The Faith Journey How are people coming to faith today and how might the Church respond?

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Presentation transcript:

The Faith Journey How are people coming to faith today and how might the Church respond?

Finding Faith Today: How does it happen? By John Finney

The Engel Scale  Modified from a 1975 book by James F Engel, 'What's Gone Wrong With the Harvest?’  Not perfect, but very helpful in understanding more of the journey of faith  Various versions around with subtle differences  Emphasises discipleship and neither just evangelism or ‘numbers through the door’  Everyone is somewhere on the scale

-12No ‘God framework’ -11Experience of emptiness -10 God framework -9Vague awareness and belief in God -8Wondering if God can be known -7 Aware of Jesus -6 Interested in Jesus -5Experience of Christian love -4Aware of the basic facts of the gospel -3Aware of personal need -2Grasp the implications of the Gospel -1Challenged to respond personally 0New Birth: repentance and faith 1Acceptance of the Holy Spirit (and baptism) 2Functioning member of local Church 3Continuing growth in character, lifestyle & service 4Understanding God’s calling Our Role*: Prayer Presence Preparation Proclamation Persuasion Participation Passion *Obviously many run throughout, but this describes something of the focus!

How was/is it for you? Can you remember coming to faith, crossing over from negative to positive? If so, how long did it take? Was there always a sense of God and faith, if so, was there a particular instance which helped you move on?

ONE: for most people coming to faith is a gradual thing Gradual Sudden Unsurprisingly for the majority, friendships with Christians & growing involvement with church was key Bereavement; church service; prayer; evangelistic event

TWO: for most people it takes time Based on the 66% who said it was a ‘gradual’ experience

THREE: we are foreign missionaries The family background of 80% of those coming to faith is Christian Nowadays, only 1 in 5 of twenty year olds had a involvement with a church as a child

1 2 3 for most people it takes a long time for most people coming to faith is a gradual thing 3 we are increasingly foreign missionaries 1 for most people coming to faith is a gradual thing 2 for most people it takes a long time

How shall we respond? How is your Church responding to these changes? What can we be encouraged by? What needs to change, or be started anew?