We believe that God, in His love, has reconciled us and has given us a ministry of reconciliation. We belive that God has called us to be evangelists and that He has equipped us by the Holy Spirit with the particular gifting to fulfil that calling. We believe that our call to ministry is a call to service, and we will not be motivated by a desire for personal gain. Rather we embrace a sacrificial lifestyle of availability to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Our methods must stem from our conviction of the need to incarnate the Gospel, and a recognition that all of humanity is made in the image of God, with inherent value and dignity.
Members of the College Board The Rt. Revd John Inge (Chair) The Rt. Revd Andrew Watson The Revd Canon Sue Hope The Revd Canon Michael Hart The Revd Jan Harney Jenny Lowery
Members of the College are encouraged to submit news items and articles on evangelism for possible inclusion in the annual newsletter. Please submit items to jennyl@blueyonder.co.uk The final decision on inclusion of items rests with the Chairman of
The Word is Out - Bishop John reviews the new book by College Members Paul Weston and Dave Male. I was struck by some depressing but not exactly unexpected findings of research done by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity as part of its ‘Imagine’ project: that evangelism is seen by many as ‘simply doing strange things to strange people in strange places.’ The saddest thing is that this attitude probably applies as much to Christians as it does to anyone else. There is a real challenge here for us in the College of Evangelists recognising, as we do, the crucial role evangelism plays in God’s plan to reconcile the whole creation to himself in Christ. Fortunately, help is at hand. The finding is quoted in an excellent new book by two members of the College, Paul Weston and Dave Male. They go on to articulate their conviction that this is the moment in which the Church most needs to be involved in effective evangelism, that the need to get ‘the Word out’ is more pressing than ever. Amen to that. The book, entitled ‘The Word’s Out’, begins with a penetrating but accessible account of where we are and how we got here, and how our culture impacts upon evangelism. The rest of the book is divided into two main sections: the first looks at evangelism from a cultural and biblical perspective, the second at evangelism and the local church. I hope that all members of the College will want to read this book as it will undoubtedly be an encouragement to them and will be useful to them, too, in persuading others of the importance of evangelism. As well as taking us back to first principles it offers some creative ways forward in our thinking and practice as evangelists. Dave Male’s concluding chapter is entitled “Note to self: ‘Why am I doing this?’” which I found particularly helpful, quotes John V. Taylor’s classic, The GoBetween God: ‘The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the Director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things he is doing in the world.’ If we can remember that we shall be able to echo the sentiment expressed by our new Archbishop in his enthronement sermon: that there is every possible reason for optimism about the future of Christian faith in our world and in this country. His concluding words were: ‘Optimism does not come from us, but because to us and to all people Jesus comes and says “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid”. We are called to step out of the comfort of our own traditions and places, and go into the waves, reaching for the hand of Christ. Let us provoke each other to heed the call of Christ, to be clear in our declaration of Christ, committed in prayer to Christ, and we will see a world transformed. May the Holy Spirit, who is ‘directing the whole enterprise’, give us grace to come to that same Jesus and heed his call, be clear in our declaration of Christ and committed to him in prayer, so that we can be agents of the transformation of the world according to his will. +John The Rt. Revd John Inge, Chair of the Council.
the Governing Body.
The College of Evangelists exists to recognise and affirm evangelists whose ministry is nationwide or at least beyond the confines of any diocese.
Don’t forget to visit the College website www.collegeofevangelists.org.uk