My first trip after assembly was to Winnipeg to celebrate the anniversary of a covenant our church and other Canadian churches made with aboriginal people-promising to walk together in new paths of healing and reconciliation-as well as to visit some of the congregations in the presbytery. I took and read Peter Bush's recent book, Western Challenge: The Presbyterian Church in Canada's Mission on the Prairies and North, 1885-1925. After all, Winnipeg was once the railhead and supply capital of the west, and the advance of the gospel from that city by Presbyterians, who were passionately committed to reaching those who had settled in the west and the north, was nothing short of phenomenal. These pioneering missionaries, under the supervision of the legendary James Robertson, were keen for the Lord and they were innovative. They established new churches; they touched the lives of aboriginal people and new settlement communities alike. Thus, in spite of numerous bureaucratic holdups, the gospel fell into fertile ground and produced abundantly rich harvests.
It was an invigorating time to be a leader and a member in the Presbyterian family of the Christian church. But, despite that faithful witness, it now seems our church has dwindled substantially, and evangelism and mission seem to have dried up on the hard soil of increasing secularism, materialism, ever-growing centralism and shifting, changing church convictions and priorities.
One of the marks of a healthy church -locally, regionally and nationally-is found in needs-oriented evangelism. This kind of evangelism connects to a real need, it shows real concern, and, it seeks to speak Jesus Christ into that situation. When we had skateboarders on the roof of our church, we started a skateboard ministry. When we found street people on our doorstep we started a downtown street ministry. There is an attempt to incarnate the gospel; and, there is a desire to reach out and touch the lives of others in such a way that they, too, may come to know and serve our Lord and Saviour.
While I am sure many of our local churches are engaged in this ministry, I wonder if we have any regional or national vision for evangelism? I've attended many assemblies and read the reports. I've been struck by how many fine things The Presbyterian Church in Canada has had to say about social justice on the local, regional, national and international levels. The stories have been inspiring. But the reports on evangelism and new missionary strategies have been less and less evident (and have been paid less and less attention in as rapid a pace as the awful decline in the membership of our church).
Why is this so? Many of us were raised as “evangelicals” – believing the basic eternal truths of the Christian faith and desirous of sharing them with others, for example, in organizations such as Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. But somehow concern for the “lost” seems to have been drained out of our lives and thoughts. For some, it has even become embarrassing to be an overt Christian.
I am aware of the theological and socio-political reasons. There are aspects of the gospel that need to be nuanced. There are ambiguities in our own lives that need to be considered. We live in a multi-faith world, right in our own neighbourhood. And, the truth is we are, sometimes, inappropriately aggressive in taking the gospel to others. But have we lost faith in believing Jesus Christ is the answer to our own and the world's questions? Have we lost our vision and nerve to take his gospel to others?
Of course, there are many stories that could be told of those who are indeed sharing the gospel-“gossiping the gospel”-but these stories have not been told often enough. Nor does there seem to be much appetite for any regional or national evangelistic strategies, and, frankly, “colouring outside of the lines” of our usual way of doing things is difficult.
True, a few are trying to take some of the latest “seeker-sensitive” and “emerging church” models seriously, adapting them to Canadian and Presbyterian contexts, and seeking to minister to younger generations and contemporary culture; but, by and large, most of our churches seem to lumber half-heartedly, haltingly, along. Will there be a Presbyterian church in your community tomorrow? Only if there is a greater commitment to needs-oriented evangelism.
