(Catriona, you're an old cynic) ... but the item in today's Baptist news esweep about the failure of the Willow Creek approach to make long term, mature disicples hardly came as a shock. (Check link here)
In my view the "Essence of a Pupose Driven Emmaus Journey into Alpha" models all have much that is good about them but they don't actually give any more than the old URC 'church membership class' I did almost 30 years ago - and we all know what the attrition rates are like for post Baptism/Confirmation/Membership.
I don't have an answer, just wonder if maybe we have a got a bit too hung up on formula and numbers coming in rather than authenticity and maturity.
Comments
The article was fascinating and confirmed some of my prejudices :-)
Ian Stackhouse in his wonderful book, 'The Gospel-Driven Church' talks about faddism. We all fall for the latest technique or method or model rather than having confidence in the gospel. I feel a bit like that with a lot of stuff like this - we for all that glitters and forget the struggle for authenticity and maturity.
I too was unsurprised by the statement! I do use a course as the backbone but it seems to me that ongoing relationships are the best to build disciples but certainly in my neck of the woods relationships are very superficial between members and we all seem to want to prove we are good Christians with all the answers sown up with puts new folk off either biblestudy groups or authentic and meaningful one to one relationships that would help them grow. Why can't doubts and struggles be expressed and so help the new person realise they are not alone on the journey?
Ah yes, was the Christian Cabinet minister wrong to tell the press the pound was a strong investment when he knew it wasn't, even though he knew telling the truth would lose thousands of people's jobs? And write a precis of all the sermons in Acts of the Apostles (not everybody in our membership class did - I can't remember what they thought about the Cabinet Minister).
The thing that kept most of us going to those classes, over 30 years ago, was a curious game a bit like shove ha'penny on a circular playing board that our bumbly and slightly deaf retired Congregational minister friend played with us afterwards. Now perhaps if we could relaunch that as a key component of a Christian enquirers' course... you'd need a bumbly, slightly deaf, retired Congregational minister to really make it an effective evangelistic tool, though.
Our 7 year old daughter meanwhile is very indignant that she can't go on an Alpha course, as she likes the look of the puddings that are being put out while we help put up tables for the local Churches Together course. She's extracted a promise that she can sign up when her bedtime reaches 10 pm. Trial by cake - now you're talking!
Wow Andy, yours were way more fun than ours were in darkest Northamptonshire. We sat in the manse and worked through the persons of the Trinity over three weeks, something about sacraments (!) the responsiblities of membership and the history of the URC - which must have been about eight years old by then. Barry Harry (as he was nicknamed by the GB because of his signature) was an ex-Cong. so maybe he also knew this shove ha'penny game, but didn't have the necessary in his manse...
At least the bit about sacraments stuck!
Were you as argumentative then as you are now (sometimes)?
No. In those days I was a nice person.
Your intellectual rigour is part of your essential charm. I was just imagining a teenage Harrod-style debate over sacraments/ordinances (followed, of course, by a quick game of shove ha'penny).
I wish! In those days I was scared of my own shadow.
I think I really honed my argumentative skills in industry with a colleague who also enjoyed a good debate (on any old topic apart from work, which was banned) during our lunchtime walks.
Sparring with John H was fun, but rather selfish too.
I recommend shove ha'penny for any sparring partner - or a slice of cake.