‘Evangelism is back on the Menu’

‘Evangelism is back on the Menu’

As Henry V111 began to distance himself from Rome because of ‘The Kings Great Matter’ and then with the 1559 Act of Settlement of Elizabeth 1 the emerging Church of England became the Established Church with Christendom as its modus operandi.

Christendom as a default position has little need or requirement for evangelism and the idea of conversion becomes largely defunct.  People imbibe the Faith through an osmosis type process, the Faith is more taught than caught, particularly through faithful attendance at Religious Services. 

There were of course always those who acted contrariwise – the Wesley’s, William Booth, Wilson Carlile and the Billy Graham Crusades in the 50’s, 60’s and 80’s.

The post Second World War Church of England drew up a report ‘Towards the Conversion of England,’ that was posthumously published under the name of Archbishop William Temple in 1945 – and for the most part was quietly ignored.

However, another stirring occurred when the Anglicans accepted Resolution 43 of the 1988 Lambeth Conference that called on ‘each province and diocese of the Anglican Communion, in co-operation with other Christians, to make the closing years of this millennium a “Decade of Evangelism” with a renewed and united emphasis on making Christ known to the people of his world.’

The Decade of Evangelism was a strong theme in some parts of the Church of England throughout the 1990s, but the cause was also taken up by other denominations in the UK.

Partly emerging out of this the Church Planting Movement became established. 

This was followed by the publication of ‘Mission Shaped Church’ in 2004 and the birth of Fresh Expressions of Church. 

Hard evidence now demonstrates how clearly these initiatives - ‘added to their number daily those who were being saved.’  Acts 2.47

Then in 2013, the newly appointed Archbishop Justin Welby declared Evangelism to be one of his three priorities and set up a Task Group to nurture and foster Evangelism.

In his 2015 Lambeth Lecture on Evangelism Archbishop Justin Welby said…

’I want to start by saying just two simple sentences about the church. First, the church exists to worship God in Jesus Christ.  Second, the Church exists to make new disciples of Jesus Christ. Everything else is decoration. Some of it may be very necessary, useful, or wonderful decoration – but it’s decoration.’

EVANGELISM is back on the menu and not just for Anglicans.

In his inaugural address as President at the Methodist Conference in Southport in 2015, the Revd Steve Wild challenged each Methodist church in Britain to aim to bring just one person to faith in the coming year, saying: 

"Let's take God seriously. I want to help us in the task of evangelism, to put mission on the agenda and give our churches an aim to win a person for Christ."

A challenge for the rural church, especially those still operating in Christendom mode, is what to make of all of this talk of evangelism and conversion and people coming to Christ.  In many ways, it is unfamiliar language.  

Furthermore if evangelism is back on the menu are we treating it as an starter, a snack, supper, maybe a packed lunch – when does it became the main meal that guides and sustains us?

D.T. Niles said that ‘evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread.’   

However, do we believe that the Bread of Life is the very best thing we can offer people? How are we being sustained by it ourselves on a daily basis so that we can speak from our own personal experience and tell other beggars about this Bread?  

Because evangelism is back on the menu, there has been an increase in various kinds of resources suitable for all kinds of Churches and situations. For example on rural specific see www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk  http://germinate.net/
www.ruralministries.org.uk

There has also been a fresh appraisal of what is the core message of Christianity.  Some have found the idea of being ‘saved so that we can go to heaven’ a tad vacuous. (On this, see Tom Wright’s many books and publications) 

More suited to the naturally incarnational nature of the rural Church is a change of emphasis that moves towards a greater understanding that the core message is not that Christians go to heaven when they die, but bring heaven to earth while they live.

Therefore, one aspect of evangelism is that we are inviting people to become co-partners with God in the redemption of the cosmos, thereby embracing and fulfilling their human vocation.

This is why the ‘WHY’ question is the very first and most important aspect when considering evangelism.

Why would I want someone to become a Christian?

Why would we as a Faith Community want someone to become a Christian?

Justin Welby in the Lambeth Lecture (as above) said this, ‘The best decision anyone can ever make, at any point in life, in any circumstances, whoever they are, wherever they are, whatever they are, is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. There is no better decision for a human being in this life, any human being.’

What is obvious is that people are no longer finding Faith through the osmosis process. As Christendom continues to wane, we will have to gain an understanding of coming to Faith and conversion. Of how we can, as a Faith Community, be evangelized ourselves and be regularly re-evangelized as we face fresh issues in the world around us. Thus being an evangelized Faith Community, we are in a good position to seek to evangelize others, drawing them along on a journey to Faith, to the heart of Jesus, and then on into a life of ongoing development and discipleship.  

I am convinced that in a rural context a Faith Community that is committed at the core, open at the edges, and is evangelised and naturally evangelising is the best and most culturally relevant form of evangelism.  Especially if the Faith Community works with the grain of season and cycles and the rhythms and patterns which form the backdrop of rural life.   

Captain Gordon Banks CA

Mission & Growth Partner Stafford Episcopal Area Diocese of Lichfield

Committee Member of Rural Evangelism Network