Whew! It's been a while, but no time like the last day of 2013 to talk more on sharing our faith.
The last post dealt with elementary school evanglism, or "relational evanglism through service". In this process, not only do we serve others, but we add the Good Word with our good deeds. This post is about middle school evangelism, where we learn to share our faith in safe places with people we already know - through small groups, Bible studies, and/or Sunday school classes. Middle school evanglism is about identity, communication, and relationships, all of which are key to rediscovering our faith stories.
One trend in small group/Bible study/Sunday school ministry processes that Farr/Anderson/Kotan have noticed is that a great deal of the time, people within these groups spend a great deal of time talking about what we think about God, what we understand about God, what we believe about God, what we think of the Bible, and what we understand to be true about the Bible. These are wonderful and important things to talk about. But do you see what's missing? Talking about our own experiences with God.
To talk about our life experiences in relationship with Jesus Christ was foundational to the small group process in Methodism. Methodists were a people who not only shared their understading of God, but also their experiences with God. Within the earliest Methodist class meetings, members were asked questions of accountable discipleship that would enable sharing of their faith; questions like "How goes it with your soul?" (or "How have you experienced God recently in your life?"). These questions and others were shared so that people could not only talk about what God did for them in the past, but also what God is doing for them now in their lives.
Methodists were able to widely connect with disconnected person because they shared their faith regularly in calls meetings. In this way, they were able to practice sharing their faith, the underlying idea being that if you want to share your faith outside of church, you need to be able to share your faith inside the church.
FAK lift up three vital benefits to sharing our fiath with other persons of faith within a small group:
1) Sharing your faith can reorient each each of our lives with God's presence in the very center. In responding to questions about your faith regularly, you consistently are looking for God is involved in your life, and.. you begin to see life differently, surrounded by the grace-filled presence of God.
2) Sharing your faith may help others within your group to deepen their faith, and perhaps even come to faith. Hearing how God is present in your life opens their eyes to consider how God is present in theirs, and opens a channel for God's prevenient grace to do its work.
3) Sharing our faith regularly and consistently within our small groups allows us to share our faith beyond the group through the network of relationships that we have.
Not everyone in a small group/Bible study/Sunday school class is going to be ready to share their experiences of God within a group. The invitation, however, can always be extended, and with other members of the group sharing, trust develops so that people can begin to share what God is doing in their lives.
Something to lift up... middle school evangelism doesn't just happen within the walls of the church. Many of us live within a small group everyday, and that's the small group of our families. Sharing our faith within our familes is really (Kevin's opinion) the best and most effective way to instill faith in our children.
Many of you may be in groups where you have experienced the type of faith sharing that is middle school evangelism, and if so, you've been blessed. These are groups where people talk about bonding and growing closer and growing spiritually and... In fact, the faith sharing done, via email, in response to my previous post about elementary evangelism is a wonderful example of sharing your faith in a small group environment where trust has developed.
Next post in a brand new year (2014) will find us graduating to high school evangelism - sharing our faith in worship!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Elementary Relational Evangelism
Evangelism = Building authentic relationships with people we don't know
That's the definition of evangelism shared by the authors of Get Their Name, and is one of the best definitions I've heard. Although you don't see the word "Jesus" as part of that definition, I believe that the mission of sharing Christ's love is a part of the "authentic relationship" we should cultivate with others.
So how do we build authentic relationships with people we don't know, and how do we as leaders teach others to do so? As Farr/Anderson/Kotan query, how do we equip churched people to practice with competence and confidence a new style of relational evangelism?
FAK outline a step by step process based on our educational system, beginning with "elementary school" evangelism, and progressing toward "college" evanglism. An outline of their process is as follows:
Elementary evangelism - sharing your faith through service
Middle school evangelism - sharing your faith in small groups
High school evangelism - sharing your faith in worship
College evangelism - sharing your faith with the unconnected
FAK report that "many mainline churches across the country are doing an outstanding job of serving persons in their communities and regions, and across the globe." FAK lift up that service is an essential part of our Christian walk and what churches do, but they also point out that very few persons are connected to Jesus Christ and Christ's church as a result of service alone. So while we are very good at doing good deeds (and Community, you are very good at this), we are not so good at adding God's Word to the good deed. According to FAK,
Good Deed + Good Word = Good News
Serving others is the center for elementary relational evangelism, but it is different than service alone. The authors give the following example:
"Shady Creek United Methodist Church" decides that they will hand out cold water bottles to persons attending a festival in their community (Think Roots 'N Blues). The church intentionally decides that in addition to serving festival attenders good cool water, they also want to practice active relational evangelism through this service. What they decide to do is to take rubber bands and attach as single card to each bottle that says something like, "This bottle of cold water is a free gift from your friends at Shady Creek United Methodist Church. This is our way of sharing with you and showing you God's love, because God's love is always free and is available to everyone, including you." Not only will those at the festival get free cold water, but they will also receive the message "God loves you, and that love is free all the time for everyone." The Good Deed is the free cold water, the Good Word is the message on the card, and together, they become Good News!
Each year at Earth Day, CUMC is represented by our Global Market in a booth right on the south side of Shakespeare's Pizza. Each year, they give away free Fair Trade coffee, and share information about Community. I applaud this outreach, but I also believe that what we can also do is to be intentional about sharing the good news about God's love as the primary message shared.
FAK distinguish elementary relational evangelism through service from mission fundraisers. For example, a chicken noodle dinner where money is charged to raise money for missions can't be considered relational evangelism because isn't free, and therefore isen't an example of God's free love. It's not that the chicken noodle dinner to raise money for missions isn't good ministry, it's just that it isn't relational evangelism.
One ministry that was designed to incorporate elementary relational evangelism through service, and one that I believe will grow more and more with that intention in mind, is our Second Saturday program. This ministry allows for people both inside and outside our church to participate in serving the community, and also offers possibility of sharing written communication of the Good News. Our Second Saturday ministry was inspired by the Missouri Conference's participation in the once a year SERVE events that happen each autumn. Both of these mission opportunities also allow for people unconnected to the church to become involved in making a difference.
What makes relational evangelism through service "elementary" is that it doesn't require people to personally articulate their faith, but to demonstrate that faith through their service. This form of evangelism also gives us all the opportunity to get outside the bounds of the church walls, and to "meet people where they are, not where we are."
Questions to ponder:
How do you see relational evanglism helping persons in our community of Columbia to discover and experience God's love?
How might we modify our current service opportunities so that they function more and more as relational evangelism through service?
That's the definition of evangelism shared by the authors of Get Their Name, and is one of the best definitions I've heard. Although you don't see the word "Jesus" as part of that definition, I believe that the mission of sharing Christ's love is a part of the "authentic relationship" we should cultivate with others.
So how do we build authentic relationships with people we don't know, and how do we as leaders teach others to do so? As Farr/Anderson/Kotan query, how do we equip churched people to practice with competence and confidence a new style of relational evangelism?
FAK outline a step by step process based on our educational system, beginning with "elementary school" evangelism, and progressing toward "college" evanglism. An outline of their process is as follows:
Elementary evangelism - sharing your faith through service
Middle school evangelism - sharing your faith in small groups
High school evangelism - sharing your faith in worship
College evangelism - sharing your faith with the unconnected
FAK report that "many mainline churches across the country are doing an outstanding job of serving persons in their communities and regions, and across the globe." FAK lift up that service is an essential part of our Christian walk and what churches do, but they also point out that very few persons are connected to Jesus Christ and Christ's church as a result of service alone. So while we are very good at doing good deeds (and Community, you are very good at this), we are not so good at adding God's Word to the good deed. According to FAK,
Good Deed + Good Word = Good News
Serving others is the center for elementary relational evangelism, but it is different than service alone. The authors give the following example:
"Shady Creek United Methodist Church" decides that they will hand out cold water bottles to persons attending a festival in their community (Think Roots 'N Blues). The church intentionally decides that in addition to serving festival attenders good cool water, they also want to practice active relational evangelism through this service. What they decide to do is to take rubber bands and attach as single card to each bottle that says something like, "This bottle of cold water is a free gift from your friends at Shady Creek United Methodist Church. This is our way of sharing with you and showing you God's love, because God's love is always free and is available to everyone, including you." Not only will those at the festival get free cold water, but they will also receive the message "God loves you, and that love is free all the time for everyone." The Good Deed is the free cold water, the Good Word is the message on the card, and together, they become Good News!
Each year at Earth Day, CUMC is represented by our Global Market in a booth right on the south side of Shakespeare's Pizza. Each year, they give away free Fair Trade coffee, and share information about Community. I applaud this outreach, but I also believe that what we can also do is to be intentional about sharing the good news about God's love as the primary message shared.
FAK distinguish elementary relational evangelism through service from mission fundraisers. For example, a chicken noodle dinner where money is charged to raise money for missions can't be considered relational evangelism because isn't free, and therefore isen't an example of God's free love. It's not that the chicken noodle dinner to raise money for missions isn't good ministry, it's just that it isn't relational evangelism.
One ministry that was designed to incorporate elementary relational evangelism through service, and one that I believe will grow more and more with that intention in mind, is our Second Saturday program. This ministry allows for people both inside and outside our church to participate in serving the community, and also offers possibility of sharing written communication of the Good News. Our Second Saturday ministry was inspired by the Missouri Conference's participation in the once a year SERVE events that happen each autumn. Both of these mission opportunities also allow for people unconnected to the church to become involved in making a difference.
What makes relational evangelism through service "elementary" is that it doesn't require people to personally articulate their faith, but to demonstrate that faith through their service. This form of evangelism also gives us all the opportunity to get outside the bounds of the church walls, and to "meet people where they are, not where we are."
Questions to ponder:
How do you see relational evanglism helping persons in our community of Columbia to discover and experience God's love?
How might we modify our current service opportunities so that they function more and more as relational evangelism through service?
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