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 […]
Fresh Expressions of Church – An Introduction for Canadians Read More »
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.
One Size Does Not Fit All: Seven Ways to Evangelize Read More »
What does it take to grow a healthy parish? Lots of things: firm leadership, clear vision, and a strong sense of mission for a start. But one thing that is often overlooked is the influence of outsiders with a message. Ralph Winter wrote an influential article a few years ago, entitled The Two
Parish Missions: A Catalyst for Evangelism Read More »
Baptisms are frequently a time when people come to church who do not normally do so. How can one preach in such a way that their attention is caught by the explanation of what is going on, and they want to come back to learn more? This sermon uses the image of the Christian life
Baptized into the School of Jesus Read More »
Moving toward Christian faith is seldom easy. There are intellectual, ethical and relational issues to be worked through, to name but three. Churches which seek to practice evangelism will try to offer help at every step for those who wish it. There are many such \”stepping stones\” churches can offer: classical music is one of
The Difficult Journey to Faith: How the Church can Provide Stepping Stones Read More »
Jesus\’ Great Commission, traditionally seen as the motivation for evangelism, strangely enough says nothing about evangelism. What Jesus actually commands is three things-making disciples, baptizing, and teaching them to obey (Matthew 28:18-20). Of course, one could argue that those three together add up to a fair definition of evangelism. Yet how does one make disciples
Teaching the Gospel – The Challenge of Evangelistic Teaching Read More »
I recently spent an intense two weeks \”on the road,\” in teaching and evangelism. At the end of that time, coming home was a great delight, not least because of moving from minus 30 temperatures in Edmonton to plus 10 in Hamilton! My guess is that most of us have known that same sense of
Turning to Christ: Rediscovering Conversion in Mainline Churches Read More »
How can the average priest or pastor use movies in ministry? This article offers some practical pointers. Previous generations might have used a flannelgraph to illustrate a sermon for children. Any generation in any culture can teach by telling a story, as long as it is appropriate for the culture. But for our postmodern, postliterate
Using Movies in Teaching and Preaching Read More »
In one of the Sherlock Holmes stories, a police detective has been asking Holmes for his help in investigating a crime scene. \”Is there any other point to which you wish to draw my attention?\” he asks. Holmes replies, \”To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.\” \”The dog did nothing in the
A Marriage Made in Heaven – Evangelism and Social Action: a Bible Study Read More »
You are an unchurched person. You believe in God, but you have little time for organised religion. If pressed, you would say you are a spiritual person, but church? Well, thanks, but no thanks. What will get you inside the church? Two things in particular. One: rumours that something good is going on at that