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Original poster

Ideas for local evangelism/mission, please

188 replies

Italiangreyhound · 15/05/2015 00:56

Hi, in our area we have a new housing development and our church (C of E) would like to make the new residents aware of our church, of what we offer and to invite them along to join us for events etc.

Does anyone have any ideas for local evangelism/mission, please?

Anyone tried any stuff locally that went down better than other things?

Thanks so much. Grin

OP posts:
thegreenheartofmanyroundabouts · 15/05/2015 10:18

First of all I would make sure that your website is up to date and designed for those outside and not inside the church. Put up lots of pictures and make it easy to navigate. In a perfect world the service times are on the front page with details of the latest special event with easy links to everything else.

As far as local evangelism goes it depends on the area. In one church we ran a project to do basic DIY for people who could not afford to do it themselves. We were in the middle of an area of significant social deprivation so decorating and fence mending were much appreciated gifts of time and talents. I know of another project which is run in conjunction with the food bank and is about sharing cooking skills so overstocks of food are delivered to the hall from local shops and allotment holders and there is a sort of 'Ready, Steady, Cook' event were what turns up is turned into meals.

It is worth thinking hard about what your church does well and how that might connect with the neighbourhood. My parish has a lot of flats and temporary residents who are away from family. I would like to do a Blue Christmas event to connect with those emotions of loss whilst everyone else is celebrating a family based affair.

The Fresh Expressions website has lots of ideas if you want to see what other people have been up to.

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 11:23

It's very rude to push your religion on to others.

TooBusyByHalf · 15/05/2015 13:53

I am / have been ?? an atheist but kind of drawn into our local church because it is so much the centre of our local community for non-believers as well as for its own congregation. This is in inner London. There is a thriving community centre which is built out of the narthex - used for anything and everything. There are several things on there (in 3 or 4 different rooms or spaces) every single day. The church itself is also used for non-church things - for example, because its bigger than the hall in the community centre, it's used for a community musical as part of our annual arts festival - 200 people are in that and go along - right into the church - once or twice a week for 3 months for rehearsals. Even more go to the performances.
This makes the church seem very accessible; and though of course most of the people who do the community stuff don't go to services on Sunday I'm sure it must have a knock-on effect on some of them (like me). The people who run the community centre have put years of hard work in obviously so it's not necessarily something you can achieve quickly, but definitely something to aim for. They used local people's volunteer labour to build a community cafe in the undercroft which is also a thriving venture.

I would say however that if any of it looked like 'mission' or 'evangelism' most local people would run a mile. It has to be very inclusive and very subtle indeed.

We also have a very lovely and approachable vicar which helps too. And her emailing list, the local facebook noticeboard, the website etc all contribute to making it all seem very much part of local life.

ShaynePunim · 15/05/2015 14:06

Propelusagain - they are not pushing their religion onto other people! They want to advertise themselves so people are aware of their presence if it is of interest to them.

Nobody will force them to attend anything.

It's not any 'ruder' than a local community centre/sports centre/whatever advertising themselves to a new development.

Vivacia · 15/05/2015 14:45

Are you after attracting new or fellow believers, or looking for ways to follow your beliefs by helping others and letting them know what you can do, or a bit of both?

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 15:23

shaynepunim, of course it is pushing. It's not like spreading the word about a Zumba class.

*Oxford Dictionary Definition. Convert or seek to convert (someone) to Christianity:

Evangelism is the duty of every Christian. Whether you share your faith a lot or a little, the Lord wants Christians to share the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.*

This is about trying to convert. And it's plain nasty.
The church is welcome to worship its imaginary friend, but sending out greasy little tendrils hoping to prey on the vulnerable is nasty.

TooBusyByHalf · 15/05/2015 15:26

propelusagain there is only person being 'nasty' on this thread.
Where does the OP say she is 'hoping to prey on the vulnerable'?

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 15:50

The most likely targets.
That and kids.

Can you not just keep your religion to yourselves?

thegreenheartofmanyroundabouts · 15/05/2015 16:04

No.

notquitegrownup2 · 15/05/2015 16:11

I nearly fell over when my parents said that they were involved in a 'mission', as there is no-one less likely to be pushy or even to speak about religion than they are. They are very reserved, British, stiff upper lip! They said that the new vicar had asked them to visit every door in their street. "And what are you going to say?" I asked, looking a little Hmm

"We are going to say that we are from your local church and we are having coffee and cake next Thursday morning, sherry/cheese and wine in the evening, and the Bishop will be doing an open "Any Questions" session afterwards" they said. Smile

It went brilliantly. Lots of people who don't normally go to church went along, drank a lot of coffee/wine, and the Bishop fielded questions of every shape and size. They laughed a lot, met neighbours they had never met, made new friends and all got to know one another a lot better.

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 16:15

greenhearts- this is the crux of it.

You think you have the truth. What if you have it all wrong? It's a bad thing to promulgate such untruths.
And with lack of any evidence at all we have to assume that you are indeed in the wrong.

Hakluyt · 15/05/2015 16:22

So long as you are up front from the start about who you are. So often the church isn't- like the coffee and cake at festivals you don't realize is a Christian organisation until you're in.

Hakluyt · 15/05/2015 16:23

Notquite's parents' idea sounds great.

capsium · 15/05/2015 16:34

propelusa it is ironic that you can speak at length concerning the power you believe ritual, meditation, herbal concoctions, aromatherapy, positive affirmation and spell casting has, on a Wicca/Pagan thread and yet on a Christian thread (which practices often contain ritual, positive affirmation / speaking in faith, though prayer to God v. Spell casting) you can't complain about lack of evidence! Are Christians not allowed to share their beliefs over things unproven scientifically as witches/Wiccans/Pagans? Are Christians not allowed to invite people along to see how the faith works? It is a shame because I enjoyed seeing the less adversarial side to you on the Pagan thread.

Hak the big cross at the front of the building is a clue... Wink

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 16:41

I am an atheist. I don't believe in the supernatural.

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 16:43

Capsium-I doubt very much you are following that wicca thread.

A bit of stalking here I suspect.

capsium · 15/05/2015 16:46

But you do have Pagan beliefs and practice witchcraft propel (which is not scientifically proven but you still believe 'works'). Also what about the 10% serendipitous coincidence and crackling Tarot? Nothing supernatural?

Anyway my point was that you share your beliefs, Christians can share their's.

propelusagain · 15/05/2015 16:49

I have no pagan beliefs. I have no faith.
Are you telling me who I am?

capsium · 15/05/2015 16:51

propel actually I have followed the Wicca thread and just recognised you. I am interested, I have family members who 'dabbled'. I believe we do hold power, I like find the constraints within Christianity a comfort though, as I also know a couple of people who have had bad experiences concerning the consequences of their 'dabbling'.

capsium · 15/05/2015 16:55

No, I should have put a question mark at the end of the sentence regarding Pagan beliefs, propel. I am not trying to tell you who you are. However witchcraft is not an established science, is it? It you believe it works, enough to practice, this does involve some degree of belief, does it not?

ItsAllKickingOffPru · 15/05/2015 17:01

If you have a website make sure it's up to date and not too cluttered.

IPlayBass · 15/05/2015 17:04

Our local church is a real hub of the community for both believers and non believers. They are inclusive and warm and welcoming. They don't judge or preach.

They do a toddler group once a week which is wonderful with coffee, biscuits and friendly chat. At the end they read a story which might be a child friendly version of a bible story or a general children's story with a message about being kind to friend's/sharing etc.

They also do various youth clubs for children of different ages with games, sweets and a song and prayer at the end. The only messages 'preached' are those of tolerance and kindness to their peers. Both the toddler group and youth club are run by members of the church as well as volunteers from the community. The church advertise the clubs with flyers through local doors.

Other things they do are carol singing events, summer family bbqs and playing football and rugby matches on a big screen there.

As a pp mentioned, make sure the website is good.

I'm agnostic but I love the local church.

BathTangle · 15/05/2015 17:15

I think Vivacia has a point: a key element of Christianity is demonstrating the love of Christ by helping others.

This can raise awareness of the existence of your church, and so you might call that "mission" but I am personally very uncomfortable with any such help that requires the recipient to buy into your beliefs as a condition of receiving it. To me that practice, of which organisations like Samaritan's Purse are often accused, is the complete opposite of Christ's teachings.

Such help should be a demonstration of God's grace: "the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it"

Hakluyt · 15/05/2015 20:28

"Hak the big cross at the front of the building is a clue... wink"

Yeah well, so long as the missionaries and evangelisers take it with them when they're knocking on doors offering to mend fences.........

capsium · 15/05/2015 20:37

Why just not require us to wear it clearly on our sleeves at all times Hak?

Hmm, what does that remind me of? Please tell me you have not really thought that comment through...