Welcome to a day about Transforming Church Making disciples in Smaller Churches

Growing the church…. Is about growth in three dimensions – spiritual, numerical & vitality Healthy churches grow in all three dimensions together Growing churches get deeper and more effective as well as bigger Jesus told us not to be churchgoers but to be his disciples He told us not to make churchgoers but to make disciples And he promised us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us

Matthew ch 28v19,20 & Acts ch 1v8 “Go and make disciples of all nations….teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”

So what does it mean to be a witnessing disciple? A witness is, literally from the Greek, a martyr – a ‘blood-witness’ to Jesus in a hostile world. A Christian witness testifies to their experience of Jesus by how they live and what they say As a result, others begin to follow Jesus as well

So what does it mean to be a witnessing disciple? A disciple is committed to their rabbi or master – an imitator of them, trying to become like them, part of their team, learning from them in order to be able to teach and influence others A disciple is not just an acquaintance of the master, a disciple’s life is shaped around serving the master We are called to be Jesus’ disciples ourselves and to help others grow as disciples as well

Who are we helping to become disciples? We are Anglicans – we are there for everybody! But the most responsive people tend to be children, teenagers, young adults and families…………….

Who are we helping to become disciples? We are Anglicans – we are there for everybody! But the most responsive people tend to be children, teenagers, young adults and families……………. We are there to help both people who are close to church and those who are a million miles away………………..

Growing witnessing disciples in the NT Judea … Fringe? Samaria … De-Churched? The ends of the earth …. Non-Churched? Churched Jerusalem

What challenge will help you grow as a disciple What challenge will help you grow as a disciple? It may be a church job, a contribution to the wider community, or a new piece of Christian learning Churched Jerusalem

How can you bring fringe people and the church children into the centre? Give them a role? Get them into a small group? Get to know them, mentor them? Judea … Fringe? Churched Jerusalem

What ways can you find to befriend and invite people who have drifted away or fallen out with church, including the teens who have left Sunday School? Judea … Fringe? Samaria … De-Churched? Churched Jerusalem

How can you go to the foreign countries and speak the foreign languages of the tribes among whom you live? This may not be about inviting them to ‘your’ church but about forming new shapes of church around and with your different people-groups Judea … Fringe? Samaria … De-Churched? The ends of the earth …. Non-Churched? Churched Jerusalem

What sort of church is yours? Is your main effort going into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria or the Ends? Are you growing in depth and vitality as Jesus’ disciples? Are there plenty of you but it’s a bit shallow? Does it feel like the Holy Spirit pours life into you? And does that life overflow into making new disciples and serving the community? Or is it all a bit stagnant? If your church was a lake, what sort of lake would it be? (Caution – Marmite Moment)

If your church was a lake what sort would it be and what sort of growth does it most need?

Archbishop Justin’s vision There is no reason why the C of E could not double in size in the next 15-25 years if we renew our prayer life, achieve reconciliation within the church & beyond it, and recover the priority of evangelism at every level of the church: Boards, Councils, committees, PCCs – our agendas, diaries and budgets should be dominated not by money, buildings & internal conflicts but by evangelism – by the drive to become witnessing disciples Every Christian should routinely invite people to their church, should be informed & confident in their faith, and should be capable of witnessing to it

Routinely invite people to church - Samaria 3m people say they would come to church if invited They are not inclined to gate-crash someone else’s private club But so far nobody ever has invited them Pray about whom to invite – find one of the 3m Pray for the courage and opportunity to invite them Back to Church Sunday But what about Christmas? In fact, any Sunday? Create regular opportunities in the church calendar

Routinely invite people to church - Samaria Most people need inviting several times before self-starting You need some confidence in your church’s events, services & community to risk inviting people-so make church a great experience for newcomers! Always offer to bring people with you, to call for them or meet them Be cunning – ‘Would you like to come to church at 10.30 then to our house for Sunday lunch?’ ‘Would you like to come one Sunday?’ – takes away the ‘Sorry I’m busy this week’ excuse Use a Sunday with an invitation card. Pick the right one – invite a young family to Mothering Sunday, an old soldier to Remembrance Sunday

Routinely invite people to church - Samaria Smarten up the welcome – do ‘Everybody Welcome’ or ask Rhiannon about doing some ‘Welcome’ training with you Appoint a ‘Welcome Team’ Develop a church culture in which friendliness quickly moves on to friendship

Routinely develop your foreign language skills – The end of the earth Develop links with your unreached people-groups Find the open and sympathetic people Work with them at developing new ways of being church

Be informed & confident in your faith Courses for Christians to deepen faith & understanding (Pilgrim) Small groups – be in one, be used to discussing life and faith-issues Read Christian books or use new media Study the Bible regularly at home Absorb what weekly worship and sermons can give you Be honest about your gaps and go out of your way to plug them Don’t be afraid to ask the naïve questions – others will be grateful Confidence comes from experience of God in our lives so we need churches in which it is normal to share our experiences – in services, in small groups, in conversations and one to ones

Be capable of witnessing to your faith Apparently +Justin was ‘absolutely terrified’ of evangelism until he did the ‘Lost for words’ course from CPAS, which he found ‘transformative’ Check out the ‘Lost for words’ course and consider using it in your church Look out for a major ‘Lay Discipleship’ conference to be put on by ‘Church of England – Birmingham’ on November 15th 2014 – we are hoping for 1000 people at it

Faith-sharing courses Blowing Your Cover Evangelism training course – 6 sessions Becoming a contagious Christian Willow Creek – 6 sessions Lost for Words CPAS Courses for children, youth & adults – 6 weeks Mind the Gap Gap between church & popular culture agape.org.uk Time to Talk to God From the Methodist Church

Be capable of witnessing to your faith We are called to be witnesses not evangelists To tell our story not explain substitutionary atonement theory Learn to tell your own story in the safety of a small group of Christian friends Hone it down – two minutes not twenty Make it up to date not all about 30 years ago Make testimony a regular feature of church services When you are confident about telling a story pray for opportunities to tell it