The Church of England has just launched a new online resource to help churches become more fruitful in evangelism.
The 'Leading in Evangelism' course is a series of hour-long sessions that church leaders can fit around their own schedules.
The aim is to support church leaders in developing a culture and plan for evangelism "that suits their context".
Christian Today spoke to Owen Morgan, Learning Delivery and Infrastructure Lead in the Church of England's Vision & Strategy team, to find out more about the resource and how churches can be more confident in evangelism.
CT: We're still coming out of the pandemic. Are you seeing new opportunities for evangelism?
Owen: We actually started planning for this before the pandemic but when Covid happened, we didn't want to overload people so that's why we're launching it now. But the reality is that there's always an opportunity for us to do more in this area. It's not necessarily about giving people something shiny and new but helping them to see what they already have. Churches already have the desire, the hope and the passion so if we can just stir some of that and help with some of the thinking, then they can draw out what evangelism looks like in their context.
CT: Is the resource designed only for church leaders or anyone involved in evangelism?
Owen: This one is a little different because it is focused specifically on the leadership aspect. There are lots of brilliant resources out there to help people share their faith but there are not so many resources for church leaders.
This course is ideal for church leaders and fledgling leaders who can maybe identify a few people in their midst who are passionate about people and evangelism. They can invite them to come together to engage in this resource and think through what the church can do to be more fruitful in this area. So it's very much focused on how we lead in evangelism as opposed to how we do evangelism, although of course the first leads to the second.
We've heard church leaders say that they have tried things before and it hasn't worked, so what this resource aims to do is help churches to take a step back and look at whether there are things that need to be done to form a culture where sharing faith is more likely to happen. People will be more ready to engage in evangelism when it becomes part of "the way we do things around here".
CT: Do you sense there is an issue with confidence in our churches?
Owen: We have seen that there is a need for more confidence so we do hope it helps to increase that. Let's be honest, some elements of evangelism can be a bit cringey and that can lead to a lack of confidence or cause the church to shy away from doing things. And the church culture might not be one that says 'we do this'.
But I don't think there's any church out there that wouldn't like to see more happening in this area of evangelism. Most churches would love to see more fruit in this area. Sometimes it's about knowing what to do and other times, it's about having the confidence to do it. So confidence is really important, whether it's within individuals or the church itself. Evangelism is core to who we are and what we are called to do, and so we want to help churches have the confidence to do it.
CT: How do you see this fitting in more widely with the Church of England's big vision at the moment?
Owen: This is an important part of our desire to be a church of missionary disciples. That means every Christian being equipped, resourced and encouraged to share their faith and live it out in their daily life. And we can all encourage each other in this. Every diocese might have its own vision but within all of that you will find the common thread of wanting to release and enable people to be evangelists and share their faith. This resource is designed to help people think that through. We're not imposing a model but helping churches as they do the planning and think through what this might look like in their local context.
CT: Church leaders may be feeling stretched with fewer volunteers, challenging finances and the cost of living crisis. But how vital is it that churches make evangelism a part of what they are doing?
Owen: We have been very careful not to add to what church leaders have already got going on. But when we were talking to churches in the process of making this resource, the feedback we got was that it wasn't adding an extra load but rather helping them to expand the things that were working and strip away the things they had thought they needed to do but realised they didn't really need to do.
So our hope is that this resource can help bring some focus to the various activities that churches have got going on. That is often the key for overstretched churches. In one respect, churches have got a lot going on but at the same time, there is a shared desire to be more fruitful and effective in the things they are doing and this resource can help them think that through.
This resource is also ideal for churches that haven't got the time or money to commit to a week-long residential or six-month weekly coaching community. It is a series of hourlong video-supported sessions designed to stimulate conversation, planning and action that can be done in their own time. It offers a range of voices and traditions from across the spectrum of the Church of England and the beauty of it is that we will be expanding this resource all the time. We will be listening to churches' feedback and provide more content depending on what needs they identify. Without a big budget, churches can implement this in their own time and their own context.
Leading in Evangelism is available online here.
