Encouragement for Mainliners Unafraid to Employ the "E" Word

books:


	• Unbinding the Gospel (Church Leaders' Study in the Real Life Evangelism Series) Martha Grace Reese Chalice Press, 2007 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent for Mainline Christians

She did a survey study of over 1000 mainline churches to observe what churches were doing in evangelism.

It covered the full range of theological perspectives from conservative to progressive to outright liberal (self definitions, I guess).

She used evangelism quite broadly defined: "Anything you do to help another person move close to a relationship with God, or into a Christian community."

That can be interpreted in several different ways from just adding members, or generating conversions. I'm sure that there are some churches that simply help people join -- irrespective of a relationship with Christ. I've not had the opportunity to drive down into the definition.

However, what I found most compelling in her story is this: "Our most important discovery is that a vivid relationships with God lies at the heart of real evangelism."

To me, that's a no brainer. I had the opprotunity to ask her the same question. It was too. The research she did supported that what may be intuitively obvious.

"People in evangelistic churches can tell you what difference being a Christan makes in their own lives" (p.5)

"People who share their faith love God and believe that other people's lives would be better if they were in a relationship with God too." (p.4)

This book offers helpful study questions and would make a great resource for evangelism committees, study groups, or bible studies.

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Transformative

This book is changing lives at our church! Our Evangelism Team is using it as a guide for our work. We are praying a lot more (which if you read the book, you'll understand this)! Our Session is studying it, our strategic planning committee is studying it, others in the congregation are reading it. We've told another church about it and they're studying it. It's not a panacea for everything but we think it's raising the level of discussion around evangelism! Try it and see what it does for you personally and for your church.

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Encouragement for Mainliners Unafraid to Employ the "E" Word

Martha Grace Reese has provided a blessing for mainline Christianity. "Unbinding the Gospel" is a helpful resource for pastors and other dedicated church leaders who would like to cast vision for sharing the Christian faith within their congregations. I found this book an enjoyable read which provided both statistical analysis of the current landscape and some practical suggestions for recapturing an evangelistic orientation in diverse ministry settings.

Reese has found that the "E word" (evangelism) is held in rather low-esteem in mainline churches. After conducting over 1000 interviews with lay persons and pastors, "evangelism" was a word possessing a great deal of baggage, conjuring negative images in the mind of most persons she had spoken with. As a result of the negative perception of the practice of evangelism, Reese notes that many mainline churches have been in decline. She discovered that among pastors, "How is your life different as a result of knowing Jesus Christ?" was a difficult question to answer. Reese challenges mainline Christians to find answers to this question and build reasons for inviting others into a relationship with Jesus. She asks if mainline Christians can find other reasons for practicing evangelism apart from the promise of heaven or the fear of eternal judgment. She argues that when a host of people are following after Jesus, such practice brings with it an abundant life and therefore yields a host of reasons to talk to others about Jesus. Whatever your reasons for evangelism, Reese's vision is both encouraging and inspiring. She wants to see mainline churches recapture the practice of evangelism and invite others to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

I found one particular section wanting in this book. In chapter 7 Reese explores different bandwiths of evangelism. She asks two questions to constitute her definition of evangelism. Those questions are: (1) Are we helping this person move into relationship with God?; and (2) Are we helping this person move into Christian community? Answers in the affirmative to both questions comprise her definition. She then defines different bandwiths (also known as target audiences or key people groups) that fall under this definition. Those are:

-Children and Youth of the Congregation
-Children and Youth's Friends
-People Attached to Your Church Who Never Joined
-Committed Christians from a Similar Background
-Committed Christians from a Different Background
-People Raised in the Church Who Drifted Away
-People Raised in the Church Who Were Hurt
-Unchurched People Like Current Church Members
-Unchurched People Different from Current Church Members

In each of these categories she defines the types of people found here and invites church leaders to evaluate how they are practicing evangelism with persons who fall under these categories. I had questions as to whether or not these categories are themselves sufficient or helpful.

This review would be incomplete without also mentioning the emphasis which Reese places on prayer. She encourages churches to assemble a team of persons to pray specifically for how God is leading them to share their faith. This is fantastic. Reese believes that such groups are the foundational for the practice of evangelism, and reports numerous stories which confirm that God uses these prayer groups as catalysts for evangelism.

Overall, I would recommend this book. Reese argues her case well, and is inviting people to share their faith. She encourages Christians to grow in likeness to Jesus, and out of that growth invite others into the life Jesus gives. This book would be helpful for training persons for evangelism as well, and includes many helpful discussion questions. Definitely worth reading.

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Top-Notch Material for Diverse Mission Fields

This is an impactful book and series. I am currently leading a study in which the partcipants run the gamut from liberal to conservative, and each one is drawn into the material. When churched folk want to reach out to their mission field, they must actually get beyond the walls of their church to do so, and that is plain scary for them. Unbinding the Gospel is their encourager! It goes right to the heart of the matter, which is prayer (only God can move us beyond our comfort zone), and then it gives practical tools to accomplish the goal of being the church in the world. I am moved and excited with each page I read. Thank you MGR! God has done a good work in you. Reverend Cathy Townley

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Based on a major, four-year study of superb evangelism, funded by the Lilly Endowment, Unbinding the Gospel sparkles with life, practicality and spiritual depth. Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism is a book for pastors who want to know the truth about the state of evangelism. Recently selected by The Christian Century as a featured "Take and Read"book (2007 book issue), Unbinding the Gospel is a book for Christians who want a hopeful, powerful, joy-filled way to learn to share their faith. (It's also a book for people who cringe when they hear the "E" word!) This book for congregational use has been enthusiastically endorsed by 8 heads of denominations, Brian McLaren, Todd Hunter, Richard Peace, Becky Garrison, as well as by countless pastors and church leaders.

Unbinding the Gospel is the foundation of the Real Life Evangelism Series, which can, with the two other Series books, lead to a six-week, all-congregation study with individual prayer, small group study and all-church worship and prayer dimensions. See Unbinding Your Heart: 40 Days of Prayer & Faith Sharing and Unbinding Your Church (the Pastor's Guide).

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