Pentecost Festival takes church beyond the four walls

|PIC1|Thousands of Christians gathered at venues across central London this weekend as part of Pentecost Festival, a bold and colourful new venture by Share Jesus International to take the church well and truly beyond its four walls.

Christian hip hop artists including Bibles Bibles and MC Tempo blasted the good news of Jesus Christ to the four corners of Leicester Square, whilst former bouncers, debt collectors and drug abusers shared powerful testimonies of their transformation to men of peace and love after hearing the Gospel.

In total, more than 50 events will have taken place by the end of Sunday, ranging from theatre, to social action, to worship, teaching, art, drama and more.

On Regents Canal, visitors were welcomed aboard a boat to discuss faith and sample some Christian folk music, whilst Camden was given a musical treat by gospel, soul, hip hop and neo-poetry acts on the Big Blue Box Music Stage. Camden was also host to an exploration of Asian Christianity taking a closer look at the future of the faith in Pakistan and India, whilst near Bond Street, religious homeless people shared their experiences of adhering to a faith whilst living on the streets.

The big crowd pullers included a lecture from Christian scientist and theologian Alistair McGrath, author of The Dawkins Delusion, and an evening with Tony Campolo in which he made a passionate plea to Christians to sponsor a child through the charity Compassion.

In front of a packed auditorium at City University on Saturday night, McGrath dispelled some of the core claims of scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, including his insistence that faith and science are incompatible, that religion leads to violence and that having religious beliefs is psychologically damaging - or, as he put it, a "virus of the mind".

"Are all beliefs viruses of the mind or just the ones he doesn't like?" McGrath asked.

He challenged Dawkins' assertion that religion leads to violence, saying that it was vital with any belief system, including atheism, to distinguish between mainline believers and minority fanatics.

Jesus poses a particular challenge to Dawkins' theory that religion fuels violence, McGrath continued. He pointed to the example of Jesus Himself, who did not perpetrate violence, but instead had violence committed against Him.

He also highlighted the forgiveness of the Amish community after five schoolgirls were shot dead by a lone gunman in a tiny schoolhouse in Pennsylvania in 2006. The cycle of violence, was in this case, "broken before it began", he said.

"Believing in this God is a disincentive to violence," he said.

McGrath reassured Christians that they had "nothing to fear from this book". If anything, it presents a "challenge to go deeper in your faith by engaging in the agenda Dawkins has raised", he told the audience.

Campolo, meanwhile, challenged the audience to "do what Jesus would do" and sponsor a child in poverty.

"The church is the only club in the world that exists for the benefit of non-members," he said. "If your commitment to Christ cannot translate into 60p a day for a kid in a Third World country you need to start asking yourself some very serious questions about what your commitment is all about.

"Is it just believing in doctrinal truths or is it doing what Jesus would do if he was in your place? Is it just believing in doctrinal truths or are you ready to surrender to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit invade you and create within you the sensitivity that will see Christ's suffering in those who are in need?"

Arts and drama also featured high on the programme, with full house performances of hit Christian pop opera Luv Esther, the Bollywood-style His Story, Hope Academy - the finale of a nationwide Christian music talent search, top US Christian band Salvador, Ben Cantalon and Soul Survivor.

The Week of Prayer for Parliament and Government, meanwhile, culminated in a prayer walk taking Christians to key parliamentary sites for prayer.

Pentecost Festival wraps up on Sunday with contributions from the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, and the President of the Methodist Conference, Martyn Atkins.