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Eating Together
Please refer to the conversation cards sheet above.
Dwelling Together
Ephesians 3: 2-21 (JB)
2 You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, 3 and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery, as I have just described it very shortly. 4 If you read my words, you will have some idea of the depths that I see in the mystery of Christ. 5 This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; 6 it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Christ Jesus, through the gospel. 7 I have been made the servant of that gospel by a gift of grace from God who gave it to me by his own power. 8 I, who am less than the least of all the saints, have been entrusted with this special grace, not only of proclaiming to the pagans the infinite treasure of Christ 9 but also of explaining how the mystery is to be dispensed. Through all the ages, this has been kept hidden in God, the creator of everything. Why? 10 So that the Sovereignties and Powers should learn only now, through the Church, how comprehensive God’s wisdom really is, 11 exactly according to the plan which he had had from all eternity in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 This is why we are bold enough to approach God in complete confidence, through our faith in him; 13 so, I beg you, never lose confidence just because of the trials that I go through on your account: they are your glory. 14 This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, 15 from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name: 16 Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, 17 so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, 18 you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; 19 until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God. 20 Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; 21 glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
Are there any details that stick out to you?
Do they highlight anything to you that you haven’t noticed before?
Learning Together
Introduction to Module
It might be helpful to outline here why there is a session on Being Church in an evangelism resource. Some of your participants might be thinking it feels like an unusual session to include, but at Church Army we think the church has a huge role to play in evangelism. There are two reasons for this. First, evangelism should lead to engagement with the Church. If it doesn’t, we aren’t fulfilling our responsibility to those we share faith with, but leaving them without support on their journey of faith. Second, our role as leaders in evangelism is to help build a culture of evangelism in our churches. Evangelism should be about the community reaching out rather than sending out long-wolf evangelists. To be able to do these things well we need to think about the nature of the church, our understanding and experience of it, and how we can be a part of a culture of evangelism.
Initial Activity and Discussion
Take a large piece of paper and draw a line down the middle.
On one side, mindmap all the things you think about church, it’s up to you whether you think in terms of local or wider.
Once you’ve done this, on the other side mindmap what you think non-Christians think about the church.
What are the similarities and differences between the sets of ideas? Feedback.
The Essence of Church
In the language of Mission-Shaped Church the four directions of Church Relationships are described as:
- UP relationships through participating in the life of the Trinity
- IN relationships through fellowship within the gathering
- OUT relationships in love for, and service of the world
- OF relationships, as part of the whole body, through connections with the wider church.
Michael Moynagh, 2012, Church for Every Context: An Introduction to Theology and Practice, London, SCM Press, 106-108
- In my experience, to what extent is church about UP, IN, OUT, and OF relationships?
- What is helpful about this way of understanding church? What could be unhelpful about it?
Talking Jesus
There is some really interesting research that we can look at to enhance our thoughts on perceptions of the church. In 2022, Talking Jesus released their research on public perceptions of Christians and churches.
One of the standout findings was the difference between how people perceive Christians and Churches.
| Descriptor | Christians | Churches |
| Caring | 50% | 20% |
| Friendly | 62% | 22% |
| Encouraging | 19% | 10% |
| Hopeful | 23% |
11% |
| Generous | 32% |
11% |
| Hypocritical | 9% | 26% |
| Unhappy | 4% | 4% |
| Naive | 10% | 13% |
| Selfish | 4% | 9% |
| Hurtful | 3% | 8% |
| Homophobic | 5% | 16% |
Do any of the above surprise you?
How do they match to what they thought the perception of Church would be?
Why do they think there is a difference between Christians and Church?
Loving the Church
Only God can save us, not the Church.
I say that out of great love for the Church. God saves, and the Church is that beautiful gift given by God to preach that word which will set us free. But when we preach “Church” and raise up “Church”, we are not necessarily proclaiming the Lord. We often are preaching ourselves. Jesus never preached Israel, he preached Yahweh. He preached the absolute transcendence of Yahweh and fidelity and obedience to Yahweh.
If we simply love that which is worthy of love, we will never love at all. The Lord loved “the Church”, i.e. Israel, exactly as it was. You cannot love the Church as it was fifty years ago. That’s a cop-out. The only Church you must love is the Church today.
Richard Rohr, 1995, Radical Grace, Cincinnati, St Anthony Messenger Press, 76.
• What makes it hard to love the church?
Reflecting Together: Doing Traditional Church Really Well
Suggested content from Robin Gamble’s chapter in The Future of the Parish System (2006):
- Gamble challenges the view that we should be ‘gloomy and dismissive’ about inherited church. He highlights many things that the English parish church has and does as grounds for hope and positivity. The parish church has:
- A large prominent building
- A vicar
- A congregation
- A parish
- A weekly service
It is engaged in:
-
- The still massive ministry of occasional offices
- A considerable range of community activities
- Schools and colleges
- Festivals
- Children’s activities
- Deanery, diocesan and national networks
Given all this, Gamble comments that ‘if we were to offer this assembly of pieces to a new religious group trying to get off the ground or to an emerging political party wanting to launch themselves nationally, they would bite our hand off and beam with optimism and excitement’
(Croft, 2006: 94-95).
This was true 20 years ago when it was written, how much of this is still true?
Are there grounds for optimism and positivity?
Group Activities
DNA = Desire Plan Action
Gamble recommends the PPP strategy for helping a church ‘build a planned way forward into health and growth’ (Croft, 2006: 102).
- He asserts that ‘having a plan or strategy is a bit alien to most of us involved with Inherited Mode Church. Our natural language is that of presence, caring and weekly routine. We tend to be more into ‘being’ than planning. If we do plan then it is usually for the week ahead, or for the next festival, rather than for long-term vision. We are brilliant at being reactive to “what is”, we are less good at being proactive and building the “what can be”’ (Croft, 2006: 102).
- Presence = pastoral contact with those on the fringe of church or outside the church.
- Proclamation = communication of the gospel message and invitation to a wonderful new
way of life. - Persuasion = sensitive listening and sharing, e.g. through enquirers groups and
discipleship courses - Gamble notes that ‘Paul and Jesus followed presence with proclamation, but our practice
is to follow presence with more presence’ (Croft, 2006: 103).
Discussion: Does your church seem to follow the PPP strategy? In which element of this strategy might you need to grow?
Group Activity: Using the (Church's) Year in Evangelism
In pairs, brainstorm ways you might use the church’s year, or just the general year, in evangelism:
How would you characterise different parts of the year?
What are the opportunities for connection between your church and community?
Kep hold of your responses, they will be helpful to use i the Missional Planning session.
Prayer Activity
On one post-it note, write or draw one thing from this evening’s session you’d like to learn more about, or do more, or try out…
On another post-it note, write or draw one gift or quality or talent you have that can help your church…
In pairs, share briefly what you’ve put on your post-it notes, then pray for each other – aloud or quietly.
If time allows, pairs may wish to share insights from this prayer time with the larger group.
Each person may like to take away one or two of the post-it notes as a sign and a reminder that we continue to hold these intentions in prayer and resolve to act on them between now and the next session.