting claim, “I believe it is better for churches to be led by apostolic evangelists assisted by pastors – and not the other way round”. (p66) All entrepreneurs would understand this point. They are risk-takers, they challenge the status quo, they seek the edge, and they want to win. Once they have done their bit entrepreneurs move on, others maintain what has been created. Now a period of stability is required, but again after a while there is, once more, the need for the entrepreneur to shake the whole thing up again. As someone who is an entrepreneur, I have a great deal of sympathy with this idea, although I am also aware of the many pitfalls and dangers of such a process – but then the goal is worth the effort and worth the risk?

Peters goes on to discuss a number of key aspects concerning the evangelistic life. The lifestyle and the impact of the world in which we live, the culture into which we proclaim the Good News, and the importance of preaching the Gospel in the cultural setting of today and not Judah of two thousand years ago are discussed and raise key points about who we are as evangelists, and what our mission is.

This is coupled to a discussion about the role of the Holy Spirit. Peters states that “without the power of the Spirit we will never be effective evangelists” (p104) He goes on to state that “We cannot hope to preach Jesus unless we are empowered by the Spirit of Jesus.” (p105) This leads to a fundamental understanding of the Trinity. It is only in the reality of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, that our message becomes truly alive.

The book continues through a discussion about evangelism and preaching followed by an attempt to place the whole subject into context – the real world.

I completed the book having enjoyed parts enormously, having learned a great deal, found no little inspiration in some passages and insights, but for me the whole thing was conditioned by the first chapter.

This is a good book and worth reading. It does cover a wide area and does it well. The reflections are good in parts, less so in others. It gave me food for thought which is probably what it was supposed to do. Equally I am sure that there will be other books that will have the same positive effects, without the negatives.

The Logic of Evangelism

William J. Abraham

Reflections written by Ted Hutchin

July 2007

This book is written in a very academic style, which at first is rather off-putting. But perseverance pays handsome dividend as the author develops his argument. He also has two interesting comments which grab attention, and force the reader to think right at the start. For example “Surely it is obvious that there would not have been a Christian community if there had not been any evangelism; nor might there be one in the future” (p4). This has echoes with the comment of Tom Wright that Christianity is one generation away from oblivion. Abraham goes on to say that “…Christianity has been a part of the fabric of the West for so long that it has been assumed that Christians do not really need to evangelize”. (p4). For Abraham this lies at the heart of the problem facing the notion of evangelism, but what is lacking is a coherent theology. What evangelism needs is a clear theology, one that is rooted in a clear and practical understanding. Part of the issue lies in the absence of a full definition, a lack of integration into mainstream theology, and also in the way in which evangelism is seen by many today. The impact of predominately US evangelists operating in a rather over-the-top manner where the primary focus seems to be a combination of money and mass emotion results in an opinion that evangelism is for the slightly weird. At the same time Abraham argues strongly for a new, and fresh, approach to the understanding of evangelism, one that does have academic standing rather than a similarity with a fast food chain!

In one paragraph Abraham sums this up by saying: “Reflection on evangelism forces us to wrestle with what the essence of Christianity is an with such topics as conversion, faith ad repentance; it leads us to come to terms with the nature of the kingdom of God and the place of the kingdom in the ministry of Jesus; it leads us to think deeply about the nature of baptism and of Christian initiation; it encourages us to explore the relation between the intellect and the emotion in Christian commitment; it draws us to examine how far the faith of the early centuries can be expressed in the modern world; it makes us tackle anew the nature of apologetics; it makes us focus on haw far, if at all, theistic proposals are amenable to rational persuasion” (p11) And this is just the start!! Of course the impact of the post-modern understanding of our world helps in an odd way. With the decline of the concept of “Christendom” and the changes taking place within the established churches, it is clear to most that something has to change. Falling membership, less and less impact on public morality and thinking, greater marginalisation in most Western communities and a sense of being out of touch, has led many within the church to re-examine just what the church is all about, and to recognise that perhaps the only way forward is to rediscover the concepts and practical applications of evangelism, not in the tarnished form of recent years, but in the vibrant, exciting and challenging spirit of the early church.

Abraham throughout the book examines a number of themes, The Gospel, Proclamation, and Church Growth and so on. In each theme he covers the key writers with an analysis of their position and reflects upon that position with respect to his own, and the desire to place evangelism onto a higher plane of recognition and understanding. It is the lack of any real academic debate that drives this book, based on the importance Abraham attaches to the whole issue and concept of evangelism. The role of evangelism, in the mind of Abraham, is clear, and it is the fact that, to the author, this role has not been taken seriously which lies at the heart of the whole book.

The place where Abraham starts is with the Gospel – which is not too bad a place to start! For Abraham “the kingdom of God is absolutely central to the ministry of Jesus and to the mission of the disciples that launched the Christian movement into history” (p17) which means that the range of analysis must include the concept of eschatology. Abraham argues strongly that the early Christians considered that the new age had already started. He argues “The witness of the evangelists to Jesus is that the dynamic rule of God has appeared in Jesus’ life.” (p24). Abraham cites the work of the early apostles, the imagery of feasting in the form of the Eucharist as all part of the realisation that the kingdom of God is already here, not in its fullest meaning, that is yet to come, but it has started. For Abraham, the power of God has broken into history in a quite unique way, and is a pledge of the full eschatological kingdom which is yet to dawn. As he puts it “God’s kingdom has come in the past; it is here in the present; it will come in the future” (p32) is a clear statement of what it is we are proclaiming. This is, to Abraham, what the early church believed, and what we should also believe today. This coming rule of God creates a profound crisis for the individual states Abraham; “It calls for a death to the old life and a resurrection to the new life in the Spirit; it involves a radical re-working of one’s self-understanding and a decisive turning from a life of idolatry to one of service to one’s neighbour”. (p34) For Abraham, evangelism is “at the very least a continuation of vital elements in the work of the early apostles, prophets and martyrs who found themselves dramatically caught up in the reign of God in the world” (p39)

So here is the Good News about Jesus and the kingdom of God which we as evangelists today preach, and proclaim. We are about telling people about the kingdom that has arrived, and the kingdom that is yet to come, and all driven by a combination of the grace of God, the death and resurrection of Jesus and the gifts of the Holy Spirit – not a bad message at all, indeed this must be the best message any messenger can ever have been given!

And so we are charged with proclamation and Abraham highlights a key distinction between mission and evangelism, the former is focused on the outflow of the love of God in and through our life, word and deed, evangelism is the spreading of the good news by proclamation. Abraham then goes on to make an important statement, he states “The task of the evangelist is to proclaim the gospel, to announce the good news of the kingdom, and to communicate the message to as many people as possible; others, such as teachers, priests, pastors and the like are to be responsible for the work of instruction within the church”. (p46) This makes a clear distinction abut the respective roles of people within the body of church. Clearly the various roles have to work together, they have to know the common goal, they have to dovetail their activities so that the overall message remains the same. This does not absolve either side from responsibility – they both must understand the causal relationships between all these roles, no room here for people to furrow their own plough.

The evangelist focuses on the message, and it must remain at all times true to the content of the Gospel, thus it “focuses on what God has done in Christ, on the offers of forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and on the need for repentance” (p47). According to Abraham this also means that the evangelist is not focusing on a numbers game, once the listener has heard the message they are free to choose, or deny, that message. It may be that God will bring the listener into the kingdom at some later stage – this is not for the evangelist to worry about – he/she must simply proclaim the message. One further point that Abraham makes here, amongst many others, is that evangelists are not necessarily drawn from the clergy, many will be lay people with a real calling for the role, of course it can be argued that anyone who proclaims the essentials of the gospel is an evangelist, and Abraham accepts this fully, but the real issue here is that the church recognises that evangelists will come from many walks of life and will comprise both clergy and lay people.

If people are operating successfully as evangelists then it is reasonable to expect that the church will grow. Indeed many churches have evangelical activity simply to boost numbers. Now this is not necessarily wrong – but evangelists do not have to have church growth at the top of their agenda. Much recent research has suggested that people come to church, and join, more as a result of friendship that some overt evangelical activity. Abraham considers this to be a difficult area for evangelists. However he does argue for research about the whys and wherefores of church growth, and decline. How people come to church is a complex mix of various notions and ideas, and no one person fully understands this complexity. Various models exist but all fall short of a real explanation or description of church growth. One point that Abraham does make concerns the initiation into the church. He feels that the entrance to the kingdom of God has lost some of the meaning it should have. He feels that there are fundamental aspects that, if they are not captured, will impoverish our conception of church. He works his way through most of these aspects (p83) and asks the question, if we do not understand the significance of all of these elements then the conception of church is diminished, is essentially inadequate when set against the message that the evangelist has proclaimed.

It is the vibrancy of the message that Abraham focuses as he argues that “..the coming rule of God through the work of the Holy Spirit is not confined to Pentecost and the early history of the church but is a dynamic, awesome, mysterious, active reality that sovereignly enters history again and again. It can sweep people along like a flood or fall gently like the morning dew. Either way it transforms lives, creates a new community of forgiveness and compassion, brings new hope and joy into the world, and fosters a deep commitment to offer oneself in service to the body of Christ. The church ultimately lives by such power and it ultimately grows by such power.” (p100) This is dramatic stuff! Equally it is easy to see how often this clarity is missed from the activity known as evangelism. If the focus is simply numbers into a dying church, then this power is simply lost, which is not why we are called to be evangelists in the first place. We are called to bring people into the rule of God, and that demands a process, a path of discovery, which lays down a sound foundation, not just a numbers game.

Abraham describes four key agents of this process of evangelism, the first is the triune God, Goad the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the second agent is the church itself and the third agent is the evangelist, the final agent is the person being evangelised. These four agents are all part of a single process which is focused on the kingdom of God. The process starts with the proclamation of the gospel but does not end there. It also includes the initiation of the individual into the church, this is where such events as conversion, baptism and the undertaking of the commitment to love God and neighbour as key stages in the Christian life. This then extends through receiving the Christian creed, for owning the gifts of the Holy Spirit and for embracing the disciplines of eucharist, prayer and fasting. This process offers a wide interpretation of what usually passes for evangelism, and one which I find particularly welcome. Now the role of evangelist becomes clearer, and one that is not restricted as it so often is in many churches.

This is therefore a powerful contribution to the understanding of the role of the evangelist and what evangelism means to the church. Although written from a Methodist perspective it is clearly a message to any church seeking to understand the role it has in these times. The process described goes way beyond the usual evangelistic activity that many individual churches engage in. It demonstrates the integration of the evangelistic activity into the core of the church, and how the practice of seeing many of these activities as independent is flawed. Mission, evangelism, pastoral care and so on are not independent, discrete, entities to be chosen at random or in line with the whims of the clergy or the congregation, they are central to the whole message we as Christians are tasked with proclaiming. They are one, one message, one faith, one church, and we are under a duty to keep to that. Abraham offers this insight “..God is irrevocably committed to achieving His purposes for creation, and he is ingenious enough to find some way to gather the sheep into His kingdom.” (p181) and if we do not rise to the challenge, if we do not find where God is already at work and join in with Him, then we will be left behind. The kingdom of God is the primary focus of the work of the church, which exists only for this purpose argues Abraham, which places our responsibilities into a clear perspective. This is the contribution that Abraham seeks to make, one which I think he achieves with great credit.