Enhancers and Inhibitors of Evangelism

Transcription

1 Mission & Evangelism Working Group Uniting Church in Australia Enhancers and Inhibitors of Evangelism The Working Group is a very diverse group of UCA leaders who have been able to share their personal faith stories and their leadership experience as people who are passionate about inviting others into the love of Jesus Christ with gentleness and respect. We have identified the following dynamics within both the Uniting Church and contemporary Australian culture that either enhance or inhibit a passion for evangelism among UC members. These various factors are grouped under the headings of Theological Insights & Learnings, Attitudes & Approaches, Current Trends & Demographics in Church & Society and Positive Practices & Helpful Resources. We invite all UC attenders and councils to address this as a major need in the church. Dynamics that Enhance and Empower Evangelism Theological Insights & Learnings Theologies (ways of thinking about faith) that emphasize life (John 10), hospitality (Hebrews 13), disciple-making (Matthew 28) and grace that empowers personal and social transformation (2 Corinthians 3, Ephesians 2). A robust passion in ministers and lay leaders that the church exists for the mission of God and the sake of the world that Christ has come to redeem. The capacity and commitment of ministers and lay leaders to nourish, nurture and release the missional imagination of the people of God (Alan Roxburgh) A willingness to learn from our flagship churches i.e. those congregations that are authentically initiating people into the kingdom of God for the first time (Wm Abrahams). A willingness to learn from our chaplains who are usually in the front line of faith sharing in non congregational contexts. Attitudes & Approaches A listening, discovery, coaching-questions oriented approach (as contrasted with a telling, we ve got the answer attitude). Sharing faith from a relational, hospitable, trust building foundation that affirms the other person. A willingness and readiness to share one s experience of Jesus in a way that authentically and meaningfully connects with the life context of the seeker. A willingness to admit when we do not know or when the church has been in error. Current Trends & Demographics in Church & Society The UC is facing crunch time reality for example in 2006 the average age of attenders (aged 14 plus) was 61 years and 3 months, young adult retention is low, we are closing far more churches than planting new ones, only 11% of our members intentionally seek to share their faith with non believers and indicators are that average worship attendance across the UC has declined 22% over the 10 year period (NCLS research). This is an endemic pattern and unless strategically and prayerfully addressed the congregational face of the UC will be a spent force within 10 years. If seized, this very challenge creates the opportunity for revitalization. 1

2 According to 2006 NCLS, 34% of UC attenders belong to small study or prayer groups. If outward focused, or if they can support each individual s outward focus, such groups could provide the seed-bed for nurturing and empowering a passion and practice of evangelism. UC attenders often have good networks with people who don t go to church. The increasing need for lay leadership in congregations (as a result of the twin issues of fewer ministers and affordability of stipended ministry) provides the opportunity to break the inwardly focused clergy dependency cycle. The heightened quest for spirituality in the wider society may be an opportunity. In some quarters there are indications that UC attenders have an increased sensitivity to the Spirit With the continuing decline of many other traditional community networks, the general population shows an increased desire for relational community. The rise of the emerging church and alternate faith communities create opportunities for fresh expressions of church there is no lack of ideas. The impact of postmodernity. The absence of an accepted meta narrative in the wider culture has created a culturally legitimate space for the church to communicate its faith alongside alternate world-views, without (or at least with reduced) special privileges. Positive Practices & Helpful Resources The following practices are critical for healthy and effective evangelism: hospitable, incarnational attitudes and behaviours i.e. attitudes and actions that communicate acceptance, inclusion, and engaging with people on their turf and on their terms; solidarity with others with no easy answers the capacity to stand alongside people in their pain, loss and confusion without resorting to clichés or simplistic answers; inadequate resources, but with love and prayer refusing to wait till one is fully equipped, trained with all the latest resources before communicating faith but rather sharing who you are and what you bring in the context of acceptance, love and prayer; modeling radical discipleship being a personal example of what it means to follow Christ in every relationship and every dimension of one s life. Several churches have found these resources beneficial: Christian meditation classes; faith exploration courses Alpha, Becoming Disciples; training in faith sharing and relationship building Just Walk Across the Room (Willow Creek), Friends for Life (Christian Resource Supplies), Faith Stories (Qld Synod), NSW Synod Lay Preachers Course that emphasizes proclaiming Jesus Christ ; Jesus Conversations, Forty Days of Purpose, Christ Files. Dynamics that Inhibit or Impede Evangelism Theological Insights & Learnings The absence of an accepted language across the UC that facilitates faith articulation and communication. The substitutionary atonement paradigm continues as the dominant model for communicating the uniqueness of Christ among churches that are committed to evangelism. Many UC members feel this paradigm has limited meaning for, or 2

3 actually misleads many postmodern people who do not operate out of a sense of personal sin consciousness. The presence of a dominant culture within the Uniting Church that equates mission with community service and/or social responsibility. A cultural cringe factor regarding faith verbalization among many UC attenders. Often this is a hangover from modernity where faith was relegated to the sphere of private beliefs and morals. Following the above point, many UC members view evangelism (an act of love) as proselytism (an abuse of power). Accordingly, many UC members fear evangelization means imposing our beliefs on others. The presence of an entrenched Christendom mindset that leads to an attitude of cheap grace together with passive universalistic theologies that corrode any motivation for evangelism. The tendency among some UC members to equate evangelism with fundamentalism. Attitudes & Approaches Relational faith communities such as small groups, the potential seed-bed for nurturing the passion and practice of evangelism, hold low value in most UC congregations. The developing perception in several areas of the church s life that ministry is a job rather than a vocation together with the increasing emphasis on a felt need for self protection among ministers. Most ministers struggle with issues of prioritization and time management. Most congregational ministers often feel overwhelmed and experience high levels of stress. Inadequate modeling of authentic contemporary evangelism stories and examples of credible Christians fruitfully sharing their faith with unbelievers has resulted in the lack of corporate memory of how to personally communicate faith effectively. As a result some look to older and now ineffective approaches. A we re too old to change attitude among many in our congregations impedes capacity and motivation to share faith. The lack of hospitality, sensitivity to, plus inadequate systems to welcome and incorporate newcomers in many of our congregations, severely limits our churches capacity to enfold the non church-goers who seek us out. The unwritten expectation in many of our congregations that new people (including spiritual seekers) should fit in with us and help us support the church. The inordinate fear among several of our members that they might say the wrong thing (psychologically, biblically, theologically) if they attempt to verbalize their faith. Related to the above point, the fear that others might think we are religious fanatics if we share our faith stories. Most Anglo Australians aged 50 plus were raised in a culture that stressed you don t talk about sex, politics and religion. Needless to say that norm no longer applies! Current Trends & Demographics in Church & Society The absence of a culture in our church system that recognizes and encourages those specific gifts and callings in candidates and ministry leaders that empower mission and evangelism in various and diverse contexts. Hence we have not developed and placed those leaders accordingly. UC institutional culture has been for too long preoccupied with survival and structural issues. The removal of an Assembly Consultant for mission and 3

4 evangelism together with the reduction of mission and evangelism related placements in a number of Synods suggests that, while we speak words of concern about this, there is minimal priority for resourcing cultural and systemic change that will empower evangelism. The UCA s congregational base is declining rapidly. In 2006 the average age of attenders (aged 14 plus) was 61 years and 3 months, young adult retention is low, we are closing far more churches than planting new ones, only 11% of our members intentionally seek to share their faith with non believers and indicators are that average worship attendance across the UC has declined 22% over the 10 year period (NCLS research). As already stated above, privatized faith and a civic religion mindset still remain strong in several congregations. In the wider culture the power of hedonism, consumerism, self protection and destructive addictive behaviours seem to act as an impenetrable wall through which to communicate the Gospel. There is a rising sense in the church that many ministers and members are feeling tired, victimized, experiencing burnout and lacking in motivation to grow or change. Many congregations are becoming increasingly disconnected from their community contexts they are not seen as hope or life-giving by their local communities. Related to the above point, a number of congregations believe they have neither need nor responsibility to connect with their local communities our church agencies do that for us! Positive Practices & Helpful Resources The Working Group believes that by addressing the following deficiencies in training, behaviour and resources the Church would reduce a number of the current barriers to effective evangelism: The lack of training that sensitizes members to perceive and collaborate with the Holy Spirit s work in the lives of non Christians. Notwithstanding the UCA s strong commitment to rigorous, theological education of its ministers there remains widespread biblical and theological illiteracy among many adult UC members. Holistic adult faith formation remains an urgent priority for both the discipleship and spirituality of our members as well as establishing a firm foundation for their missional engagement with the world. Related to the above point, NCLS research indicates that approximately ¼ of UC attenders don t know how to express their faith in everyday language. Pointing the Way Forward: Suggested Strategies for Effective Evangelism Kurt Lewin, the pioneer of force field analysis, discovered that in any social context the status quo is held in place by the interaction of both enabling and preventative forces. The secret to leveraging change is to simultaneously address both the strategic enabling and preventative forces and so move towards the desired outcome or goal. So, it will not be wise if we avoid facing the difficulties, and it will not be wise if we ONLY talk about survival! In this paper the Working Group has identified some of the key enabling ( enhancing and empowering ) and preventative ( inhibiting and impeding ) forces that relate to the cultivation of a passion for evangelism in both the UC and contemporary Australian culture. We maintain that in order to stimulate a passion for evangelism 4

5 across the church it will be critical to address both sets of forces. In this concluding section we shall seek to identify at least one potential strategy that relates to each of the 4 groupings: Theological Insights & Learnings; Attitudes & Approaches; Trends & Demographics in Church & Society; and Positive Practices & Helpful Resources. As indicated above, each action plan will address both enabling and preventative forces. Theological Insights & Learnings 1) To stimulate missional conversations across the UC. a) Arising from the Working Group s (planned) convocation with Assembly s Doctrine Committee in November 2009, to develop a strategy for whole of church exploration concerning theologies that emphasise life (cf John 10), hospitality (Hebrews 13), disciple-making (Matthew 28) and grace that empowers personal and social transformation (2 Corinthians 3, Ephesians 2). Responsibility of Working Group with support of Doctrine Committee to develop specific strategy; responsibility of synods and presbyteries to implement in their judicatories. b) Congruent with 1 (a) Assembly Doctrine Committee be charged to help the InterSynod Network in Missiology and Evangelism to work with the Church to discover language, theological paradigms and other symbols that facilitate faith communication with non Christians in contemporary Australia that are consistent with the Basis of Union. Conversational resources, together with accompanying strategies for both (a) and (b) to be available by November Attitudes & Approaches 2) To cultivate a culture of hospitable, relational, coaching style engagement with non church-goers as normative for UC members and congregations. a) Presbyteries and Synods support and promote the training of ministers and key lay leaders in coaching-related skills (in particular active listening and asking powerful questions) together with offering a professional system to provide on-going support and development for ministers and leaders so trained. (For example, some members of the Working Group recommend the CoachNet Accreditation Training Program available through CoachNet South Pacific, that has been adopted by the NSW and Queensland Synods.) b) As a key priority, Presbyteries and Synods promote the training of ministers, lay leaders and other active UC members in hospitable, relational evangelism using resources that are congruent with the Basis of Union and UC ethos and relate to the searches, issues and concerns of members non Christian friends. (To this end the Working Group recommends the small group DVD based resource, Faith Stories, recently developed by the Qld Synod and available nationally after April 2009.) c) Presbyteries, with the support of Synods, develop systems (in particular re professional and peer supervision and coaching) to help ministers develop capacities in establishing and maintaining life and ministry priorities, together with time management skills. d) Assembly calls upon congregations to give priority, as a theological and missional imperative, to explore and develop appropriate hospitality to those individuals, groups and networks that lie within their spheres of influence, together with systems and processes that would help interested people connect with the life of the congregation. This would include, but be not limited to, newcomers to worship, outside community groups that use church facilities, families whose children participate in congregational 5

6 based programs. (Members of the Working Group could provide recommended resources to help with this.) Current Trends & Demographics in Church & Society 3) In every sphere of the UC (Assembly, Synod, Presbytery, Congregation) the Church address prayerfully, openly and strategically the reality of the entrenched trend of ageing and numerical decline and the consequent missional (including an organic capacity for disciplemaking) implications. a) That Assembly commission NCLS (or the Christian Research Association) to prepare a visually motivational profile of national UCA active adult participation trends over the last 20 years. That Assembly leadership calls Synods, Presbyteries and congregations to engage creatively with the data with the view to discerning practical and realistic, context specific missional responses. b) That, in light of the NCLS data and the considered responses in (a) every sphere of the UC engages in liturgical, educational and prayerful action. c) That every sphere of the church identifies and puts into practice at least one missional engagement in light of the above. d) That Presbyteries hold their constituent congregations accountable for developing the church s missional and disciple-making mandate (cf Matt 28:19) as the church s primary responsibility, while providing the necessary support, encouragement and training. e) That congregations provide regular reports to their presbyteries on their initiatives and plans regarding missional practices. f) That Assembly, Synod, Presbytery and congregational communication publications and systems periodically share examples of local missional stories (see [e] above). Positive Practices & Helpful Resources 4) That Presbyteries and Synods disseminate information concerning helpful resources for mission and evangelism a) Presbyteries and Synods identify and action appropriate ways to share missional resources that have been found to be helpful within their judicatory. b) Church Councils and Ministers give a priority focus during 2010 to equipping congregational members for how to articulate their faith in everyday language to non church people. c) By mid 2011 each Presbytery to collate stories and experiences of helpful strategies re (b) above and distribute same across their region. d) Each Presbytery to post samples of such stories and experiences on the M&E Network s web page. Graham Beattie National Mission & Evangelism Working Group 19 February