Evangelism officer for Episcopal Church lives up to her name

From Arkansas-

Meet Jerusalem Jackson Greer. She's a Southern Baptist preacher's daughter, a mother, crafter, cook, farmer, author and, now, staff officer for evangelism in the Episcopal Church.

Greer, who began the new full-time position in March, lives on a small farm named Preservation Acres in Shady Grove near Greenbrier with her husband, Nathan Greer, and sons Miles, 15, and Wylie, 19, when he's home from college.

In the newly established position, Greer said her job will be to help share "what evangelism means in the Episcopal tradition."

"I help coordinate Episcopal revivals that we have across the country ... create curriculum and other tools to help both individuals and congregations to share the good news of God and Christ through word and example," Greer said as she sat in the library of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Conway.

More here-

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/nov/02/evangelism-officer-for-episcopal-church/

Executive Council closes fall meeting with vote endorsing major ‘Way of Love’ expansion

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council concluded its four-day meeting here Oct. 21 with a series of votes that included an endorsement of plans for a dramatic expansion of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Way of Love initiative, featuring plans for a major revival event in New York and a growing list of media projects.

Curry spoke to the purpose of those efforts during a weekend committee meeting and again before the vote of the full Executive Council on its final day. Sharing the message of the Way of Love more broadly will counter a strain of conservative Christianity that has strayed from the teachings of Jesus, he said, and the church affirming a Christian message of love “can be helpful for a proudly divided and polarized nation.”

“This is really how can we make – and this actually is evangelism – how can we make the way of Jesus, which is the way of love, a part of what it means to be a Christian in this particular culture,” Curry said.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/10/21/executive-council-closes-fall-meeting-with-vote-endorsing-major-way-of-love-expansion/

Alister McGrath: Michael Green Taught Me the Importance of Evangelism

From Christianity Today-

When John Stott and J. I. Packer needed speakers for a crucial 1960s gathering of evangelical leaders, they invited only one in his 30s: Michael Green. The British theologian, who died in Oxford on February 6 at the age of 88, went on to become one of the most gifted evangelists of his generation.

Green, an academically talented student, was converted to Christianity as a teenager. In quick succession, he earned first class honors in classics at Oxford and first class honors in theology at Cambridge. His sense of calling to minister in the Church of England reflected his lifelong passion for evangelism. While serving on the staff of the London College of Divinity, a theological college of the Church of England, Green published two works aimed at a student audience that established his growing reputation as an apologist and evangelist: Man Alive (1967) and Runaway World (1968).

These books were widely read and shared by Christian students and led to invitations to speak at major churches and student gatherings throughout the United Kingdom. I read them both myself while a student at Oxford in the early 1970s, and I recall vividly the impact of a sermon Green preached in Oxford on John 3 which helped me grasp the core themes of the gospel.

More here-

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/february-web-only/alister-mcgrath-michael-green-tribute-evangelism.html

Slain missionary John Chau prepared much more than we thought, but are missionaries still fools?

From The Washington Post-

Since John Allen Chau was killed earlier this month while trying to evangelize the isolated inhabitants of a remote Indian island, his story has stirred intense emotions, many negative. While both Christians and non-Christians have raised profound questions about the biblical and ethical appropriateness of pushing into places where you’re not wanted, much criticism of Chau has focused on what appeared to be his lack of preparation.

In his journal, Chau used the word “holler” to describe what he did after sneaking onto the beach of the remote North Sentinel Island in a kayak. The scene of the young American yelling, in English, “My name is John. I love you, and Jesus loves you,” before being killed by a bow and arrow isn’t the most sophisticated image of missionary outreach in 2018.

But new information released Wednesday paints a more complicated picture of Chau, including an interview with Christianity Today. In the interview, Mary Ho, who leads All Nations (the agency that sent Chau on missions), indicated that he was heavily vaccinated and even quarantined before going on the mission.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2018/11/28/slain-missionary-john-chau-prepared-much-more-than-we-thought-his-case-is-still-quandary-us-missionaries/?fbclid=IwAR25xLfhqNsb0-rdxuVurYinL-4ci4YTqy74mVlHsL5JpM_iMDYQfIuudYI&utm_term=.34efea1bcae1

Church of England launches Instagram guide for parishes as they try to attract younger worshippers

From The Telegraph-

Instagram is best known for playing host to Love Island contestants, polished young "influencers" and healthy eating bloggers. 

But the social network could soon be flooded with arty pictures of pews and altars as the Church of England encourages its parishes to sign up in order to woo younger worshippers. 

It has launched an "introduction to Instagram" aimed at helping confused clergy who are finding it "hard to keep up with the latest digital trends and the platforms being used by young people". 
The Church's digital team has spent a year training churches in how to use social media "strategically" for "evangelism and discipleship", and says it will have trained 1,000 parishes by Christmas. 

Its advice is that "every church needs a Facebook page" but that the choice between Instagram and Twitter "depends on your audience, and where they are more likely to be."

More here-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/24/church-england-launches-instagram-guide-parishes-try-attract/

Being salty in a secular world: An interview with Os Guinness

From Australia-

Steve Tong, on behalf of the ACR, had the chance to interview Os Guinness during his recent visit to Sydney. Here, Os shares about the need to connect evangelism and apologetics, and the responsibility of Christians to engage with our world by holding out the light of the gospel. Os also encourages lay people to work alongside their clergy in the task of defending the gospel and winning people for Christ.

ST: Thank you for time today. It’s a real privilege for the Australian Church Record that you have agreed to talk with us. Let me begin by asking about some of your research interests. Many of your talks and books take as a general theme the intersection between religion, politics, and religious freedom in public square discourse. These stimulate a lot of questions for lots of people. My question is, how optimistic or confident are you about the ability of modern, Western Christians to engage with the communities and societies that we find ourselves in now?

OG: A general feature of the Church in the modern world is that the Church is exploding in the Global South, and not really doing very well anywhere in the West. The generalisations are rather gloomy, although there are magnificent exceptions. So I’ve always been concerned, and this is the reason I went into Sociology, to first understand what the impact of the modern world was on faith, not so much on religion, but on faith—our faith, the Christian faith. And then secondly, to try and address the issues that raises, because we have to recover integrity and effectiveness so that we can be salty and light bearing, as our Lord called us to be. So I’ve got many books, dealing with either the impact of modernity on faith or issues that that raises for the Church in recovering its integrity, such as religious freedom.

More here-

http://www.australianchurchrecord.net/being-salty-in-a-secular-world-an-interview-with-os-guinness/

Death and resurrection defines Christianity. The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber says that’s what the Christian church is currently experiencing

From Lancaster Online-

Nadia Bolz-Weber is a heavily tatted and sometimes profane Lutheran pastor. Her take on herself can be summed up this way: “All of the things that make me seem ‘not like a pastor’ are what allow me to be certain people’s pastor.”

Hard to argue with that. Clearly one size does not fit all. Polls show that while church membership is eroding, many people — especially younger people — consider themselves to be spiritual.
Bolz-Weber brings her unique view of ministry to Lampeter-Strasburg High School Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. Her visit is sponsored by the Parish Resource Center.

“She speaks to the changing church,” said Kate Good, PRC’s executive director. “She is seen as an authentic voice in Christianity.”

Bolz-Weber was involved in drugs and alcohol as a teenager and became sober at age 22. More than a decade later she graduated from college and divinity school and was ordained in the Lutheran church.
While Bolz-Weber’s approach appeals to many on the fringes of society, Good said PRC members, who are largely from mainline and Mennonite churches, were the catalysts who asked to bring Bolz-Weber to Lancaster.

More here-

Spring 2018 House of Bishops, Day 1

From Dan Martins- (ENS link below as well)

Today was about evangelism. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has been clear from the beginning of his tenure that evangelism and racial reconciliation were going to be the touchstones of his ministry, and he has remained true to his word.

We began the day with a celebration of the Eucharist at which Bishop Curry was the preacher. He emphasized the need for the work of evangelism to be rooted in Christian formation, and also got into the fray around the use of the word "Lord," about which many in the church are sensitive because of perceived patriarchal overtones. He acknowledged the difficulty, but basically said, "Get used to it. The earliest Christian creed was 'Jesus is Lord.' It's part of our vocabulary." He suggested reclaiming the work away from connotations of oppression or exploitation, remembering the important corollary: If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not Lord--whoever or whatever "Caesar" may be to it. It was an encouraging homily. 

More here-

https://movingdiagonally.blogspot.com/2018/03/spring-2018-house-of-bishops-day-1.html

More here-

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/episcopal-house-bishops-meeting-retreat-march-6-highlights

An Evangelical Saint

From The Weekly Standard-

But Graham’s singular achievement was not in drawing people to his meetings; it was in his challenge to the dominance of midcentury Protestant liberalism. After World War II, attendance in the American churches now known as “mainline”—the Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Church of Christ, and Disciples of Christ denominations—was at its peak. But cultural prestige and political influence had come at the cost of confessional clarity; the mainline denominations were (as indeed they still are) more interested in keeping up with the fast-evolving morality of our popular culture than in challenging it. By the late 1950s, many Christians were realizing that there wasn’t much point in busying oneself with church if it required no special belief other than a general assent that being good is better than being bad.

Graham showed Americans that Christianity, if it was true at all, placed demands on them, and they had to respond with a yes or a no. He realized that Christian belief wasn’t worth the trouble if it involved no risk and no sacrifice. Jesus’ disciples weren’t martyred for espousing some form of elevated do-goodism; they were martyred for believing that Jesus was the eternal son of God and that he was raised from the dead, bodily and not spiritually or metaphorically, on the third day.

More here-

http://www.weeklystandard.com/an-evangelical-saint/article/2011704

Executive Council awards Episcopal Church Evangelism Grants

From The Episcopal Church-

The Episcopal Church Executive Council, at its January meeting in Linthicum Heights, MD, approved the recipients of 15 Evangelism Grants, totaling $37,450.  The new Episcopal Evangelism Grants Program is designed to fund local and regional evangelism efforts in the Episcopal Church.

“This program will encourage our whole Church to share resources, catalyze imagination, and ultimately cultivate a network of evangelists who can learn from each other and connect with each other,” explained the Rev. Canon Susan Brown Snook, Chair of both the Episcopal Evangelism Grants Committee and the Executive Council Committee on Local Mission and Ministry.

The Episcopal Evangelism Grants program is coordinated by the Local Mission and Ministry Committee in collaboration with the Episcopal Church's Evangelism Initiatives Team.

“Evangelism isn’t some scary practice only ‘other’ Christians do,” said the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers, Presiding Bishop’s Canon for Evangelism, Reconciliation and Creation Care, and a member of the Grants Committee. “Evangelism is the heart of Christian life, and we hope this program will light a fire and connect Episcopalians who are creating unique, authentically Episcopal ways of seeking, naming and celebrating Jesus’ loving presence everywhere.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/executive-council-awards-episcopal-church-evangelism-grants

The Episcopal Church’s Budget is a Dim Bulb

From Draughting Theology-

There was a movement afoot in the Episcopal Church.  For the first time in my recollection, people were genuinely excited about the E word: Evangelism.  We had a Presiding Bishop who was comfortable talking about Jesus.  A groundswell of support saw a $2.8 million budget amendment to fund evangelism, especially in the growing and heretofore under-served Latino population.  There were revivals planned.  A new Canon for Evangelism and Racial Reconciliation was hired.  One of the best church planting minds in the church came on board to serve as the Staff Officer for Church Planting Infrastructure.  It was looking like we might finally be living into the prayer we pray every Second Sunday after Epiphany, and taking our responsibility, having been “illumined by Word and Sacrament” to “shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth.”

Things were looking good, until the Executive Council met from October 18-21, 2017, and all the hope and good will came crashing to the ground.  The working budget for the next triennium (2019-2021) shows a 41% cut in evangelism spending.  This cut includes a full 1/3 cut in spending for new congregations from $3 million to $2 million and a cut in total Latino/Hispanic ministry spending of more than 45% from $1,219,400 to $558,000.  Meanwhile, as has been noted by several very learned practitioners, including church planter, Susan Snook, mission re-developer, Everett Lees, and Forward Movement Executive Director and discipleship guru, Scott Gunn, investment in the administrative side of things, has increased by close to $4 million in the Presiding Bishop’s office (a roughly 47% increase) and $5.25 million in Governance (nearly 38%).  All that, and there is still $40 million set aside to pay for operations, finance, and legal fees!

More here-

https://draughtingtheology.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/the-episcopal-churchs-budget-is-a-dim-bulb/

Church of England unveils £24 million national investment in new churches and evangelism

From ACNS-

The Church of England has announced grants of £24.4 million in the latest tranche of its Renewal and Reform programme funding. The money is being provided by the C of E’s Strategic Investment Board, which was created as part of a change in the way national funding from the Church Commissioners is provided to diocese and parishes. Previously, the Commissioners provided support to dioceses on the basis of a national formula. But after a review looking into “Resourcing the Future” of the Church, the Archbishops’ Council and the House of Bishops agreed instead that all of the national funding should be distributed for investment in the spiritual and numerical growth of the Church.

The Diocese of London, which plans to open 100 new churches in Britain’s capital, will receive the biggest grant, valued at £4.8 million, to revitalise churches and develop “Church Growth Learning Communities”. It will also receive an additional £3.89 million to help it train curates to be deployed across the country to support the national Church.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/01/church-of-england-unveils-24-million-pound-national-investment-in-new-churches-and-evangelism.aspx

The interior life and the re-evangelization of the West

From The Living Church-

It was the year 2000, during the long dog days of summer, and I was a teenager spending a week at a Pentecostal summer camp. It was not quite Jesus Camp but it was not quite not Jesus Camp either.

On one of the final evenings, as the three-hour service was drawing to a close, a good friend of mine was baptized in the Holy Ghost and spent the next 12 minutes or so running through the old wooden chapel before spilling out into the breezy summer night. Several of us chased after him with a sort of boyish abandon in the hopes that his baptism might be contagious and that we might experience it. It was not, and we did not. The last I heard, he had long abandoned the faith and was drumming for a metal band in Toronto in between drinking 40s of malt liquor.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/01/02/the-interior-life-and-the-re-evangelization-of-the-west/

Atheists at prayer for Christmas

From The Living Church (with a link to the Commonweal article)-

The Christmas Mass, as the pseudonymous parish priest Fr. Nonomen writes in Commonweal, is fairly unique. “This is the Mass where you politely ask people to finish their cups of hot chocolate and cans of Red Bull outside. … This is the Mass attended by the famous bi-annually faithful.” As such, Fr. Nonomen sagely notes, the Christmas Mass provides a “pastoral opportunity” that should not be wasted in minor displays of self-righteous annoyance or by desperately trying to impress visitors with “schmaltz” and “secular symbols” or (most tempting?) through attempting to conjure up guilt (“[D]o not say how you wish attendance could be good every Sunday”).

The presider should recognize that many different forces may have brought the participants to Christmas Mass, including those more familial than theological. Further, Nonomen counsels, “Be sensitive, too, to the many faiths embraced by those who are sitting in front of you.” Nonomen does not write, however, about those who may be agnostics or atheists, who may be in the pews for reasons as various as family solidarity, nostalgia, or curiosity.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2017/12/28/atheists-at-prayer-for-christmas/

Churches challenged to “rehabilitate and refresh” how they explain the Gospel

From ACNS-

The new Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, has said churches are “not always seen for the good which we do, or for the just causes which we support or further, or for the justice and truth for which we call.” He called on churches to “rehabilitate and refresh” how they explain the Gospel message, particularly to young people who, he said, would high-five the prophet Job and queue for selfies with Jesus – if they properly understood Christianity. Archbishop John made the comments as he was enthroned as the 13th Archbishop of Wales during a service in Brecon Cathedral on Saturday.

John Davies, the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, was elected as the Primate of the Church in Wales in September, securing the two-thirds majority from the electoral college on the second day of their meeting in Holy Trinity Church, Llandrindod Wells – the small Welsh town that has the honour of being the meeting place for the archiepiscopal electoral college. His election took effect immediately. Yesterday’s service marked the ceremonial start of his role as archbishop.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/12/churches-challenged-to-rehabilitate-and-refresh-how-they-explain-the-gospel.aspx

Archbishops offer evangelism advice — with a catch

From The Church Times-

THE object of evangelism is not to “squeeze” people into church, a new booklet from the Archbishops’ task group says.

The 24-page booklet, Evangelism for the Local Church, is being sent to every diocese with a message from the two Archbishops: “This isn’t an off-the-shelf programme that guarantees a full church.” Instead, following the suggestions in the booklet would lead, they say, to “the renewal of those taking part”.

The booklet, which grows out of the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative, describes evangelism as a four-stage “virtuous circle”.

Contact: “the initial relationships — probably already existing — of those God has brought into your path.” Nurture: “an intentional investment in specific events that seek to grow the initial contact”. Commitment: “the specific issuing of the invitation to people to follow Jesus Christ”. Growth: “the development of the faith that has begun. In this way a person is grafted into the community of faith.”

The booklet warns against traditional approaches to evangelism: “Too often we ask how we can get more people to come to church. But we mustn’t start with church and then wonder how to squeeze people in. We must start with people, with their questions and needs.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/1-december/news/uk/archbishops-offer-evangelism-advice-with-a-catch

Idowu-Fearon Sees Vigor

From The Living Church-

During a visit to Virginia Theological Seminary, the secretary general of the Anglican Communion stressed Anglicans’ work in evangelism and cross-cultural ministry.

The Most Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon spoke on “The Vitality of World Anglicanism” Nov. 15 as part of the 2017 Mollegen Forum and 20th anniversary celebrations for the Center for Anglican Communion Studies.

Idowu-Fearon, secretary general since 2015, spoke about the life and vigor that he has witnessed across the Anglican family of churches. Contrary to the narrative of bloggers, he said, the Anglican Communion is alive and well, and through this family the gospel of Jesus Christ is growing.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/2017/11/28/idowu-fearon-sees-vigor/

From the choir stalls to the altar

From The Church Times-

WHEN the General Synod debated the renewal of the Church of England last year, it fell to one of its youngest members, Hannah Grivell, to mention an aspect of church life with a centuries-old record of bringing children through the Church’s doors. Young people were joining her church, and getting confirmed, after joining the robed choir.

“We have got to stop telling people what they need and want, and start asking what helps you grow in faith and come to church every week,” she argued (News, 15 July 2016).

Her story is echoed in other parishes. When Richard Bendelow agreed to become organist at St Leonard’s, Loftus, in Cleveland, one of the most deprived parishes in the country, he did so on one condition: that he could start a children’s choir. The last one had been disbanded in 1969. Today, there are 14 members — expected to be 20 by Christmas — who sing every Sunday morning. They have been recruited from schools (none of which are C of E) where teachers “jumped at it as a unique opportunity to give free musical education to white working-class kids on Tyneside”, the Rector, the Revd Adam Gaunt, reports.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/17-november/features/features/from-the-choir-stalls-to-the-altar

Francis Chan Urges Believers to Reject 'Cop-Out' Christianity, Lose Your Life for the Gospel

From Christian Today-

 Francis Chan is calling on Christians to be willing to give up their lives for Jesus and not compromise the Gospel by hiding behind otherwise good causes.

Speaking on the main stage Saturday night on the National Mall before tens of thousands assembled from all 50 states at America's Tent of Meeting sponsored by Awaken the Dawn, Chan encouraged believers to be willing to lay down their lives for Christ and to not shrink back from being bold.

"What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" Chan asked, citing the Words of Jesus in Mark 8:36.

"I'm promising you, if you try to save your life, you're going to lose it, but you're not going to regret it."

Chan, 50, who leads We Are Church, a network of house churches based in the San Francisco Bay Area, mentioned that he has reached a point in his life where he's getting rid of more and more stuff. And there is no point in trying to have it all, he said, and protect ones life from all possible forms of suffering. 

More here-

http://www.christianpost.com/news/francis-chan-calls-on-believers-reject-cop-out-christianity-lose-your-life-for-the-gospel-202053/

WHY SOME EVANGELISM PETERS OUT: THE NEGATIVES

From The Living Church-

Samuel Moor Shoemaker (1893-1963) was rector of Calvary Church, New York, from 1925 to 1951 and of Calvary Church, Pittsburgh, from 1952 to 1961. A graduate of Princeton and the General Theological Seminary, Shoemaker was a popular radio preacher, a missionary in China, and a major 20th-century evangelical leader both inside and outside the Episcopal Church. He is sometimes credited as a founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, but this is not accurate; rather, his work with the Oxford Group movement for “moral re-armament” inspired the founders of AA, and Shoemaker supported their early efforts.

17 years after this essay for TLC, Shoemaker reported on a later effort at organized evangelism: “The Episcopal Church and Evangelism.” He is commemorated on January 31 as “Priest and Evangelist, 1963” in Holy Women, Holy Men.

Below is the first part of his essay.

“Why some evangelism peters out,” from The Living Church (April 26, 1930).


More here-


http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2017/08/03/why-some-evangelism-peters-out-the-negatives/