Thus, Martin Davie, in his A Guide to the Church of England, asserts on this basis that, “the Church of England … sees mission as something that involves more than simply evangelism.”29

Indeed Davie explicitly critiques the definition of evangelism used in Towards the Conversion of England, quoting with approval the words of Paul Avis:

… mission is bigger than evangelization. Evangelization is a part of which mission is the whole. As Moltmann puts it, ‘[...] Evangelization is mission, but mission is not merely evangelization.’30

The problem with this analysis is that it has been rejected by a subsequent Anglican body set up to continue the study of mission: the ‘Standing Commission for Mission of the Anglican Communion’, also known as MISSIO. According to its report on the Anglican Communion official website,

At its second meeting (Ely 1996), MISSIO began reviewing the 'Five Marks of Mission' as developed by the Anglican Consultative Council between 1984 and 1990. We recognise with gratitude that the Five Marks have won wide acceptance among Anglicans, and have given parishes and dioceses around the world a practical and memorable "checklist" for mission activities.

However, we have come to believe that, as our Communion travels further along the road towards being mission-centred, the Five Marks need to be revisited.

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Clergy are to be urged to be more vocal in countering the arguments put forward by a more hard-line group of atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, who have campaigned for a less tolerant attitude towards religion.

A report endorsed by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, warns that the Church faces a battle to prevent faith being seen as "a social problem" and says the next five years are set to be a period of "exceptional challenge".

It expresses concern that Christians are facing hostility at work and says the Church could lose its place at the centre of public life unless it challenges attempts to marginalise religious belief.

The rallying call comes amid fears that Christians are suffering from an increasing level of discrimination following a series of cases in which they have been punished for sharing their beliefs.

Members of the General Synod, the Church's parliament, will be asked at this week's meeting to back the landmark report, which outlines a vision to ensure a strong future of the Church.

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How Andrew White's Baghdad congregation brings God's love to a war-torn land.

MORE than 1,000 adults and hundreds of children and young people have generated record attendance at a newly-established major Christian festival on the south coast.

Churchgoers from a wide range of denominations turned out in force for the third annual “Bible By The Beach” event initiated by the Bishop of Lewes, Rt Revd Wallace Benn.

They enjoyed a variety of talks, worship, seminars and children and young people’s activities in the four-day get-together, which finished Monday afternoon (May 2nd).

“This is a flagship event for lively Bible teaching in the south-east,” Bishop Wallace told those attending. Organisers were delighted that in spite of the economic downturn, bookings for this year’s event were higher than 12 months ago.

Among those speaking were human rights campaigner Baroness Caroline Cox, founder and chief executive of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) which supports oppressed, persecuted and neglected groups of people in Europe, Africa and Asia.

A speaker drawing large crowds was Oxford University professor John Lennox, as he mounted a staunch defence of Christianity in the face of the attacks launched upon it by leading atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

Camille B. Kampouris, one of Jim Henson’s Muppeteers, who now helps head up an international Christian online teaching initiative, shared something of her journey to faith at the event and briefly reprised her role as the voice of some of Sesame Street’s best-known characters.

Archbishop Greg Venables, who has ministered in South America for many years, flew in from an international conference of Anglican bishops to give a series of addresses, saying: “These are new days and God is working in wonderful ways around the world.”

Local dignitaries from Eastbourne, where the event took place, also attended, including MP Stephen Lloyd, and the Mayor, Councillor Carolyn Heaps. Internationally-recognised and acclaimed song and hymn-writer Stuart Townend led the musicians.

The event — held under the theme of “Resurrection People” — attracted churchgoers from across many different denominations. Plans are already underway for next year's event, which will run from 4th to 7th May 2012. The theme will be “Christ in all the Scriptures.” 
 

When I worked in the City, I could see the spire of Christ Church Spitalfields from my desk. I liked to look at it as I traded – it represented something far from the grubby materialism of my day job. This was 2007 and the first intimations of the financial crash were being felt. People were skittish: I think we all knew the party was coming to an end. On Tuesdays and Thursdays some of my colleagues on the trading floor would disappear around lunchtime. Groups of twos and threes scurried off to return an hour later, looking cheerful. In the pub after work one evening, I asked the Australian girl who sat at the desk beside mine about her lunchtime absences and she told me of secretive evangelical meetings that took place in the City, about how the church gave her a place to step away from the pressure and worry of her job. It also gave her a sense of belonging to a community. She was lonely in London, she said.

The relationship between faith and finance runs deep. Quaker-run banks such as Barclays – founded three centuries ago on Lombard Street – survived when many of their peers crumbled during the crashes of the mid-1700s precisely because of the Christian ethics that underpinned their businesses. More recently, Stephen Green stepped down as chairman and chief executive of HSBC to take holy orders. And over the past decade, a specific type of evangelical Christianity has taken hold of the Square Mile, although only recently has it dared speak its name (at least in City circles). Foremost among them is the Alpha course, whose extraordinary expansion has been funded in part from the deep pockets of former Lazard chairman Ken Costa.

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Over the last 20 years, 35 per cent of ‘believing men’ have left the Church in the UK. For men aged under 30, 49 per cent left in the same period.  Over 70 per cent of boys raised in church abandon it during their teens/20’s. (Source TearFund).
 
On February 5, the Oxford Diocese, in partnership with Men And The Church (MATCH), is to host a day conference for clergy and lay people, offering resources and ideas for churches wanting to reach un-churched men with the gospel, exploring why so many men leave the Church, and to encourage new strategies for evangelism to men.
 
The event is the idea of the Revd Paul Eddy, 43, curate at Grove Parish Church in the Oxford Diocese, and founder of MATCH. Before ordination, the cleric ran a national public relations consultancy, dealing with the national secular media.

 
Revd Eddy said: “In churches across the diocese, clergy, male and female, are very concerned about the lack of men in their congregations and have been asking for resources and support in developing effective evangelism to, and the discipleship of, un-churched men.”
 
The lack of men in church doesn’t just concern the clergy.  Revd Eddy said: “Around 25 percent of women in church attend on their own, with a husband at home, and many young women in our churches looking to find a Christian man to marry are deeply concerned at the lack of men in our churches.”
 
However, Revd Eddy says that some of the answers to the problem might mean a radical re-think of how ‘church’ is done in many parishes.
 
He said: “Some of the main mission strategies of the CofE might need adapting. An analysis of Fresh Expressions (the major evangelistic strategy of the CofE today),  reveals that up to 95 per cent of all NEW evangelistic activities are realistically focussed on women, or women and children (under the heading of ‘family’), and not on men. 
 
“In addition, the current CofE mission strategy revolves around people ‘Belonging’ to a congregation and then ‘Believing’ and then a change in ‘Behaviour’ after conversion.  This is great for most women who like fellowship, are brilliant at small talk, and are used to joining mums and tods, coffee mornings etc. However, for most men to make the decision to follow Jesus Christ first requires an intellectual/masculine hurdle to jump before they feel prepared to join a new ‘community’.  The first thing that will have to change with most men is their behaviour, so, with evangelism to men, I would suggest, the strategy should be the reverse, recognising they will need to consider ‘Behaviour’, then ‘Believe’ and then finally join, or ‘belong’ to a local church – if, it’s worship, preaching and discipleship is relevant to men.”
 
Revd Eddy says churches wanting to develop a ministry to men need to be committed to the long-haul.  He added: “Research from Christian Vision for Men shows that it takes an average of five years from the time an un-churched man has a significant personal contact with another Christian man, until he has made a public profession of faith in Jesus.”
 
The conference, ‘Reaching Un?Churched/De?Churched Men with the Gospel’, February 5, 9.30am?4.00pm, will take place at Grove Parish Church, Main Street, Grove.
 
Chaired by the Ven. Karen Gorham, Archdeacon of Buckingham, other conference keynote speakers include Professor Glynn Harrison, a member of the Crown Nominations Commission, who will help delegates think through the psychological differences between men and women.  The Ven. Morris Rodham, Archdeacon Missioner in the Diocese of Coventry, will explore how church liturgy and structures might need to change if men are to feel fully engaged.  Case studies and resources will also be available, including how to use the ‘Olympic Games’ and ‘Father’s Day’ evangelistically for men.
 
For more information, visit www.oxford.anglican.org
 

Did I hear Him correctly?

Three days ago I sat in the next to last row of a packed auditorium at the New Wineskins Mission Conference in Ridgecrest, NC listening to an African Archbishop talk about what God has been doing in his corner of Northern Nigeria. This humble man began with a brief overview of the challenges facing Nigerian Christians – the violence and persecution, loss of jobs, homes, and loved ones all for the sake of the gospel. And then, without even skipping a beat, he continued . . . “Fifteen years ago there were three in my area of the country, today there are 49. In spite of the challenges, God has done a miraculous work.”

Wait a minute . . . I think I missed what he said . . . There were three what? And now 49 what? Church plants? “Wow! What a remarkable work of God,” I thought to myself. Could an Anglican diocese in North America ever plant 40+ churches in 15 years? I turned to the person sitting next to me and whispered, “Wow, that is a lot of churches.” He turned and looked at me . . . “Churches?” He paused. “I think he said dioceses . . . from 3 to 49 dioceses in the last 15 years. Can you believe that?”

Indeed the Archbishop HAD said dioceses (and I found out later each diocese has between 25 and 50 congregations). And no, I couldn’t believe it.

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A retired Cumbrian BBC producer is to attack the corporation over its coverage of religious and ethical issues.

Nigel Holmes, 64, from Great Corby, a former BBC senior local radio producer, will call upon the BBC and broadcasting watchdog Ofcom to “explain” why British television – once “exemplary” in its coverage of religious and ethical issues – now allegedly “marginalises” the few that remain.

He will ask members of the Church of England’s General Synod next month to back his Private Member’s Motion accusing BBC television of ignoring Good Friday 2009.

In a background briefing paper for the General Synod, Mr Holmes said over the past 20 years the output of general programmes on BBC Television had doubled.

Yet BBC figures for the same period show there has been a reduction in religious television output from 177 hours to 155 hours a year, he said.

This was in spite of a BBC survey showing 78% of people recognise Christianity as the “backbone” of their spirituality, he said, and a YouGov poll showing 71% said they considered themselves to be religious.

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Americans overwhelmingly support allowing public Christmas displays at least if they are part of a display that includes symbols of other faiths and holiday traditions — more than eight-in-ten (83%) say that displays of Christmas symbols such as nativity scenes and Christmas trees should be allowed on government property, while 11% say that such displays should not be allowed.

There is much less support, however, if Christmas symbols are displayed alone on public property: Fewer than half (44%) of Americans say such Christmas-only displays should be allowed, while 27% say that Christmas symbols should only be allowed if Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other symbols are also displayed, and 12% say it does not matter or express no opinion.

White evangelical Protestants are nearly unanimous in their support of public Christmas displays, with 95% saying Christmas symbols should be allowed on government property. Furthermore, a large majority (59%) of evangelicals would allow such displays even if Christmas symbols are unaccompanied by symbols of other traditions. White mainline Protestants (83%) and Catholics (91%) also overwhelmingly support allowing Christmas displays, though fewer among these groups (49% of mainline Protestants and 44% of Catholics) support displaying Christmas symbols in isolation. More than six-in-ten seculars (63%) are comfortable with public Christmas displays, although only one-in-four (27%) says they are acceptable if displayed alone.

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Secularists warn hardline proselytising on school premises

Original paper headline: The Alpha movement has persuaded millions back to church globally. Now it’s taking on England’s state schools ..

Growing numbers of Alpha courses are being run in schools to give pupils the opportunity to explore Christianity, The TES has learnt.

The courses, which have been criticised by religious bodies and secular campaigners, are taught in lunchtime and after-school sessions.

Youth Alpha courses, designed for 11- to 18-year-olds, encourage pupils to consider questions such as “Who is Jesus?” and “How can I resist evil?”

They are based on popular adult Alpha courses, run in churches, universities and prisons, which organisers say have been completed by more than 13 million people around the world.

Archbishop Blanch CofE High School in Liverpool, now in its third year of running Youth Alpha, has had almost 300 pupils complete the course. It runs for eight weeks in lunch hours. Attendance is voluntary but the sessions are promoted around the school, including during assemblies.

Head Jane Griffiths said: “It is a hugely successful and popular part of our church life here. There were girls who were asking questions about the Christian faith.

“We feel it’s great for children whose own churches don’t offer Youth Alpha and for children who are not Christians.”

The course was set up with the head’s backing by Reverend Kate Wharton, the Bishop of Liverpool’s appointee to the school’s board of governors.

“Everyone is welcome, whether they are Christians, of another faith or don’t believe,” she said. “They can ask questions without being signed up to anything. It is a fair and balanced introduction to the Christian faith.”

Reverend Wharton is hosting a visit from another diocese next week, which is keen to introduce Youth Alpha into its schools.

“I think it would work well in any school,” she said. “It is a valid thing to run in a secular school as much as a faith school. We have a responsibility to equip young people to make big decisions in their lives. They should be free to choose, but they need to know the options to choose from.”

Alpha courses are heavily promoted, with a website including a celebrity endorsement from adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls.

Exact numbers of Youth Alpha courses being run in schools are unclear. About 60 schools are registered to run the courses, but this number could include church groups that use school buildings.

Alpha courses have been challenged for offering too limited an interpretation of Christianity and for implicit criticism of homosexuality.

Jonathan Bartley, co-director of Ekklesia, a religious think-tank, said the courses deal with doctrine rather than Christianity as a way of life.

“It’s about sin, hell and the resurrection and what people must do to get to heaven,” he said. “I would be very worried about that adult content being used in schools unless it has been heavily modified.”

Governing bodies pushing to introduce Youth Alpha at faith schools are “overstepping the mark”, he said.

Keith Porteous Wood, director of the National Secular Society, said: “We have pupils, a captive audience, funnelled into hardline proselytising on school premises. These schools should be seeking permission from parents, but I bet they aren’t.”