Category: Integrating Newcomers Into Parish Life

Invitation to a Young Man

2/8/2022

Invitation to a Young Man

On 13 Jul 2022 Dr Jordan B. Petersen issued a challenge to churches to invite young men back to church. Released on YouTube it has already had more than 1 million views as at 31 Jul 2022.
Therefore there’s a good chance you have already watched that 11 minute video clip.

If you haven’t, the link is below:
https://youtu.be/e7ytLpO7mj0

Dear young man who is considering walking back into a Catholic Church after an absence, or perhaps for the very first time, there is absolutely no doubt that we need you; and there is absolutely no doubt that God has plenty that He wants to do in and through you, but it won’t be easy at all.

There’s a lot of stuff you need to know...

The short version is

Be prepared: do as much research as you can before you show up.
Be patient: this is for the long haul, and it will be many months before mutual trust begins.
Be neat and tidy: as you would for an official family photograph, or a visit to a grandparent.
Be sober: you want all your senses functioning properly.
Be early: aim for a minimum of 15 minutes before start time.
Be open: there is so much that you don’t yet know, and things God may gently ask you to give up.
Be willing: to be gracious if someone asks for help; and to grow in the awareness of the needs of others.
Don’t be afraid.

The long version has 7 x A4 pages long. Download it below:

invitation_to_a_young_man_pdf.pdf
File Size:	103 kb
File Type:	pdf

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Proclaim 2014: Ecumenical Panel 22 August

24/9/2014

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What's working in other churches - Ecumenical Panel

Rev Edward Vaughan

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/edward-vaughan/9/409/436

http://www.stjohnsanglican.org.au/rector.html

Ed is currently the rector of St John's Anglican church in Darlinghurst. He is married with three children. Having studied at Moore College he ministered in parishes around Balmain and Rozelle for 13 years before moving to Ireland for a few years to be rector at an Anglican / Church of Island parish in south Dublin.

While Ed was stationed in Dublin he took his family on a holiday to Donegal. (County Donegal is in the far north of Ireland). There they found a big church, and wondered which denomination it belonged to. They walked all around it and could not find a sign anywhere. As they got to know the place, with its small local community, they realised that everyone knew which church it was, what the Mass times were and who the priest was. Here was a community that needed to discover its missionary imagination and to think beyond the locals to the visitors and holiday makers who didn't know such basic information. In times gone by they had no need for outreach because the whole community shared the same faith. Things are very different in Ireland now.

The Anglican parish of Darlinghurst is a very complex place. It is full of young secular people living alternative lifestyles, and has a large gay population. The most common response to Gospel overtures is indifference rather than hostility.

Before starting anything new in the parish, Ed led his parish through a discernment process and through times of waiting on God for direction. It took a whole year of listening not only to in the pews but also those not in the pews. Several prayer meetings were held where people were asked to bring their phones. After prayers they were sent off to various destinations around the parish. On the way they walked in silence and recorded their observations with the camera and sound recording functions of their phones. The idea was to listen to all the words being spoken, to what they heard, saw and smelt as they went around parts of the parish. Then they returned and reported what they had discovered.

From this they determined that God was calling them as a parish to be 'a people of freedom and a presence of blessing'. One initiative that emerged from this time of discernment was a café for street people manned by parish volunteers. The café provides a safe place for street people and others to come, and a place to start conversations and to make real connections with them. The parish has also found the Alpha programme very helpful in their context.

Greta Wells

http://ac.edu.au/faculty-and-staff/greta-wells/

https://www.facebook.com/gretacornish

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/greta-cornish/66/647/7b2

http://www.theomag.com/author/gretacornish/

Greta would probably describe herself these days as a charismatic Pentecostal. There is a wide variety of diversity under the 'Pentecostal' umbrella ranging from Church of Christ renewal movements to charismatic churches and to the more vivid expressions of the Holy Spirit found in Vineyard churches. Of interest is that new churches form flowing from new experiences of the Holy Spirit rather than splits over doctrinal differences.

Most Pentecostal churches follow a four-fold Gospel model

Jesus is Saviour
Jesus empowers us by the Holy Spirit (through personal encounter with Him a person is empowered to give witness to Him
Jesus is the Healer (we are empowered to ask for healing)
Jesus is the soon-coming King

The 1980s saw the rise of the mega-church. There are signs that long term thinking has begun in these churches. They still have that sense of urgency about proclaiming Jesus as the soon-coming King, but that urgency isn't as strong as it once was. Altar calls are still a common thing, but the follow-up to such altar calls isn't so good. Some churches are decentralising their congregations, and are conducting experimental engagement with the prevailing culture.

Pentecostal churches do have a population spike with the 15-29 year olds, but this comes at a cost which is generally the under representation of over 55 year olds. These churches do challenge us to be continually open to the Holy Spirit and to make the Gospel tangibly relevant now, today.

Rev Pete Davies

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/pete-davies/30/32a/261

Pete is an ordained Baptist minister, married with four children and several grandchildren. He currently serves as the Director of Church Development for the NSW & ACT Baptist movement. He has over 15 years of pastoral experience and 3 years of evangelisation training with Ambassadors for Christ International.

The Baptist churches consider autonomy to be a value, and thus have no hierarchical structure. This means that as I go visiting churches throughout NSW and the ACT I have the task of a bishop but not the authority that goes with it. Leading Baptists is like shepherding cats.

Baptists are very strong on the importance of making a personal decision for Jesus Christ. The majority of Baptists believe that the gift of faith is offered to all mankind.

Baptists have been known for their evangelistic crusades and big events with big tents which often happen on an annual basis. Sunday night appeals and altar calls remain common experiences in our churches. Personal evangelism has always been encouraged. We have found the Alpha programme very useful. By and large overseas immigration has kept our parish numbers up.

There seems to be a trend in Baptist churches away from event evangelisation to process evangelisation. This is recognising that it takes time for people to come to the point of giving their lives to Jesus, and that it takes time for the Gospel message to find a home in hearts. We are learning to be present to people better, and to do more listening and saying less than before.

We are finding DVDs very useful as teaching aids and discussion starters in small groups.

If you can get newcomers to stay long enough, grace will happen. There is a move to seeing evangelisation as something that the whole community has a part in and not reserved for the pulling power of an exceptional guest speaker. At the same time we are experiencing a shift in proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom.

We are challenging people to be radically weird for the sake of Jesus, so that it is clear to others the difference that faith in Jesus makes in our lives.

It is Jesus' job to build the church. It is our job to make disciples.

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After this panel discussion we had a break for morning tea where we were invited to discuss two questions:

Q. Which idea you heard today could translate easily into your parish?

Q. What possibilities are there in your parish for denominational collaboration?

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The next issue will feature the homily from Friday's Mass at the Conference.

Some of the workshops have been made available as podcasts via www.xt3.com

To access them visit http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=17454

Some of the talks and workshops are now available from http://www.proclaimconference.com.au/resources.

Several video clips, transcripts, handouts and slide presentations are downloadable from that link.

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Proclaim 2014: Second half of 22 August Keynote Speech

17/9/2014

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Finding a Way Forward – Dr Ruth Powell- Part 2

Between talking about the third and fourth trends in the National Church Life Survey, Ruth Powell took us on a tour of the Hillsong website and invited us to compare it to our own parish websites. http://hillsong.com/

When you scroll down the home page you get to a section which reads, 'Free this weekend? Join us in church!' and then shows a page of icons with locations around the world. This website is unashamedly set up with newcomers in mind.

So we'd click on Australia. http://hillsong.com/australia

And what message greets us? 'Welcome home. You belong here!' and 'Find your place' Followed by church locations grouped by state, options to check out the leadership team and options of special events coming soon.

Ruth then showed us the landing page for those who clicked on Sydney Hills http://hillsong.com/hills

Scrolling down you get service times, location with 'plan a visit' option, events coming up, what's available for children, youth etc, answers to frequently asked questions, a look at the pastoral team and more.

If you click on Plan a Visit http://hillsong.com/hills/plan-a-visit/ you find out about a concierge service which (if you fill in your details) will on your arrival show you around the place and introduce you to people.

Of course welcoming newcomers is important, but you also have to take steps to integrate them into the community or else they will leave by the back door and not be seen again.

Ruth then showed us the results of the NCL Survey for what Catholic parishes do to help people integrate compared with what Protestant parishes do. These are the main strategies:

Follow-up visit from clergy or laity
Invitation to join a social group or faith discussion/bible study group
People extend hospitality and invite them to meals
Invitation to take up a task or ministry
Course for new Christians / orientation program
Other

Our Protestant brothers and sisters are twice as likely to provide follow-up visits (a), almost twice as likely to offer an invitation to join a group (b), over three times as likely to offer hospitality (c), a little less likely to tap them on the shoulder and give them a task (d), and four times as likely to offer a course for newcomers (e).

The fourth trend is an increase in acts of service. This trend is clear across both Catholic and Protestant churches where members are more likely to be involved in informal acts of service and church-based acts of service. Informal acts of service include lending money, caring for the sick, helping someone in a personal crisis, visiting a person in hospital, giving away possessions, donating money and contacting members of parliament.

What the survey results cannot tell us is whether this increased busyness is feeding the consumer culture in our parishes or opening up avenues for conversations that lead to discipleship. Is it a case of 'look busy, Jesus is coming'?

These acts of service certainly build bridges between the parishes and the community, but it is worthwhile doing it strategically. For example, why start your own soup kitchen / help for new immigrant service etc when you could join your efforts to the church down the road that has already got a similar initiative up and running?

Then there are many works of church based service that function like non-government organisations and never tell people the reason they serve is because the love of God impels them to. The way forward requires an integration of both words and works, since we know from experience that 'word only' and 'deeds only' doesn't work. A way forward is to get better at testifying to the reasons why we act in Christian service.

The fifth trend is a decline in inviting people to church. Here are the results of how Catholics answered this 2011 NCL Survey question:

Q. Would you be prepared to invite to a church service, here, any of your friends and relatives who do not currently attend a church?

Yes, and I have done so in the past 12 months (27%)
Yes, but I have not done so in the past 12 months (34%)
No, probably not (18%)
No, definitely not (2%)
Don’t know (20%)

The decline is happening in Protestant churches too. Some of the decrease in Catholic willingness to invite others to church may be attributed to the Royal Commission into Child Abuse. It is the e) Don't know category that has gone up and the a) Yes, and I have invited someone in the last 12months category that has gone down, the rest are more or less stable. Overall 3 out of 5 people in Catholic pews would be willing to invite someone along compared to 4 out of 5 people in Protestant pews (with 2 of those 4 actually doing so).

The research has not found any single stand out value that attracts newcomers. Rather it is a range of things that together make an impact. The good news is that working on even one of these values will have a positive flow on effect to the whole church community. For example…

Discover a sense of vision and direction
Promote a strong sense of belonging
Focus on those beyond church life (on the fringe)
Encourage those that attend to invite others to church
Be an empowering leader
Nurture growth in faith and movement toward commitment
Aim for joyful, inspiring services
Introduce contemporary worship
Encourage informal acts of helping
Look after the young
Be willing to try new things

Summary

With the notable decline in society's belief in God it is important to learn about what authentic and effective evangelisation looks like in this time and in this place. Churches need to reflect and to experiment.
Happily there has been an increase in willingness to share faith with others. Since family members are so significant for sharing faith, how is your parish supporting them and equipping them for this role? There are people whom God has called and gifted to be evangelists in your parish. So identify them, support them, celebrate with them, and learn from them.
Healthy, growing churches have been orienting themselves to newcomers. For many parishes doing this will require a major cultural shift and this shift will take a long time to do.
There has been an increase in acts of service. They help build bridges between the church and community where authentic connection can happen. However we must guard against being busy serving consumers rather than being busy building relationships as we serve and taking advantage of the opportunities that arise to invite those we serve to discipleship.
There has been a worrying decline in people inviting others to church. We need to find out what is stopping them from inviting others. If some of those reasons are parish based, we need to find out what needs to change and do something practical about it.

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The next blog-post will be about the panel discussion on what is working in other Christian churches.

Some of the workshops have been made available as podcasts via www.xt3.com

To access them visit http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=17454

Some of the talks and workshops are now available from http://www.proclaimconference.com.au/resources. Several video clips, transcripts, handouts and slide presentations are downloadable.

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Invitation to a Young Man

Proclaim 2014: Ecumenical Panel 22 August

Proclaim 2014: Second half of 22 August Keynote Speech

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