Welcome to a day about Transforming Church Ma ki ng dis cipl es i n l ar ge r Ch ur c h e s

Growing the church……………. Is more than getting extra people to sit in the pews while the vicar conducts a church service Is more than getting people to do all the jobs & pay the bills that keep the church ticking over Churches grow when ever more of us are growing as witnessing disciples in the whole of our lives It is about transforming ourselves & our communities A growing church is getting deeper as well as wider!

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 witness sacrifices their life for the one they bear witness to. A Christian witness testifies by how they live and what they say to what they have seen and heard, to their own experience of Jesus, in a way that will convince their audience (the ‘jury’) that they live and speak the truth.

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 entirely shaped around serving the master We are called to be Jesus’ disciples ourselves and to help others grow as disciples as well

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”

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

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

Personal discipleship tools on the web Pray as you go – Jesuit daily devotional podcast helping you meditate on scripture and pray Sermons – plenty out there! On line communities/twitter/facebook eg the Bible Society has one Follow blogs – eg the Digital Nun Seasonal resources – eg Advent – Why are you waiting? Workplace-based resources – from LICC Re-Jesus – for those exploring discipleship for the first time

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

Structured discipleship courses for Christians Beta 10 week course for Christians following on from Alpha Doorway From Chester & Liverpool dioceses (Chester website) Doxa From Sheffield Diocese & in book form from DLT Emmaus From CHP Full programme of short courses for small groups Foundations 21 For individuals on line Foundations – Purpose Driven Discipleship Rick Warren stable

Structured discipleship courses for Christians Landings RC resource for welcoming people back into church Learning to Live From the Navigators Living Faith 10 Sessions from Tom Wright On the Way Small group course based on sharing a journey SEAN(say-an) From S America. Personal prep & small group meetings

All age and children’s materials The Transforming Church Kevin Mayhew pub ALF (about life & faith) 7s-11s vizaviz.org Youth Emmaus 11s-16s CHP 7s-11s Helps children explore Christian spirituality Quest Youth Evangelism Teens, invites discussion So, why God? 5s-11s answers children’s classic questions Y God 7s-11s Linked to the Y Course

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

Enquirers Courses Alpha * Living Well Christianity Explored * More to Life Credo * START! & Moving On Emmaus * Y Course Essence Glad you asked

The ends of the earth …. Non-Churched? Samaria … De-Churched? 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? Churched Jerusalem

Types of Fresh Expressions of Church – numbers in a total of 10 dioceses Messy Church 165 Older people’s Church 34 Child-focussed Church 97 Under 5s Church 32 Café Church 85 Seeker Church 29 Special Interest Group 50 Midweek Church 29 Network Church 47 School-based Church 28 Cluster-based Church 47 Youth Church 25 Community Development 46 Others 44 Alternative Worship 37 TOTAL 795

Archbishop Justin’s vision There is no reason why the C of E could not double in size in the next 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 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 The story of Baslow – the school gate, assemblies, friendship links, a new style, doing it with them not for them, being prepared to give something up

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 15 th 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