I'm attending the Mission21 Conference in Bath for three days this week and have just finished day 1 (running 14.00 to 21.00 with a 2 hour break for evening meal). Its a mixed bunch of people drawn from all kinds of churches and I hope I will be able to learn from those from other traditions and those who are working in other contexts that "rural" (my area of expertise).
As part of this programme we are spending much of the time in "Streams" and I opted for "Cross Cultural Church Planting". My thinking was that most villages are microcosms of multi culturalism, but I suspect we will steadily see people from ethnic minorities moving into British villages in increasing numbers so we need the debate.
Much time in our evening session revolved around how we might measure "success" and that led to a debate on churches that are genuinely agencies for transformation because of social action engagement. The group leader placed his emphasis on numerical growth through conversions. I found myself sitting in the middle but I'd be grateful for some comments on the following please:
In 1Peter 3:15 we read "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," and it was suggested that if we live Christian lives marked by appropriate good deeds people will ask us about our faith. My concern about this is that most rural Christians do live lives of loving service to others, but I am yet to hear of a single instance in a rural context where this has led to anyone asking "for the reason for the hope". It seems to me that people expect us to be nice and helpful but I'm not sure how often this leads to anyone then asking us to explain the gospel.
So if any reader can enlighten me otherwise - and remember it has to be a rural context - I would be delighted to hear from you. Meanhile, I'm off to bed!
As part of this programme we are spending much of the time in "Streams" and I opted for "Cross Cultural Church Planting". My thinking was that most villages are microcosms of multi culturalism, but I suspect we will steadily see people from ethnic minorities moving into British villages in increasing numbers so we need the debate.
Much time in our evening session revolved around how we might measure "success" and that led to a debate on churches that are genuinely agencies for transformation because of social action engagement. The group leader placed his emphasis on numerical growth through conversions. I found myself sitting in the middle but I'd be grateful for some comments on the following please:
In 1Peter 3:15 we read "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," and it was suggested that if we live Christian lives marked by appropriate good deeds people will ask us about our faith. My concern about this is that most rural Christians do live lives of loving service to others, but I am yet to hear of a single instance in a rural context where this has led to anyone asking "for the reason for the hope". It seems to me that people expect us to be nice and helpful but I'm not sure how often this leads to anyone then asking us to explain the gospel.
So if any reader can enlighten me otherwise - and remember it has to be a rural context - I would be delighted to hear from you. Meanhile, I'm off to bed!
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