A simple concept that has reshaped how we do evangelism

photo courtesy of www.freefoto.com

WEBA is launching Table Talk: An Evangelistic Experiment in June 2013. Every church is being encouraged to try 'Table Talk' (which you could describe as a pre-Alpha course, but actually works more like a game) somewhere in their community - perhaps a cafe or pub - with friends and neighbours. Each church taking part will receive a free boxed set of Table Talk, normally worth £25. I wanted to hear from someone who'd used the game successfully - and got this story from Ruth Rice, a Baptist Minister on the Fresh Streams Steering Group:

We began running a Table Talk group at a local cafe in the suburb of Nottingham where our church meets. The area is fairly affluent and there is a strong cafe culture. We began as a response to people wanting to ask different questions in a different time scale to the ones offered in other, more structured courses.

We invited a few friends who were interested in discussing big issues of life or who just wanted a drink with friends and to get to know some new people. 

"Our regular atheist would now call himself an agnostic"

Although we advertised with handouts, posters and invites all the folk who came were in relationship with someone who brought them. Marketing is largely, in our experience, unnecessary, relationships are essential.

We book the same table each week and everyone arrives from about 7.30 onwards...... grabbing a drink from the bar and joining in the discussion which anyone can start by picking up a card from the attractively presented Table Talk selection, which we vary each week. It's great and really natural, so unlike other courses that have felt forced and a bit preachy at times. 

With table talk if you don't like a question you move on and if the discussion is going well you stick with one card sometimes.

We have a regular table talk group now on Tuesday nights of between 6 and 12 people , many in the 20s and 30s ...a mixture of atheists, agnostics, Christians, and others on a journey from belonging to believing.

Our regular atheist would now call himself an agnostic, has begun reading his Bible from cover to cover and is writing his own questions. Three people have realised they have changed sides somewhere in the process of discussions, like crossing a mountain border on a long hike yet not being quite sure where the border was. 

For those of us who are christians the questions, some basic like, “what makes an attractive life”, some much more searching like “how do you experience God” are helping us to think and search more deeply for truth and be able to listen as well as talk about what we believe. 

"the cards seem more like a game than a religious activity"

We love table talk as a simple concept...and can see many possibilities for the easy to use, well produced little cards in homes, pubs and youth venues.

We have recently used them as a warm up in our pub church Sundays ..as folk arrive they are on the tables and keep the discussion focussed on the big story. Small groups have used them at meals when they have invited friends and there has been great feedback as the cards seem more like a game than a religious activity and yet they generate better honesty and searching than many a BIble study or evangelistic programme.

Table Talk has reshaped how we do evangelism as a church.

Ruth Rice

Rise and Shine

This article comes from the newsletter of One Hope Ministries. Var and Emma Smallwood are receiving support from Home Mission as they pioneer a deliberately 'multi-cultural' church in East Bristol, in partnership with the Church of God of Prophecy.

Var and Emma with Pastor Ray Viera of GOCOP at the WEBA Ministers' Conference

Our new church is now called ‘Rise and Shine’, inspired by Isaiah 60:1.

We meet to pray and study John’s Gospel most weeks and on 7th September 2013 there will be a
launch event when we will begin formally worshiping together as a community.
Building a church that seeks to be ‘multi-cultural’ is... complicated. The difficulty is that white privilege - the core issue at play - is rarely, if ever,
addressed. How do you react when you hear us say that? White privilege? What? In the UK, in the
21st century?

Er... well, yes. If you are white, you probably want us to soften the term, or point the finger at individuals who would be classed as overtly ‘racist’, or you probably feel less inclined to read this newsletter because the authors are on a ‘soapbox’.

If you are Black, you might agree, in part, but would rather it wasn’t mentioned because it make
things awkward and embarrassing especially when you’re trying to get on in a white world. However, the key issues in forming multi-cultural church are not, as often stated, about sharing cultural styles in worship, or having people of colour included on leadership teams (that very word ‘included’, reveals a lot about which group is doing the including i.e. has the power). The issues revolve around questions of ‘who’s in charge?‘ and ‘which culture is dominant?’. So, here we are, two white people commissioned by a Black church to pioneer a multicultural church - and no-one likes
talking about the core issue - like we said....it’s complicated!

Life may be complicated but following Jesus is always a great adventure!
Anyway, our team is made up of ten people (including children) from House of Praise church in Easton, Bristol. 7 of the team have a Caribbean-British heritage and 4 have a White-British heritage. Our strategy is to make friends with people, pray for their needs and invite them to our meetings. Having children on our team really helps us to make our meetings open to everyone. Despite the issues, we have a lot of fun!

If you'd like to keep in touch with how Var and Emma are getting on, contact them to receive the One Hope Ministries' newsletter, which also includes Var's film-making exploits and Emma's reports on the Gospel Generation Community Choir:
Var: var@one-hope.co.uk
Em: emma@one-hope.co.uk

The Alter-Ego of a 17 year old Worship Musician

SPECIAL NOTICE: To find about about supporting MND Global Awareness Day by buying Sam Evan's EP O Zi Placuta click here for all the information on the Welton Baptist Church site


I am Pastor of Welton Baptist Church, Midsomer Norton (www.weltonchurch.org.uk) and want to introduce you to one of our worship musicians, Sam Evans. Sam is a 6th form student who plays keyboard and sings as part of one the worship bands at our fairly large church, based close to Bath.

 Sam plays in an “improvised” style as he has benefited from a number of years informal
tuition from a superb jazz musician. This has developed a “feeling” in the way in which he plays and enables him to understand the sensitivities of the different styles and spiritual content of the worship music we enjoy at our church Sunday by Sunday, and as such has become an important part of our worship team. As well as this Sam also records keyboard worship pieces for our local
community radio station, Somer Valley FM, as part of their weekly religious program output “Faithtime”.

BUT...there is another, some might say darker, side to Sam! Not only does Sam engage in the rather dangerous activity/sport of Parkour (Freerunning) but he is also becoming a critically acclaimed musician and performer in his own right on the small venue circuit having played more than 50 gigs during 2012 in places from St. Austell to Sheffield, Bath to Birmingham as well as playing a
number of times in Romania including premier music venue The Mojo Club in Bucharest. Sam'’s recent gigs have taken him to Mama Stones, Exeter; Nambucca, Islington; The Fleece, Bristol and The Troubadour, Earls Court.

This video  features both Sam's music and some of his Parkour stunts: just don't try these around your church building!

And here's Sam performing on Bristol's Harbourside:

In November 2012 he recorded a single “Tomorrow isn’t Promised” together with his band to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital (see www.vibedeck.com/samevans for the full story behind this).

(As an aside, one of the other lads in the band (Andy Slade - who plays Sax and Cajon) is also involved in the church worship band at the Methodist church in Midsomer Norton!)

I thought your readers might like to hear about an active young person, engaged in church life and worship but who is “doing his thing” as he sets out to try and develop a career as a musician in the commercial sphere. Sam’s story (so far) might be seen as an “antidote” to those who see people involved in church activities as rather 2-dimensional (dare I say “boring”) personalities. Not only that but hopefully it will be an encouragement to your listeners that within the church today there are large numbers of young people who are actively engaged and using their incredible talents both in the church and outside of it!


Pastor Mike Howell, Welton Baptist Church

We're a church now!

 

This article appears in the Spring 2013 edition of WEBA News, which will be sent to WEBA church secretaries during the week beginning Monday 4th March.

Being part of a church is something most of the readers of this newsletter will take for granted.

It’s different for members of ‘The Stowe’ who have recently been constituted as a church and accepted into membership of the Baptist Union and of WEBA.

“It’s great that we’re a church now; not just a club” said one member. Another commented: “It’s amazing that our little dysfunctional group has been recognised as a church”. The group are so excited about this that more than 20 of them, including children, will be travelling to Blackpool for the Baptist Assembly this May, when The Stowe will be formally recognised as a new church.

It’s four years since Rev. Alison Boulton was first interviewed for WEBA news about her plans to move into the Wichelstowe development in Swindon. A year before that, someone at a prayer meeting had suggested that they pray for the planned housing development, and Alison had “one of those moments…I felt God was saying that we should be involved.”
 

Alison’s plan was to let mission develop organically through various activities. The group which began to meet at her house soon decided they wanted a Sunday morning gathering. By 2012 Alison’s living room was too small and the group, now called ‘The Stowe’ began to meet in a local primary school.

From the beginning, The Stowe’s emphasis has been to unconditionally bless the community. “The line between church and community remains rather blurred” says Suzanna Miles, Church Secretary. “A number of the congregation serve as trustees of the East Wichel Community Association or serve on the governing body of the Primary School; others are involved in coffee morning, art groups, Brownies, Wichelstowe Youth Theatre, baby & toddler groups, regular litter picks, and the community garden.”

She also lists special events that have been designed to bless the community: “a Pancake Party, a Jubilee Party, the Wichelstowe Olympics and Christmas celebrations to which everyone in East Wichel was invited.  An especially exciting trip took place on an extremely hot day in July; over 120 people in two coaches headed to Crealy, Devon for the day.  All of these activities and events are undertaken as a way of expressing God’s love for the community and serving those who live here.”

Becoming a church is, of course, only the beginning of a journey. “We are prayerfully considering what options are available to us in terms of opening the Bible and deepening people’s experience and knowledge of it” Suzanna explains, “as well as meeting the needs of those still on the edge of engaging with faith.  We also want to find ways of connecting spiritually with the growing number of children in a meaningful way.” 

These are challenges faced by every one of our churches, whether one year old or four hundred.

Why don't White people go to Black-led churches?

Rev. Var Smallwood explains some of the story behind a conference he is organising in partnership with WEBA, Bristol Baptist College, and the Church of God of Prophecy.

Var and his wife Emma with Pastor Raymond Viera of the Church of God of Prophecy

Until last year, I was the pastor of a multi-cultural church in Bristol. We were proud of being mixed because we felt that being ‘Beautifully Different’ is a powerful witness to the gospel. Every photo I took to publicise the church was carefully managed to have both Black and White people and our diaconate was studiously mixed. And yet, and yet... something was not quite working.

Then I went on a Sabbatical. With my family, I toured community churches in the States. As we travelled, the issue of ‘race’ came to the fore again and again. Everything went smoothly until we spent an afternoon with an African-American lady called Anne Stewart. She belonged to a very progressive church in Chicago who shared all their income (Acts 4:32) and were thoroughly committed to being multi-cultural. But in passing she said, ‘You’ve no idea how White you’ve got to be to belong here’.

CRASH. BANG. WALLOP.

Suddenly, that one throw-away line opened our eyes to the hidden issues lurking beneath the surface of ‘multi-cultural’ church. Who’s in charge? Which culture dominates? These are the real questions that need to be faced. It has led us to more questions. For example:

Why don't White people go to Black-led churches?

Why do some Black people go to White-led churches?

What is Black theology?

Is there such a thing as White theology?

How is our common mission affected by these questions?

It has now led us to be working for a Black-led church and to be planting a new multi-cultural church in partnership with WEBA.

It has led us to hosting a conference called ‘Re-Visiting Mission’ on Saturday 9th March (2 Tudor Road, Bristol, BS5 6BW). This event is in partnership with WEBA, BUGB, Bristol Baptist College and the Church of God of Prophecy and it will be seeking to address some of these important and current questions. The speakers are of the highest quality and there will also be optional drama and music workshops to help us reflect on the theme. Please come and help build lasting partnerships across social and ethnic boundaries.

Speakers at the conference will include Dr. Anthony Reddie, Rev Dr. Rosalyn Murphy, and Rev. Israel Olofinjana, and the conference moderators will be Rev. Dr. Stephen Finamore (Principal of Bristol Baptist College) and Pastor Raymond Viera (Regional Overseer, COGOP South West England).

The day costs £15 including lunch and refreshments. To book your place please email thebookingplace@gmail.com or call 0117 939 1866. 

Download a flyer with more information on the WEBA website.  

Gary McFarlane: "Certainly not disappointed"

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 It's likely you will have spotted WEBA's Association Manager Gary McFarlane on the news recently

Gary was one of four Christians who took their claims of unfair treatment in the workplace to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in September; the results were announced on Tuesday 15th January.

Gary had lost his job at Relate Avon after expressing a possible conscientious objection to offering sex therapy advice to same sex couples.

His case was not successful, but Gary insists that he is not disappointed, as he feels his call for 'reasonable accommodation' has been widely heard and understood.

Speaking on Radio Bristol, he expressed "regret that the European Court did not set out criteria to help employers grappling with these issues" but he is "certainly not disappointed. This case was never really about Gary McFarlane, not just about the Christian Faith. There needs to be a better, level playing field, a better balance."

Gary gave an extended interview about the story on the Soul 2 Sole programme on Ujima Radio this Saturday, the 26th January. Click on the link below to 'listen again' - the programme is in two sections - Gary's is in the earlier slot (2-3pm) but please note this is lower down on the web page. The interview begins after about 22 minutes.

Ujima Soul 2 Sole Interview with Gary McFarlane

 There is also information about the case and a video on the Christian Concern Website

Developing a Ministry of Presence

This article first appeared in the Winter edition of WEBA News
 

This year’s focus for our New Churches Initiative is the work of re:Source Bristol, which is working principally in two areas of the city where unemployment, health issues, and substance dependency have created a profound kind of loneliness, and yet many existing churches are facing imminent closure.

The focus is on enabling those called to express mission simply by being present in these most marginalized communities. There is here neither a government ‘back to work’ agenda, nor a church ‘conversion’ agenda, but a missional ‘Ministry of Presence’.

For example, re:Source coordinator Mike Pears has found himself involved with a ‘little community that makes bread’ in partnership with Whisk! Café at Knowle West Health Park. Most of the group are long term unemployed, many with physical and mental health issues. ‘Last week we made £50 selling bread” Mike told me. “It’s about coming together, about finding a creativity that everyone contributes to.”

Looking further ahead, Mission Track Ministry students Andy Pears and Geoff Sims are working with other churches in East Bristol to establish spaces that are open every weekday, where individuals who find themselves on the margins of society can engage in a working community. They are reflecting on ideas like developing a space for bicycle repair, prop making, and carpentry within a monastic style framework of prayer and worship, to create a holistic community and a safe place to go during the week.

We’ve reported before on the encouraging progress of this developing work on the Knowle West Estate, and although it is very small it’s interesting to hear that now -->

there’s an active conversation about building a new church centre to house the worship, hospitality, and practical activities that have been growing. But church building isn’t at the heart of this ‘New Churches Initiative’, and neither is paid ministry, as the students involved are all developing their ministry on a bi-vocational basis.

There is, however, a need for funds to help individuals and couples follow God’s call into these areas. Mike, who has just seen a new couple move from London to Lawrence Hill in Bristol, says he is amazed by the “high levels of co-operation and commitment” he finds. “What we need is to be able to help facilitate the transition for these people, who are taking such huge risks.”

The work of re:Source is partly funded by a grant from Home Mission, and it was also the focus of WEBA's New Churches Initiative in 2012. Thank you to all those churches who sent gifts to the New Churches fund in 2012; these will also continue to support other projects such as the Stowe in Swindon (which has just celebrated becoming a fully fledged church). A new focus will be announced in 2013. We suggest that each church contributes £200 (or £75 for smaller churches) annually. Individuals can also give via standing order.

Please make cheques payable to WEBA and mark them New Churches Initiative on the back; standing order forms are available from the WEBA office.