Martha's Marvellous Munchies

On the first Saturday of the month, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway runs a railcar from Duffield to Wirksworth at 8:20 in the morning. Its stated purpose is to carry people to the monthly farmers market in Wirksworth; I suspect that the railway needed to get the railcar up the track anyway, and decided that they might as well carry a few customers at the same time. To me, it looked like the perfect way to start a walk on the Ecclesbourne Way . The railcar was a funny little thing, more like a tram than a train, with stripy seats and a good view at the front through the glassed-in driver's compartment. Toby glanced at the other passengers and decided that he was the youngest by a long way. I guess not many teenagers get up early on a Saturday morning to travel on vintage rolling stock. We chugged steadily along the track, pausing at a couple of level crossings where the guard had to hop off and open the gates for us to go through. The railcar then stopped again for him to get back o...

I've looked at the conviction  that drives evangelism, the perception  that informs evangelism, and the action  that accompanies evangelism. So, what's the progression  from here? The Progressive Evangelism booklet from the Student Christian Movement asks the question: Can evangelism ever be considered progressive when its history is so complicated?  That's an interesting one. It suggests that evangelism itself might be beyond redemption. Is that possible? Surely if Christianity is still worth hanging onto, then we should also be able to tell others what we believe. But my preceding posts have dredged up some pretty serious negatives. I can see why some Christians might decide that it's better just to leave everyone else be. If they're interested, fine. If not, no problem. I guess I'm still evangelical at heart. The appeal of leaving everyone else to whatever they believe still rubs up against a conviction that evangelism is somehow important.  Progression ...

In this short series on evangelism, I have thought about the conviction  that motivates my desire to tell people about Jesus, and the perceptions  that help or hinder that. After all that thought, it's clear that a little action is needed. Image by Voluntouring from Pixabay Action  gets a whole section in the Progressive Evangelism booklet which inspired this series. It says that actions to support those in need and challenge injustice are "probably the most common expression of evangelism in progressive churches". Action What counts as evangelism? In its broadest sense, I think that anything that Christians do, or the church does, which engages with everyone else in the world, counts as evangelism. That's how people are going to form an idea of the Christian faith - through all those little interactions. Having said that, the motivation for any particular action may be on a sliding scale between, at one end, "We are doing this to tell people about Jesus," ...

In my first post on this topic, I talked about conviction  - my belief in Jesus, and my reasons for wanting to talk about my faith, or not doing so. An equally important factor is perception . What do I actually think evangelism is? My mind conjures up a confused mixture of John Wesley preaching on horseback, Gladys Aylward leading children across China, David Wilkerson facing drug addicts on the streets of New York, Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles across the Iron Curtain, and Corrie ten Boom extending a hand to a penitent prison guard. (You can tell I grew up reading dusty 1980s Christian paperbacks!) None of those people sounds much like me. Nor do any of those situations correspond to inviting a friend to the church quiz night, which is the most common form of evangelism that I have been asked to do (and have, quite frankly, never done). So, time to dig a bit more deeply. Perception What positive perceptions do I have of evangelism? Well, I grew up as a Christian, which meant I ...

Evangelism. Also known as mission, outreach, or spreading the good news; and, less positively, indoctrination, Bible-bashing, or converting the heathens. Whatever you call it, its reputation is mixed. It may call to mind Alpha courses and Billy Graham crusades. Perhaps you think of Street Pastors or food banks - churches giving practical help.  But the word evangelism may well conjure images of colonial abuses, televangelists, and people shouting about hell on street corners. Those of us who attend evangelical churches are regularly exhorted to evangelise (well, the clue is  in the name) but I have rarely heard any in-depth examination of why we may not feel comfortable doing so. The assumption, often, is that people simply don't know how to share their faith, and that a workshop teaching the four steps of salvation will resolve everything. So I was interested to hear an episode of Beer Christianity  featuring Naomi Nixon, CEO of the Student Christian Movement. She mentio...