… inclusivity is not the same as hospitality. Hospitality requires intentionality and resources. We can talk about inclusivity all we want, but if we aren’t curious about others our inclusivity is insincere. If our communities aren’t willing to do the careful work of making people at home, making them feel loved, we’re not as inclusive as we’d like to be.
What keeps us from saying: Hey, if you consider yourself a Christian, but find much of Christianity misogynistic or homophobic, if you think it is pre-modern in it understanding of creation, you might want to pay us a visit or two and try us on for size. We aren’t perfect, and we offer fewer certainties that more conservative brands of Christianity, but you may consider that a plus.
Francis Spufford’s book has helped me to see that Christian apologetics needs to be more honest, and also more confrontational. It should be honest that faith arises through a traumatic sense of moral inadequacy, and of despair. And it should be confrontational: you ought to feel this.
It’s that time again. I know it’s more than a week before October 4 but pet blessings are right around the corner and I want you to be prepared. This is a major evangelism opportunity if you do it right.
To strengthen our witness to the image of God in each of us and our sharing of God’s love, the Episcopal Evangelism Network is convening a missional development conference.
No amount of cleverness or pluck will grow your church. First, your church will have to die.
A new breed of evangelism is hitting the streets, characterized by progressive Christians sharing a ministry of prayer and presence. Adrian Dannhauser says this is
My enthusiasm for planting new churches is in conflict with my concerns about whether we’ve thought this all the way through. Well, actually, no. We haven’t thought this through at all. But I am not sure whether this is primarily a matter of thinking, or a matter of making a commitment.
When we think of church growth strategies we tend to imagine marketing plans and hired consultants. But there are a number of very simple things any congregation can do that will make a huge difference. And they don’t require any clergy involvement or probably permission.