The "E" Word
I’ve never been much of an evangelist. Actually, I’m quite against most traditional forms of evangelism. So it’s been interesting for me to participate in the Thompson Scholar seminar at Columbia Seminary this week entitled, “Evangelism for the Rest of Us.” I’ve quite enjoyed the conversation thus far.
To guide our conversation, we were to read Martha Grace Reese’s book, “Unbinding the Gospel.” I also read Brian McLaren’s, “A New Kind of Christianity,” George Hunter III’s “A Celtic Way of Evangelism” and skimmed Bill Hybel’s “Just Walk Across the Room.” I may review some of these in the future — actually, I know I’ll review McLaren.
The evangelism discussion is still very much in-process for me at the moment, but I wanted to put out a few bullet points and see if the blogosphere had some comments:
- Christendom churches just expect people will come to their church if it is attractive enough, but this model just isn’t true anymore (if it ever was).
- Though Evangelism Committees keep coming up in discussion at the seminary — usually because they’re quite problematic, actually — this makes me consider the committee structure in our congregation. There is no committee that focuses on issues not directly related to those who attend worship often. This is a problem, but I also think we have too many committees!
- A primary question to answer for yourself is: what difference does it make if people are Christians?
- Prayer is a good way to start pretty much anything, especially evangelism or “sharing the good news.” I know I could totally work on my personal prayer life, and I bet I’m not the only one in our congregation.
- I wonder if the life cycle of some congregations, if a focus on evangelism could actually be a bad idea. If the body isn’t comfortable in its own skin, it might not be time to invite more folks in to rock the boat. Of course, this can be a catch 22.
- Also, I have a million questions on evangelism in rural communities. What of sheep stealing from other churches? How things are interpreted in the community is huge and would need to be an integral part of the conversation.
More later, for certain. But there’s a few bullets for thought for now.
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We have a saying at our church: “We don’t steal sheep, but we will plant grass!”
Roland, I like that quote and I might use it!
We started out as a church built for a new neighborhood, but over the past 50 years, we have lost touch with the neighborhood. So now we go out twice a year to “meet the neighbors”.
I’m not sure if anyone has started attending worship at our church because of it, but I do know they feel better about us as neighbors–once they realized we weren’t trying to convert them or sell them something, their collective guard came down. Our relationship with our neighborhood is much better and is allowing us to start new initiatives.
So, while I’m sure some people would see this as a failure of evangelism, I think it has been good for our congregation. At the very least, it has started the process of reclaiming the “E word” in our corporate life.
I live in susburban Philadelphia, our presbytery has been working with a number of Missional Clusters of churches that are in changing areas. I have heard that they have been making consious efforts to meet the neighborhood. These are in situations like yours, The neighbors are different than what the church was in it’s prime. We have seen some congregations transformed with the new neighbors coming together with the old and and in some instances congregations have died (closed) as they have been led by the Spirit. God moves in mysterious ways…
Adam, I took Steve/President Hayner’s evangelism course in my first semester at Columbia, and I continue to reflect on what we discussed in there.
I feel like bullet number 3 is VERY important, especially if you/your congregation leans toward any form of universalism.
Another thought Steve shares a lot about evangelism is that you don’t get to know “non-Christians” with the express purpose of trying to convert them. You simply get to know them because you want to love them; we believe that’s what Jesus did. Now I’m not sure how we actually live that out if it isn’t in you naturally to try and get to know new people and make new friends. I still struggle with this.
Finally, I really like your point 5– do we invite people into our church if it doesn’t have a healthy understanding of what the good news is that we proclaim, if the people don’t know really why they are there or what God is calling the church to do.
Nice reflections; I look forward to reading more!