Thanks for coming to the Confident Christianity event at St Pauls Centre in St Helier. Here are my slides, as well as some notes for a section which I had to leave out due to time constraints.
News
PEP Talk With Rachel Jordan-Wolf
After the Covid pandemic, we’ve all had enough of statistics! But sometimes they can reveal amazing surprises about things we take for granted. Today Gavin Matthews learns more about the fascinating “Talking Jesus” report, which tells us so much about the nuances of faith in the UK and the untapped opportunities for sharing Jesus today.
With Rachel Jordan-Wolf – PEP Talk
Find out more about the Talking Jesus research here and watch a summary on YouTube here. The Talking Jesus course for churches is here.
Our Guest
Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf is passionate about sharing the gospel of Jesus and has worked for various churches and mission agencies in places such as London and Amsterdam. She’s involved in a church plant in London and is a adjunct lecturer in mission in the UK. She holds a PhD in Church History, focussing on women in mission in early 20th Century Britain. She has been an advisor for the Church of England on mission. Rachel is the Executive Director of Hope Together – a ministry which works with local churches to share the gospel of Jesus. She also loves chocolate!
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
Launch Pad 12: Join a Club or Group Outside The Church
Christian fellowship is great. It is meant to be enjoyed, the church was intended to be our family, where we feel safe and where people ‘get us’ because they share our beliefs, ethics and assumptions. But if we never go outside the safety of fellowship, we can become like a ship that never leaves the security of the harbour! Harbour walls are important and provide calm waters for ships to be both loaded and repaired. But the purpose of ships is to cross oceans, they are meant to head out from safety into open water. If they don’t they become pointless! Likewise, while we need the refuelling of fellowship, worship and teaching, our calling is to go out into the world with the message of Christ.
“I’d love to invite my friends to Alpha or Christianity Explored, but all my friends are Christians!” is an all too often heard phrase that makes leaders of these courses dismayed! It completely restricts the mission of the church. But the church has caused some of the problem itself, by overloading keen Christians with internal meetings, rotas and church duties so that they rarely get into the world, and certainly don’t spend enough time there to make life-deep friendships.
What’s compounded this problem has been the development of what might be called ‘christianised-leisure’! I know places where I can join Christian book-groups, hillwalking clubs and badminton clubs. The problem with this is that our whole lives can become absorbed in church, and our social contacts exclusively formed within the echo-chamber of fellowship.
So, here’s the challenge. Take a look at the amount of time that you invest in activities other than work – and make sure that at least one of them is in a context where you can meet, and make meaningful friendships, with people outside the church. If you are a bookworm, don’t set up a Christian book circle, find a neighbourhood one, etc. It’s not a quick fix for evangelism – but it can be an essential first step. We are called to be ‘salt’; and salt only works as a preservative in foods it touches. Likewise we cannot be an influence from within our silos. Christians need to get out more!
Pray: Lord please help me make deep friendships outside the church, and use these as a conduit for your love.
Previously: Launch Pad #11 Change Perceptions One Drop At A Time
University Mission – Special Solas Report
As the university mission season comes to an end, I spoke to Andy Bannister and Steve Osmond about their experiences on campuses from Canterbury to Glasgow, and many in between. We talked about mission today, working with students, UCCF, Christianity and Islam and more. Andy reflected on the changing nature of mission in the UK over the years. Steve talked about doing his first ever mission on a campus here. It’s an encouraging conversation and gives some insight into the kind of work that Solas does.
All of us would like to reiterate what Andy said on the video, that we are really grateful to those of you pray for our work, and who give to make it possible. Thank you!
Some of the links that Steve and Andy referred to in the video are:
Uncover Mark
Have You Ever Wondered? Solas’s new book!
Pray for Solas
Give to Solas
The Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF)
Photo credits, Lancaster University Christian Union
Why Are There So Many Denominations?
Why so many different church denominations? Anglicans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Evangelicals and more! If Christianity were true, then why all the disagreement? Surely, Christians would all just get along and the church would be the church wouldn’t it? In this Short Answers video, Steve Osmond shares some thoughts about the different expressions of the church.
Share
Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.
Support
Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!
Launch Pad 11: Change Perceptions, One Drop at A Time
In the church I often hear testimonies, prayers and comments about the way that following Jesus has brought joy, peace, purpose, and security into people’s lives. This week I heard a new Christian praying, “Lord, I long for my friends to experience you like I have, you are amazing!” The Christian life can sometimes be challenging and costly – but it is also characterised by the joy that comes from being reconciled to a God who is good, and His presence in our lives.
The media get great mileage from publicising bad-news stories about Christianity. Perhaps it is time to start changing our friends and colleagues’ perceptions about the Christian faith, by drip-feeding them a better, more accurate narrative.
Next time you are asked, ‘Good weekend?’, instead of the traditional, ‘Fine’, perhaps there is an opportunity to say something positive about the difference your faith (or even just your church) makes in your life.
Here are some examples of good news stories I have heard Christians drip into conversation:
- ‘Church was very significant for me yesterday.’
- ‘My friend of mine was baptized at the weekend and talked about how her new faith had helped her.’
- ‘I went to a human rights event where a Christian who’d escaped from North Korea spoke about the way that her faith sustained her in the internment camps.’
- ‘Our church has been raising money for a hospital in Africa and we managed to reach our target.’
- ‘The young people at church led the service last night, it was a breath of fresh air!’
- ‘I don’t know how to explain this but I’m really growing in my faith at the moment and it’s making me rethink a few things about life and priorities.’
- ‘The funeral yesterday was hard, but it’s times like these that my faith makes such a difference.’
TV dramas seem to love to picture church leaders putting out and collecting hymn books in empty buildings (just watch!). The thought that churches around the country consist of people with a real, living faith in Jesus which informs everything from how they spend their money, to profound spiritual experiences, to lives changed for the better as they follow Jesus – is a great untold story.
Pray: Lord, help me to be a conduit for good news stories about you and the difference you make to people’s lives!
Previously: Launch Pad #10 Reassure People That You Welcome Faith Conversations
Next: Launch Pad #12 Join a Club or Group Outside the Church
Deeside – Confident Christianity Weekend
Solas recently paid a return visit to Deeside Christian Fellowship Church for a Confident Christianity weekend. And as well as the usual Saturday half-day training event, DCFC organised a Friday night youth event, inviting not just their own young people but those from neighbouring churches. Almost 100 young people packed into DCFC and Andy and Steve tackled three tough questions — giving a 10 minute talk on each: “True for You, Not True for Me?”, “Is Christianity Bad for the Environment?” and “Do human rights make sense without God?”
In each case, they shared an answer to the question but also showed how that answer connected to Jesus and the gospel. We also had three Q&A sessions and the young people managed to ask over fifty questions! They ranged over everything from science to sexuality to the Bible to culture, and Andy and Steve did their best to cover as many as they could. Afterward the youth leader remarked he could use the remaining ones for the next two terms’ of youth programming! The evening was a reminder to me how young people need a space to ask their questions—not least, it encourages them to ask their friends along (as many did). But also surveys have shown that churches who encourage their youth to ask their questions and help them discover the answers produce young Christians who are massively more resilient in their faith at university.
Steve said, “Events with youth are always exciting – there’s always such a great buzz from the energy in the room – and this event was no exception. It’s really encouraging to see that there are churches that see the value in getting youth to think through tough questions and make space for the youth to bring their friends along to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Whether your youth ministry is large or small, we highly recommend churches pulling together to put on youth events like this!”
On Saturday, Andy and Steve were joined by Gavin Matthews from Solas and host Elizabeth McQuoid from the church for a morning Confident Christianity conference. In four sessions plus a time of Q&A, they looked at some useful skills for evangelism, as well as some hot topics that come up when we seek to share our faith. The sessions were all recorded and can be seen here:
Andy Bannister: Asking Questions like Jesus:
Steve Osmond: Given all the options, why Jesus?
Gavin Matthews: Where is God in the midst of Suffering?
Andy Bannister: Technology and Humanity:
Q&A:
On Sunday, Andy Bannister went over to Deeside’s sister church, Donside Community Church where he spoke on the uniqueness of Christ; while Gavin continued to speak about the question of suffering but from the encounter of Jesus with Mary, Martha and Lazarus in John 11. The audio of that talk can be heard here.
Working more intensly with a church over a weekend with evangelism, evangelism-training and Sunday preaching too, seems to be something we are being asked to do more regularly in the last year or so. It’s something we really enjoy doing as well, as it gives us the opportunity to get to know people in the church better, and to work with them in a variety of contexts. It’s great to be able to bring a whole team from Solas too and to engage in both sides of our work: evangelism and evangelism-training. Churches seem to appreciate this approach too, which facilitates a far deeper and more fuitful partnership between us than a single event. It keeps travel costs at a minimum too, which is good for everyone. If a Solas weekend might be of benefit to your church, we’d love to hear from you. We can tailor the programme to suit the needs of your fellowship, and work with you to help get the gospel out into your community effectively. Please do drop us a message so we can have an informal chat about the ways in which we serve churches!
PEPtalk With Belle Tindall
Where does our desire for the supernatural fit in the modern world? With a society built on rationality and technology, do we still have longings for a connection with something transcendent? Steve Osmond sits down with Belle Tindall to identify areas in our friends’ lives where we can show how the gospel story meets those longings.
With Belle Tindall – PEP Talk
Our Guest
Dr Belle Tindall is a biblical scholar, writer, speaker, and podcaster. Based at the Centre for Cultural Witness, she is the writer in residence at Seen and Unseen. She is also a columnist for Premier’s Woman Alive magazine and co-host of Re-Enchanting, a podcast that ponders whether our disenchanted world can be re-enchanted with the wonder and mystery of the Christian story.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
Launch Pad 10: Reassure People That You Welcome Faith and Belief Conversations!
Recently I sat down with a friend at a stag party for someone we both knew. He wasn’t a Christian, and asked if I was still going to church. Very quickly this led to us chatting about God. Then our conversation was cut short by another attendee: “We can talk about anything, except politics and religion – now let’s have some fun!”.
There’s a sad perception that as soon as we speak about ‘religion’ it will lead to disagreement, leading to tension, leading to fighting – so just keep it light…‘how about that weather yesterday…!’ Many Christians have adopted this mindset too. Equally, many people who don’t share our faith assume that they can’t ask us about what we believe at the risk of offending us, that we’ll be awkward and defensive! The result – nobody talks about it.
But what if we could change that? What if we could signal to people that this is something that we actually want to talk about. And not just that, we also love hearing about what other people believe.
The more time I’ve spent in conversation listening to people, the more I’ve realised that many of them like talking about life, and how they make sense of things. This creates many opportunities to explain our faith. Have a glance at these interviews with someone who’s doing this in their workplace.
How about instead of letting the perception that we can’t talk about these things persist, we can make it known that we are open to chat about what we believe, and that we aren’t threatened or worried about disagreement.
How do we do this? Drop it into the conversation! After making it known that you are a Christian and are able to start deeper conversations, try to weave in to your conversation that you are really open to speaking about these things.
Perhaps something like: “Sometimes people feel like they can’t talk about religion, but I love asking big questions about these things. If you ever have any questions about what Christians believe I’d love to try answer them and hear what you think – I really won’t be offended”.
For other resources, check out https://talkingjesus.org/
Prayer: ‘Please Lord give me opportunities to show people that I am approachable and willing to talk, and to do it with gentleness and respect’.
Previously: Launch Pad #9 Praying Persistently for People
Ministry to Students: Training Leaders at UCCF London
Student ministry continues to be a really important and fruitful mission field in the UK today. Christian Union groups on campuses up and down the country play an essential role in sharing the gospel of Jesus with students. Andy Bannister recently spent the day with the UCCF London team, discussing many aspects of ministry to students today – including the changing cultural context and the questions which now dominate the conversation. Watch the full report in the video!
Why Am I Not A Muslim?
Aren’t all religions, especially the “Abrahamic faiths,” basically the same? In this slightly-less-short Short Answers film, Solas Director Andy Bannister (who is unusual in that he’s a Christian but has a PhD in Islamic Studies) explains why although he respects his Muslim friends, he is not at all convinced by the core claims of Islam. Discover why the claims often made for the Qur’an and Muhammad don’t stand up when put to the test—and why the evidence for Jesus stands head and shoulders above them.
Share
Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.
Support
Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!
Launch Pad 9: Persistently Praying for People
When our kids were small, their favourite bedtime book was Who Forgot the Baby? It narrated the story of family of bears packing for a day trip. They loaded up the car with all the paraphernalia for a fun-filled visit to the seaside but were halfway there before realising they had forgotten to put the baby into the car. Like all books for Very Small People, what it lacked in plot it made up for in colour and chewability—but it also contained an important spiritual point.
In our faith we too can sometimes get distracted and miss the main thing. For example, in evangelism, we can get hyper-focussed on method, technique, programmes, and events. There’s nothing wrong with those things, but we mustn’t forget something absolutely crucial: prayer.
Prayer is the fuel in the tank of evangelism. And remembering the centrality of prayer is also an important reminder that in evangelism as in all things spiritual, this is God’s work, not our work.
Furthermore, prayer is also vital because I’m regularly reminded how many “coincidences” seem to be involved in evangelism: the right conversation at the right time with the right person, the tract that ends up in just the right pair of hands, and so on. As William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1940s remarked: “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t”.
But what should I pray? How about this as a starter. Make a list of five non-Christians in your life: family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours. Put that list somewhere you’ll see it often (stick it in your Bible, on the kettle, or to the cat) and then pray as often as you can for them. In particular, pray for natural opportunities to talk about Jesus with each person.
You may be amazed what God does. When we moved to our current home two years ago, my wife and I began praying for our new neighbours several times a week. Since then, we’ve seen one neighbouring kid start coming to church, two others to a “Bible Club” we’ve started, and one mum beginning the Alpha Course at our church.
So try praying: Jesus, would you please bring to mind the names of five people. Please prompt me to pray for them regularly. And would you please create “spiritual coincidences” whereby I can share the gospel with them. Amen!
Previously: Launch Pad #8 Practice Hospitality
Next: Launch Pad #10 Reassure People That You Welcome Faith and Belief Conversations
Outreach in Blairgowrie
One of the privileges we have at Solas is working with great people in local churches all around the country. In this video Andy Bannister reports on a positive evening spent with a local church in the Perthshire town of Blairgowrie – a terrific group of folks with a real passion to share Christ with the people in their town.
PEP Talk with Hannah Steele
Steve Osmond fills in as host this week on PEP Talk and gets the chance to speak with an expert on mission and evangelism in postmodern culture. Hannah Steele is an academic and author whose passion is to see churches and groups of Christians grow together to become more missional and evangelistic.
With Hannah Steele – PEP Talk
Our Guest
The Revd Dr Hannah Steele is Director of St Mellitus College, London and Tutor and Lecturer in Missiology. As well as Living His Story, she is author of New World, New Church? (SCM Press, 2017). Alongside her academic work, Hannah has spent time engaged in mission and evangelism among students in central London as a staff worker with UCCF. She is married with three sons and loves watching football, baking and traveling.
Pre-order her next book here: Living His Story Together, due out 20 June 2024.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
Hillview Community Church
Thanks for coming to the Confident Christianity Conference at Hillview Community Church! As promised, you can find our slides from the morning — as well as resources related to some of the questions in the Q&A — here:
Presentation Slides
Q&A Topics
- Book: Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t by Steve McAlpine.
- On “success” in Evangelism read this.
- On the uniqueness of Jesus. Watch a Short Answers video here, and read about the topic here.
- On sharing the gospel at work, see our Frontlines series (Solas interviews with Christians who share Jesus at work) and TransformWork, the organisation behind Christian workplace groups.
- On use of the media in evangelism, see Solas’s columns in The Scotsman newspaper, and this guide for writing to newspapers by Douglas Groothuis.
- On “positive apologetics” see Solas’s forthcoming book: Have You Ever Wondered?
- On Evangelism to the Apathetic watch the Solas Webinar with Michael Ots and follow Launch Pad, weekly ideas for sharing your faith.
- On divisions within the church click here for a Short Answers video.
