The Institute of Evangelism

Every Church an Evangelizing Community!

Good Idea is our online magazine where you’ll find inspiration, tips, ideas, and stories of how God is working in other churches. Every month we offer one good idea to help churches grow in sharing the faith.

Good Idea!

What Wendy Offers: Hospitality & the Kingdom of God

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Before going into ministry, Wendy worked in the areas of sales, sales management and marketing. Her background has now translated itself into “gentle evangelism” which she loves to share with others. This theme of “gentle evangelism” is common to all her workshops.

 Wendy has served in 2 rural parishes and is currently serving in the rural yet slightly urban thinking parish of St. James in Caledon East. By instilling her strong belief in the power of the hospitality of the kingdom of God into the hearts and minds of the people in the congregations, and the power of God working in them and through them, churches have grown significantly. 

 Workshops offered by Wendy

  • Hospitality of the Kingdom of God Today: in this workshop we take an in-depth look at hospitality as it is presented to us in Holy Scripture and then we establish ways in which this hospitality may become a part of the DNA of our congregations. Hospitality of the Kingdom is absolutely essential, it defines who we are as Christians, therefore we must ensure that we do it very well. (5 hours)
  • Mobilizing Laity: sometimes it seems that it is always the same people doing all the work in our churches, yet we know how important it is to encourage one another in the work of our Lord. This workshop will allow us to explore a variety of ways in which to encourage, equip and enable others to become involved. (5 hours)
  • Your Community and the Sending Out? This workshop gives us an opportunity to think about what it means to be a community in Christ. Even though we may be a perfectly good community it is always good and healthy to check in and make sure that we are on track with God’s plan for us and for who we are as His community. The sending out section allows us to look at the humbling reality that we are all sent out in Jesus’ name. What does that mean, and how does that work in your community? (can be done in 3 hours)
  • Rural Realities:  Church life within a rural setting presents some unique opportunities and challenges. In this workshop we consider all aspects of the rural church. We look to scripture for insight and revelation. Jesus did most of his ministry in rural settings and small towns. We develop a base of ideas with which to move forward. (can be done in 3 hours) 

Fresh Expressions of Church – An Introduction for Canadians

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What are Fresh Expressions of Church?

If people have an image of the Church of England, it is generally of an elderly, genteel and sleepy church, centering on ancient, decaying buildings in delightful rural settings.

Although those churches certainly exist, the full reality is very different. I think this came home to me some years ago, when two people independently told me that the Church of England had been planting new congregations at the rate of one every two weeks for the previous ten years. This was news to me, as maybe it is to you. A church report, Breaking New Ground (1994) dealt with this new reality, and the opportunities and challenges it brought.

 – See the “official” definition from Fresh Expressions, UK

Mission Shaped Church

Some of these new churches, however, did not fit the mould of what one might traditionally think of as an Anglican church. To give one of the more famous examples, how many Goths do you know who go to church? Probably not a lot. (OK, maybe I should have asked first of all how many Goths you know.) Yet there is a thriving church of Goths in Cambridge. Or what about skateboarders? The Church of England has a church of skateboarders.

Once again, a church report marked this new transition: Mission Shaped Church (2004), written by a group headed by Bishop Graham Cray. This not only described some of the “fresh expressions of church” which were springing up all over the country, but talked about the theology of such things, and gave encouragement to those who wanted to experiment with forms of church that would reach those presently “unchurched.”

Fresh impetus was given to this movement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who set up an organization called “Fresh Expressions”, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Steven Croft, based in Oxford. Fresh Expressions has a website, which among other things provides a place for people to “register” their “fresh expression of church.” Presently there are some 650 registered, from all over Britain. Fresh Expressions also offers training in Mission Shaped Ministry to those who want to learn how to “do church” in a way that relates more closely to the culture.

So is this just the latest “flavour of the month” ministry gimmick, which will pass like so many more within a year or two? Rowan Williams thinks not: he sees it as the genuine spiritual response of a mission-minded church to the changing culture around it:

Essentially the Fresh Expressions programme is not simply about a kind of scattered set of experiments . . . it’s about that gradual, but I think inexorable, shift, the whole culture of our church that has been going on in the last few years, and which will undoubtedly continue to grow and develop.
(General Synod, February 2007)

Changing structures

One sign that this is a change that will last has been “a principled and careful loosening of structures” (Rowan Williams) in order to provide new wineskins for the new wine. For example, it is now possible to be assessed, training and ordained specifically to “pioneer ministries.” In other words, you may not have the gifts or the interests to pastor a traditional Anglican church, but the church still acknowledges that it needs you! Or again, General Synod recently approved what is called a “Bishop’s Mission Order” whereby a bishop can give formal approval to a fresh expression of church in his diocese which does not fit traditional ministry categories, and may cross traditional parish boundaries (a bigger issue in the UK than here). In fact, Steve Croft says one of the symbols of his ministry is a can of WD40—to help loosen up traditional procedures to make possible more of these fresh expressions.

What can the Canadian Church learn from this?

Canada already has its own share of fresh expressions of church—not as many as the UK, granted, but significant nonetheless. Up to now, however, nobody has connected the dots and pointed out that these are the same kind of thing.

You can read about some examples below, or see a complete listing on our web site’s Canadian Fresh Expressions List. At that page, if you are involved in what might be considered a “fresh expression of church”, let us know, and we will post your link.

Other denominations are doing this kind of thing as well, and we need to learn from each other. (Fresh Expressions in England is actually a joint project of the Anglican and Methodist churches.) Check out The Freeway, a Salvation Army church plant in Hamilton ON, for example.

More work needs to be done, however.

1. One foundation of the Fresh Expressions movement has been research into what is going on religiously and spiritually in Britain. (It is on this basis, for example, that they conclude that 40% of the population are unchurched: that is, they have never in their lives had significant contact with a church.) What are the Canadian realities? Undoubtedly they would be the same in some ways, but different in others. If Fresh Expressions is a response to a changing culture, we have to know how Canadian culture is changing. And research such as Reg Bibby’s could help us to understand that.

2. We need also to network people who are either engaged in fresh expressions of church, or would like to do so. This can happen through websites and blogs, of course. People interested in connecting with the unchurched are also beginning to gather each year at Vital Church Planting, the Anglican Church Planting conference in Toronto. It was here that the seeds of Messy Church were sown in 2007, and here that George Lings, a Fresh Expressions leader in Britain, inspired and challenged us this year. We are already hoping to bring Steve Croft and Sally Gaze (a leader in rural fresh expressions) to the 2009 conference.

3. Nick Brotherwood and Tim Smart from the Diocese of Montreal have begun to do Vision Days (using Fresh Expressions materials) in their area, and I suspect before long similar events will be happening in other areas.

This is an exciting development, and many people have a sense that, in the midst of all the troubles in the Anglican Church, the Holy Spirit is still at work. Watch this space for further news!

What is a fresh expression of church?

“A fresh expression of church is a form of church for our changing culture, established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church. It will come into being through principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples. It will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context.” – From Fresh Expressions, UK

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More Information on Fresh Expressions

Canadian Fresh Expressions List – Please click here to see our brand new list of Canadian Fresh Expressions of Church and, if you are involved in what might be considered a “fresh expression of church”, to post your link.

 

Links:

Building a Musical Bridge

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My wife Marci and I were sitting at a table in a crowded restaurant in our city of Edmonton. It was a Sunday evening, and we were attending a regular Sunday night ‘open mike’ – an opportunity for local musicians to get up in front of a microphone, sing their three songs, and then sit down again and listen to the efforts of their fellow musicians. We had been attending this particular open mike for a couple of years, and had gotten to know quite a few of the musicians, including the host, a bubbly and gregarious aging hippy who, I had discovered, was also a recovering alcoholic. She had come to sit at our table while one of the musicians was playing, and we were chatting about another musician who was causing her some grief at the open stage. “What do you think I should do?” she asked. And then she surprised me; “I guess what I’m really asking”, she continued, “is, ‘What would Jesus do?’”

Reflecting on this conversation later on, I couldn’t help remembering how flabbergasted this woman had been when she had first discovered that I was a pastor. A friend and I were helping her set up the PA system one night, and my friend made some comment about me being a man of the cloth. “Cloth?” the host exclaimed; “What cloth is that – a tablecloth?” And then, as it gradually dawned on her that my friend was serious, I saw a look of absolute horror flash across her face. Her attempts to backpedal were so funny, I wished I’d had a camcorder with me.

I’ve been playing folk music all my life, but in the last three years, for the first time, I’ve stepped out of my Christian bubble into the live music community here in Edmonton. I started playing at a Monday night open stage run by Chris Wynters (of the Edmonton band ‘Captain Tractor’); from there I discovered other events, in pubs and coffee shops, and I began to make a whole new community of friends. I was not doing this out of any overt evangelizing agenda; I simply wanted to find a way to relax in the city, and music seemed like a good way to do it. But it has been interesting, as I’ve gotten to know people in the music community, to see how many opportunities I’ve had to be a witness, or simply a caring Christian presence.

A local songwriter hosts a monthly songwriter circle at his house; I’ve participated in it fairly regularly for a couple of years, and we’ve become good friends. He says he is an agnostic, but I often kid him that he seems to write a lot of songs about the God he’s not sure is there! Sometimes he asks me for my thoughts on lyrics he’s writing – usually when the lyrics have references to God in them. These conversations lead in some really interesting directions. Last year this friend agreed to participate in a fundraising concert for Habitat for Humanity which was held at our church. This was very good for our concert – it brought in a few people who wouldn’t have been there otherwise. But I think it was also good for my songwriting friend; he has a pretty low opinion of organized religion in general and clergy in particular, and I think his participation in the concert gave him an alternative view.

Another new friend and I have started playing gigs together; he is a very fine lead guitarist and has also helped me record some of my songs at his home studio. I asked him to help out this past December with a special musical number we were doing at our Nine Lessons and Carols service at St. Margaret’s Church; he and his girlfriend came to the service, and afterwards she commented on how much she enjoyed it and how she was hoping to be able to drop by on an ordinary Sunday sometime, when we weren’t doing a ‘special’ service. Last time my wife spoke to her, she had bought a daily devotional book and was finding real inspiration in reading it every day.

What’s the secret? I don’t think it’s especially complicated. I think you need to find something that you are really interested in doing, and then find some non-Christian people to do it with. And the objective, at the beginning, can’t be overtly evangelistic; people seem to sense instinctively when you are only there to convert them, and they don’t tend to respond well to that approach! I didn’t begin to attend open mikes to evangelize; I went because I wanted to play music. But, once I was there, I decided to be myself: not just a musician, but also a follower of Jesus. And because I’d earned the right to be heard – both in terms of being a credible musician, and also in being genuinely interested in other people’s lives and willing to listen to their stories – well, then the opportunities for witness gradually began to come my way.

One thing I have resisted is the temptation to sing ‘evangelistic’ songs. I’ve been at the open mics when others have done that, and I can almost feel the audience’s resistance rising. To me, the songs I sing are simply a bridge I build into the lives of the people who are listening. Afterwards, when we’ve become friends over a few months’ worth of coffees and hours of listening to music together, I can use that bridge to speak a word of witness at the right time.

I don’t think I’ve got it quite right yet; I can’t report any spectacular conversions, and I suspect that at times I’m still a bit too backward about speaking about my faith. But for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m really engaging in regular relational evangelism. And I’m excited to see what the Holy Spirit is going to do with it.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Seven Ways to Evangelize

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The heart of evangelism is always the same—helping people take steps towards faith in Jesus—but the ways in which it happens can change from culture to culture, and decade to decade.

Example 1: I am currently editing the letters of Vincent Donovan for Orbis Books. Donovan was a Catholic missionary among the Maasai in Tanzania in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He went from village to village, asking if the people would be interested in talking about God. Their response? “Who can refuse to talk about God?” Donovan went back week by week to teach the Christian faith, and at the end of a year invited the people for baptism. He had an amazing ministry (the story is told in his 1978 book, Christianity Rediscovered)—but I can hardly imagine an equivalent in Canada.

Example 2: Bill was a Baptist pastor I used to know who became a Christian as a teenager. Several of his friends had made a Christian commitment, and Bill was the last holdout. So, one Saturday night, the group got into their van, and told the unsuspecting Bill they were simply going to drive round and round until he gave his to following Jesus. I forget how long it took, but eventually he gave in. Twenty years later, his commitment was still real, though by then he could laugh about the way it happened. (I hasten to add that this is not a method that we teach or recommend at the Institute of Evangelism.)

If those are two ways of evangelism—both fruitful, but neither exactly repeatable—there are others. Christianity Today recently ran an article by Tim Stafford (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/september/36.68.html) , suggesting that, while crusade evangelism had been popular in the 1950’s and 60’s, by the 70’s the emphasis had switched to relational, one-on-one, “friendship evangelism.” Today, suggested Stafford, the emphasis in many denominations is on church planting as the most effective way of helping people take steps towards Christian faith. (This is why the Institute was a co-sponsor with the Diocese of Toronto of the 2007 and 2008 Anglican Church Planting Conferences.)

However, two other ways of evangelism occur to me. One is congregation-centred evangelism. The principle is that, if congregations are healthy, then they will be a natural focus for evangelism: those who are exploring their spirituality will be drawn there, feel comfortable there, find opportunities to explore and understand discipleship, and finally become Christians. This has been the thrust of the Institute’s ministry since its inception, and it remains a central and effective strategy.

Recently, however, I have begun to hear people contrasting a “come” style of evangelism (“Come to our special service”) with a “go” form of evangelism (“Go . . . make disciples”). I am not convinced that the distinction is all that hard and fast. It seems to me, for example, that before people will “come,” someone normally has to “go” to them and invite them. But the question has at least alerted me to the thought that there is no reason to put all our evangelistic eggs in the congregation-centred basket—or any other single basket.

Here are some examples of the “go” approach to evangelism I have come across recently:

• The Rev. Rob Hurkmans, in Port Colbourne ON, recently started up a monthly church service in the pub called Church on Tap—an informal service where people can sip a beer as they listen to a talk. You can read more about it here: www.niagarathisweek.com/news/business/article/129542.

• Mike Wilkins, a Baptist pastor friend in Toronto, has been running “Alpha in the Pub” for some years. People pay $140 upfront for a weekly drink and a burger in the upper room (yes, really) of a local pub, and watch the Alpha videos. A number of people have been baptized in Mike’s church as a result of this initiative. You can read more about this at www.Godatthepub.com.

• After the First Annual Church Planting Conference in 2007, the Rev. Chris Snow returned to St. John’s NF, and (after discussion with his bishop) hired a curate to start a monthly Saturday night service for families. The name? “Messy Church.” One hundred and ten came to the first one. You can read more about it here: www.toronto.anglican.ca/index.asp?navid=78&fid3=919&layid=18&fid2=-888.

None of these really fits into any of the previously described categories of evangelism. What unites them (apart from the fact that two take place in a pub—which may be significant in itself) is that they are (a) informal (b) not conventional forms of doing church or of doing evangelism (c) meet people where they are—either in the pub or trying to do the best for their children and (d) nurture a slow process of coming to faith.

The Church of England has been promoting such “fresh expressions” of faith in recent years. You can read about them on the fresh expressions website (www.freshexpressions.org.uk) One story I came across was of a priest who has begun leading a monthly Eucharist in his local police station. Twenty or so officers attend, many of whom would not otherwise be regular church attendees.

I am not suggesting that such fresh expressions are “the new wave” of evangelism, and where we should be putting all our efforts. In any case, unless those “free-floating” efforts at evangelism are linked to healthy congregations, they will simply be an evangelistic arm unattached to a church body. And unless there is a strong relational component, they will fossilize and die. So there is actually a natural symbiosis between different forms of evangelism, particularly congregational health, relational evangelism, and fresh expressions.

But such new ventures do encourage us to think freshly about our mission field, to ask questions like: Where do people gather in this neighbourhood? What are their interests? What are their questions? What would pique their curiosity? Why has God put us just here in our neighbourhood? What would be a good venue for those who are not ready for church (however friendly) to begin the journey to faith?

Such adventures will require creativity and courage. But the benefits could be out of this world.

The 24/7 Experience

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It’s probably already a cliché to point out that so-called “reality TV” isn’t all that real. But it’s still popular, and a 2006 DVD resource, created by the Evangelical Covenant Church, is out to take advantage of it while it can. Aimed squarely at teenagers, The 24/7 Experience offers seven short, reality-TV style episodes that introduce youth to what it might look like to follow Jesus with the whole of their lives. Seven teens from across the United States join together for a cross-country road trip, visiting various Christian outreaches and communities to see approaches to full-time, “24/7” discipleship.

From New York City to Los Angeles, the teens explore themes including love, justice, unity, and spiritual gifts. Upping the relevance factor are visits with Ralph Winter, producer of the X-Men movies, and with Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission, who confronts the group with some of the harshest realities teens around the world face, such as sexual slavery.

Youth leaders can have a hard time finding ways to make Bible study “non-boring.” And attempts to be cool, whether from adults or from pre-packaged studies, are often and rightly met with rolling eyes or accusations of cheesiness. The 24/7 Experience isn’t perfect (the opening credits regularly induced a chorus of groans), but it did keep my youth group’s attention, and led to great discussions. 

“It’s good, it’s short, it sort of gives you a taste of real issues. And it backs up what it says by showing you people who are living it out,” says Rachel, 16. And Corrine, 15, said the series showed her that the Church can be an exciting place. “It’s like when the Church first started, it was all these rebels, breaking the rules. But these days, people worry about breaking the Church’s rules. I think we should go back to the way it was at first.”

Since each episode is just 16-20 minutes long, watching this DVD doesn’t have to take over a whole evening’s program. And for those who want the help, one of the DVD’s special features is a discussion guide.

Canadian youth groups may have trouble relating to certain aspects of this American resource, such as the instructions on how to write to Congress. But these are overshadowed by the bigger points of connection, namely the peer-to-peer sharing of experiences. The “cast” of teens are believable and likeable, and my group felt quite bonded to them by the end of the series. When the study was over, they felt like they had to say goodbye to some new friends.

If you’re thinking this sounds good but want to know more about where it came from, here’s what the Evangelical Covenant Church has to say about itself:

The Evangelical Covenant Church is a rapidly growing multiethnic denomination of more than 750 congregations in the United States and Canada, with ministries on five continents. Founded in 1885 by Swedish Immigrants, the ECC values the Bible as the Word of God, the gift of God’s grace and ever-deepening spiritual life that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, the importance of extending God’s love and compassion to a hurting world, and strength that comes from unity within diversity.

Available from Zondervan (www.zondervan.com) and Youth Specialties (www.youthspecialties.com), The 24/7 Experience costs about $20 and is easy to order. Some local Christian bookstores may have it too; I found mine by accident while browsing in Muskoka!

If you can’t take your youth on a road trip of their own, The 24/7 Experience may just be the next best thing.

~ Rev. Kelly Baetz
St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, Bracebridge ON

A Pool of Blessing: My Experience of Parish Missions

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Available as a PDF This Article is from the Spring 2007 edition of good idea!, also available here in a fully formatted PDF file.

Missions are not only a blessing for those on the receiving end: they also have a profound effect on those who are part of the visiting team.

I was blessed to participate in four missions while I was a student at Wycliffe College. Each mission held its own specific need and focus, but for me our trip to Wemindji, Quebec, a Northern Cree reserve, was special because it was interesting to see the language difference between my people, the Plains Cree, and theirs.

It was also interesting to note that reserves are similar in many ways, and to see the continued challenges for faith, such as the developing gap between the people and the church, evidenced by the contrast between the numbers on the reserve and Sunday attendance. The fallout from residential schools continues to be a factor, and acknowledgement and healing are crucial.

In Wemindji, it was amazing to see the kids, and their joy of sharing in the faith games of the group. Music was always joyous, especially to hear the Cree Ladies Choir singing, and all the events were well attended by the community. It was also fun to have interpreters work alongside the speakers, and the laughter and the challenge of getting the words just right. Wemindji for me will always hold a special place in my heart.

Our mission to St. Faith’s in Edmonton was also memorable, because the mission focus was outreach, so we connected more with the community outside the church. We were blessed to share in many home visits and special programs for the community and the streets. I remember particularly the impromptu guitar solo, given as an offering, by a street visitor at one of the events. 

On these trips, it was good for students to see our professors and classmates outside of the college setting, and to see them unfurl their wings of faith and witness. Missions are fun and the relationships that grow from the experience can last a lifetime. 

In my present ministry, I have found my mission experience useful as a great resource, enriching speaking and teaching ideas, youth ministry, home visitations, and community and church evangelism. Those experiences have become a pool of blessing that I have dipped into many a time. 

A Year of Outreach: “Evangelism 2000” in New Westminster

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Available as a PDF This Article is from the Spring 2007 edition of good idea!, also available here in a fully formatted PDF file.

Missions may be large or small. This one involved a whole diocese, shaped a whole twelve months ministry, and attempted to witness to the heart of a city.

How often do 700 Anglicans and their friends fill a downtown theatre to hear the Gospel? Yet this is what happened in the Diocese of New Westminster, Vancouver, in November 2000. The event was one of the most fruitful in the twenty years of the Diocesan Evangelism Unit, which was responsible for this event—“Celebration 2000.”

The evening, however, was only the culmination of “Evangelism 2000,” an integrated, year-long evangelistic training and outreach program which comprised three main elements:

• An opening diocesan conference with Harold Percy and Michael Knowles.
• Thirty people then enrolled in an extended period of training, which included an internship with a local leader.
• These interns and their mentors worked to stage “Celebration 2000” as a mission event for the whole diocese.

In an effort to witness right in the heart of Vancouver, the Evangelism Unit booked the Vogue Theatre, we invited Harold Percy to be the main speaker, and we secured the services of the “VOC Soul Gospel Choir”.

Prior to the evening, the Unit held a series of information meetings with parish leaders and sought to build a network of contacts. Parishes were also bombarded with outreach and publicity through different media, including mailings, diocesan newspaper coverage, videos of Harold and the choir, personal phone calls and mass emails.

Prayer and counseling teams were selected and prepared well in advance of the evening and so were follow-up procedures. The use of written response cards, which were collected after Harold’s talk, ensured that the roughly 20% of those completing them who requested some form of subsequent ministry were able to be contacted by participating clergy.

The results of “Celebration 2000” were highly encouraging. Not only did a significant crowd turn out to on a chilly Saturday night in November, but more than 15% of them made a clear response to the good news of Jesus.

There were, of course, lessons to be learned. If the Unit were to stage a similar event in the future, we might choose a less expensive and more amenable location. We would probably think more about the precise scheduling and logistics of the evening, and we would devote greater time and attention to enabling existing church members to invite the as yet “unchurched”.
“Celebration 2000” itself provided an invaluable opportunity to conduct and witness large-scale evangelism at first hand. What an event of this nature is able to provide, especially when combined with the kind of training program that was offered, is a powerful means of drawing people together around a positive Gospel focus.

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