Evangelism in the Post-Modern World

New world, same message

[6-18-05]

Friday began for the New Wineskins convocation with worship – some praise singing followed by a sermon from the Rev. Dr. David Githii, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and one of the favorite church leaders of Parker Williamson of The Layman. [Read more in The Layman.]  Reference was made a number of times during the service to statements by PC(USA) leaders (including former Moderator Susan Andrews and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick) that were seen as demeaning to Dr. Githii.

Following worship, workshops were held on "Changing Realities for Church Renewal and Evangelism" and on "Global Witness and Mission in a Changed World." I wanted to be in both, but decided to sit in on the evangelism workshop. I don’t know what I missed in the Mission workshop, but the evangelism session was a good choice. The panel included (from left to right, if you will – in their seating, not necessarily their theology) Clark Cowden, Executive Presbyter of San Joaquin Presbytery; Carmen Fowler, who has served as executive director of the Presbyterian Coalition, Jin S. Kim, pastor of Church of All Nations in Minneapolis and former president of Presbyterians for Renewal; and Kristen Johnson, the new director of One by One, the "transformational ministry" whose purpose is to help glbt people (or in her terms, "homosexuals") overcome what she sees, from her own experience, as their addiction.

One thread running through many of the comments was that the church is now proclaiming the Gospel in a very different world from the one it’s used to. In this post-modern setting, as Clark Cowden put it, "evangelism of the modern era doesn’t work," for people have very little knowledge of the tradition, no interest in it, and are looking for something they can see as more genuine and personal. For Cowden, that means hospitality is the key. Christians with "the gift of hospitality" who invite people into their homes, "not even talking about Christ but building relationships and caring for people in the long term." The old "crusade" model won’t work, nor with the newer mega-church model, which seems to many post-moderns to be "too polished, too good to be true," and perhaps worse, manipulative.

For Cowden, this means that engineering is no longer a good metaphor for evangelism in the post-modern world. (One might wonder whether it ever was, but then.) It’s more like agriculture, he said – planting seeds, cultivating, fertilizing, taking time and being patient. This means sitting with people as they wrestle with their own questions, and sharing the brokenness and the stories of our own lives.
 

Carmen Fowler echoed Cowden. "We no longer follow a crusade model," she said, "but a coffee-house model." She added, though, that inviting people to church can still be effective, but only if "the worship is really evangelistic, with a call to faith." Fowler suggested that post-moderns will not be interested in Bible studies in a church, but they might come to a home for a gathering called something like "More than the same BS."

She reminded the group of Jesus’ style of evangelism: wearing the clothes that the people wore, meeting them where they worked, on the dock, in the market, listening to them before he spoke. So, she concluded, while she knows "some people who have come to faith," she sees many others as "works in process."
 

Jim Kim spoke out of his own identity as a Korean-American, and his current ministry in a new, ethnically diverse congregation. As he did two years ago when he spoke at the Coalition Gathering, he dealt very directly with what he sees as the continuing failure of evangelical groups (and liberal ones, too!) to deal with the most serious in justice of our time.

He began by calling attention to the fact that "conservative churches where people are against gay ordination and are pro-life" are declining in membership just like the "liberal" churches. Their decline may be slower, but it’s still a reality.

Then he paused to pose the question, "Why do I get invited" to events like this? He got the biggest laugh of the hour as he offered three reasons: "We value dissent. We want diversity, and I provide some esthetic diversity. And we believe we haven’t worshipped unless we’ve been scolded." So he did his best to fulfill his role.

He talked about having attended the most recent Covenant Network conference in Chicago, with some 600 people attending. He asked the group what they’re about. "Justice," was the answer – but specifically justice for the glbt people who are excluded from ordained office in the Presbyterian Church. But, he said "that kind of organizational effort, with all those resources, is not being marshalled against injustice toward the millions of people of color and other groups in this country."

And then, he went on, "I go to evangelical gatherings. Their agenda is the Good News – but it’s good news for the white middle class."

He pointed out too, as he has before, that "this ordination debate is America’s fixation on sex. We Presbyterians are now the richest Christians in America – in the world. And we use our wealth to fight about sex." In the meantime, by 2050 whites will be a minority in the American population. The Immigration act of 1965, which open the doors to many more immigrants, "will have far more effect on the United States – and the church – than the sexual revolution."

So, he concluded, "you want me to choose between this group of white people that are clueless about justice and people of color, and that group that’s clueless about the Gospel?"
 

Kristen Johnson began by lamenting that "people aren’t aware any more that homosexuality is an addition, and that it can be cured." But then she expressed her hope: "I can feel it in this room, that you all are ready to deal with this." Dealing with the problem of homosexuality, she said requires healing family systems that aren’t working, and "we as adult need to take responsibility for the attractions that we feel, that we don’t want." "Sin," she added, "is an illegitimate way of meeting legitimate needs."

She spoke then of her own life, and her struggle against "bad sexual relations – homosexual and heterosexual." She was in the church, but nobody really helped her in her struggle, until "I stood before the Lord and said ‘Lord, I don’t know what to do, but let your will be done.’ And the Lord said ‘I know you love me, but you really don’t trust.’ Then my life changed, and I could change and live a life of chastity. It’s hard, but it’s good."

On behalf of One by One she concluded, "I challenge you: Let’s start to act. Just ask for help and we can show you the way."

The workshop ended with some time for questions. In response to a couple questions to Jin Kim about "what can we do?" he suggested that perhaps doing things reflects the real difference between the white culture and that of other groups. Rather than doing things, asserting control to solve the problem, perhaps we need first to do what Job’s friends did (until they blew it by talking, trying to solve the problem of his suffering): Just sitting with people sharing their suffering, "seems appropriate for non-Western cultures," he said, "but also for post-moderns."

To sum up, this workshop seemed to show on the part of the speakers a real awareness that "things are changing," and a real concern to find new ways to convey the same, unchanging message.

After the workshop period, the delegates appointed by the congregations which have "subscribed" to the New Wineskins ideas convene for their first session. We’ll be back later with more on that.