Alpha Canada has just released a three-video Life Shared Small Group Series.
“Evangelism is joining a conversation the Holy Spirit is already having,” says my friend, the theologian Darrell Johnson.
His quote has changed the way I approach evangelism even after I’ve served nine years as national director of Alpha Canada. It democratizes evangelism again. It lifts what can sometimes feel like a burden or pressure to share our faith. Instead, it helps us recapture the joy that comes from participating. It has been life-changing and life-giving.
My team and I engage frequently with senior church leaders across the country so we can continuously learn how to improve our support and service to the Canadian church in the area of evangelism. What we consistently hear about is the common challenge of sharing faith and mobilizing Christians in Canada to invite people to discover a relationship with Jesus.
Many Christians see evangelism as uncomfortable, unnatural or for select experts. A 2017 Angus Reid Study conducted in partnership with Faith In Canada 150 showed only 29 per cent of religiously committed people in Canada view evangelism positively. This is reflective of the culture we live in, one that is postmodern, post-Christian and post-social.
In a postmodern world, truth claims – and therefore the Gospel – have become privatized and removed from the public square. Post-Christian people believe they have “tasted and seen that the Lord is bad.”
And despite the promise of connection through technology and urbanization, people feel lonelier and more isolated than ever. Another Angus Reid study in partnership with Cardus reports that more than six in 10 Canadians feel lonely and long for more time with friends or family. In a world where truth is relative, Christianity is ostracized, and social isolation is becoming an epidemic, sharing faith is increasingly complex and challenging.
Life Shared
We’ve just released a new free resource for church small groups – the Life Shared Small Group Series. It’s a three-part video series that facilitates conversations about how we can each play a part in seeing lives transformed around us, and what it means to share our faith. It features stories about people who’ve shared their faith with somebody in their lives.
As well, Jon Tyson, lead pastor at the Church of the City of New York, Danielle Strickland, author, speaker and social justice advocate, and Jay Pathak, lead pastor at Mile High Vineyard, discuss the concepts and practical applications of invitation, hospitality and prayer. Some churches are using this resource in the lead-up to a moment of invitation ahead of Christmas, Easter or an Alpha course.
Shaila Visser at the Alpha Canada offices.
We know that 80 percent of guests attend Alpha because of a personal invitation from someone they know. If evangelism so often starts and continues in relationship, Alpha has to be understood as more than a video series that answers questions. Rather, it is a space cultivated for guests to encounter Jesus through the love of the church.
Invitation to Alpha is not simply an invitation to hear about God, but an invitation to encounter Him in the community of His church – to experience His love, welcome and presence, while hearing His gracious good news.
Our hope for a culture that is asking, “where do I belong?” is that the church will be the answer.
Shaila Visser is national director for Alpha Canada.
This “new” Alpha effort dates back to 2017 . . . three years ago. I had never heard about it. Very little is said about evangelism in evangelical circles today. EFC should have monthly teachings offered on, it inviting all churches to prompt their congregations to take part.
Evangelism should be in every neighbourhood, every Christian home, in Canada . . . asap. Christians should learn the approach to different target people, their culture, worldview, etc, as well as the proofs of the credibility of scriptures and the message therein.
As someone who led and administered Alpha courses for 14 years, both in BC and ON, I’m so pleased to see how Alpha keeps reinventing itself and staying attuned to the culture. This renewed approach and new resource truly exemplifies that continual movement. I have also appreciated the stellar leadership Shaila has given and her team. Vision, perspective, and moving in step with God’s Spirit are so critical to accomplishing God’s eternal purposes.
I loved attending Alpha. All around I found it helpful and beneficial. I’ve consistently recommended it since.