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To simplify my teaching I have set up a separate blog for my comments on Scriptural verses and passages. These are found here

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Where is the Church? No.3

The following is directly quoted from
THE CELTIC WAY OF EVANGELISM HOW CHRISTIANITY CAN REACH THE WEST . . . AGAIN
By George G Hunter
Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2010

What can now be known about how Celtic Christianity "won the West" for the second time?

The rest of this book unpacks the multiple known strategic causes for Celtic Christian expansion. This chapter focuses on how the Celtic way of being and doing church contributed to the re-evangelization of Europe in the centuries before the Roman way eclipsed the Celtic way.

Five themes suggest what we might learn from the ancient Celtic Christian movement about actually being the kind of missional church that many leaders now discuss.

First, in significant contrast to contemporary Christianity's well-known evangelism approaches of Lone Ranger one-to-one evangelism, confrontational evangelism, or the public preaching crusade (and in stark contrast to contemporary Christianity's more dominant "don't ask, don't tell"  policy of not evangelizing at all!), we have already seen how the Celtic Christians usually evangelized as a team—by relating to the people of a settlement; identifying with the people; engaging in friendship, conversation, ministry, and witness—with the goal of raising up a church in measurable time.

John Finney observes that the Celts believed in "the importance of the team. A group of people can pray and think together. They inspire and encourage each other. The single entrepreneur is too easily prey to self doubt and loss of vision."

The second theme focuses on how the monastic community prepared people to live with depth, compassion, and power in mission.

Celtic Christianity seems to have prepared people through a fivefold structure of experiences:
You experienced voluntary periods of solitary isolation, ordinarily in a primitive cell erected within a remote natural setting—like a grove of trees near a stream  Drawing on the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers of the Eastern church, Celtic leaders advised you to "go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything."
You spent time with your anam cara, that is, your "soul friend"—not a superior like a spiritual director, but more like a peer with whom you were voluntarily vulnerable and accountable; to whom you made confession; from whom you received penance; who both supported and challenged you.
If the monastic community was at all large, you spent time with a small group of ten or fewer people—led by someone chosen primarily for his or her devotion.
You participated in the common life, meals, work, learning, biblical recitation, prayers, ministries, and worship of the whole monastic community.
Through your small group and the community's life, and perhaps as a soul friend, you observed and gained experience in ministry and witness to pre-Christian people.

The community's purposes for you, through this fivefold structure, were to root your consciousness in the gospel and the Scriptures; to help you experience the presence of the triune God and an empowered life; to help you discover and fulfill your vocation; and to give you experience in ministry with seekers.

A third theme, weaving through the second, focuses on the role of frequent imaginative prayer in all the settings (in solitude, with the soul friend, in the small group, in the corporate life, and in ministry with believers and seekers) of life within the monastic community.

 We will see, in chapter 5, that Celtic evangelization took people's "right brains" seriously; it made the gospel's meaning vivid, engaged people's emotions, and energized their response by engaging their imaginations.

The Celts' affirmation of human imagination also shaped the legendary Celtic life of private prayer. Esther de Waal is a contemporary champion of activating the religious imagination for meaningful prayer.  She defines the Christian life as a journey, in the company of other pilgrims and the triune God, with dark forces about us and the saints pulling for us. The imaginative style of prayer that fuels this life typically focuses on space and images, attains a visual quality, and is characterized by cogency and poetic repetition.

De Waal explains: Above all the Celtic tradition has reminded me of the importance of images, those foundational images whose depths and universal character have always brought such riches to Christian understanding. . . . It now becomes vital, more than ever, to recover the fundamental images of fire, wind, bread, water, of light and dark, of the heart. These are the great impersonal symbols which are universal, understood by Christian and nonchristian alike.

The Psalms, of course, have these features, and the people in a monastic community typically sang and prayed thirty psalms a day. However, the Celtic Christians also wrote new prayers, and many have been passed on for centuries.

This part of a prayer serves as an example of cogency and poetic repetition:

 O Father who sought me, O Son who bought me, O Holy Spirit who taught me.

The most famous Celtic prayer, "St. Patrick's Breastplate," stands as a magnificent example of the visual quality of many Celtic prayers:

I rise today in power's strength, invoking the Trinity, believing in threeness, confessing the oneness, of creation's Creator.
 I rise today in the power of Christ's birth and baptism, in the power of his crucifixion and burial, in the power of his rising and ascending, in the power of his descending and judging.
 I rise today in the power of the love of cherubim, in the obedience of angels, and service of archangels, in hope of rising to receive the reward, in the prayers of patriarchs, in the predictions of prophets, in the preaching of apostles, in the faith of confessors, in the innocence of holy virgins, in the deeds of the righteous.
I rise today in heaven's might, in sun's brightness, in moon's radiance, in fire's glory, in lightning's quickness, in wind's swiftness, in sea's depth, in earth's stability, in rock's fixity.
I rise today with the power of God to pilot me, God's strength to sustain me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look ahead for me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to protect me, God's way before me, God's shield to defend me, God's host to deliver me: from snares of devils, from evil temptations, from nature's failings, from all who wish to harm me, far or near, alone and in a crowd.
Around me I gather today all these powers against every cruel and merciless force to attack my body and soul, against the charms of false prophets, the black laws of paganism, the false laws of heretics the deceptions of idolatry, against spells cast by women, smiths and druids, and all unlawful knowledge that harms the body and soul.
May Christ protect me today against poison and burning, against drowning and wounding, so that I may have abundant reward;
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me; Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me; Christ in my lying, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising; Christ in the heart of all who think of me. Christ on the tongue of all who speak to me, Christ in the eye of all who see me, Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
I rise today in power's strength, invoking the Trinity, believing in threeness, confessing the oneness, of creation's Creator.
For to the Lord belongs salvation, and to the Lord belongs salvation and to Christ belongs salvation
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.

The fourth theme is the role of the monastic community's hospitality in ministry with seekers, visitors, refugees, and other guests.

We have already seen that one Celtic approach to pre-Christian people involved a team from the monastic community penetrating the natural community of the target population.

 We now feature a contrasting approach; the monastic communities invited seekers, refugees, and others, individuals and even families, to be their guests.

Put yourself in the place of a seeker, a refugee, or an abused teenager who has been invited to visit a monastic community, and you have found your way there. What would you likely experience?  You would meet a "porter" stationed near the monastic community's entrance, whose chief role is to welcome guests and introduce them to the rest of the community.

 The abbot, and everyone else, would welcome you with "all courtesy of love." The abbot (or abbess) would gently inquire about what had prompted your visit (and so begin the ministry of conversation), would read a scripture for you, offer a prayer for you, and extend the "kiss of peace." The abbot would wash your feet (from your journey by foot) and would show you to the guesthouse—which would be managed by a caring brother who would give you bedding.

You would be included at the abbot's table at meals; if the abbot was in a period of fasting, he would break the fast—for the abbot has no higher priority than ministry with guests. You would learn that the monastic community's highest commitment is hospitality to strangers, seekers, pilgrims, and refugees. The Benedictine Rule 53 mandates, "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: 'I was a stranger and you welcomed me.'"

Soon you would be given a soul friend, a small group, and a place for periods of solitude.
You would learn some Scripture; you would worship with the community. One or more persons would share the ministry of conversation and pray with you daily.

After some days or weeks, you would find yourself believing what these Christians believe, and they would invite you to commit your life to Christ and his will for your life.

The fifth and final theme follows from the fourth and focuses more explicitly on the role of the seeker's experience of the Christian community in the process of conversion.

This theme represents the major contribution of John Finney's pioneering book Recovering the Past: Celtic and Roman Mission.

 Finney's book does us the service of contrasting the Roman way of doing mission and evangelism vis-à-vis the Celtic way.

Bluntly stated, the Roman model for reaching people (who are already "civilized" enough) is this:
(1) present the Christian message;
(2) invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; and
(3) if they decide positively, welcome them into the church and its fellowship.

The Roman model seems very logical to us because most American Christians are scripted by it! We explain the gospel, they accept Christ, and we welcome them into the church. Presentation, decision, assimilation—what could be more logical than that?

But you already know enough to infer the (contrasting) Celtic model for reaching people:
(1) establish community with people or bring them into the fellowship of your community of faith;
(2) within fellowship, engage in conversation, ministry, prayer, and worship; and
(3) in time, as they discover that they now believe, invite them to commit.

We can contrast the two models on a chart: Roman Model Celtic Model Presentation Fellowship Decision Ministry and conversation Fellowship Belief, invitation to commitment

The Celtic model reflects the adage that, for most people, "Christianity is more caught than taught!"

Years ago, I began discovering the Celtic approach in my field research with converts out of secularity into faith. In interviews, I usually ask new believers: "When did you feel that you really belonged, that you were wanted and welcomed and included in the fellowship of this church?"

More and more converts, including a majority of boomer converts and a large majority of Generation X converts, comment that they felt like that before they believed and before they officially joined. Indeed, many new believers report that the experience of the fellowship made it possible for them to believe and commit.

For many people, the faith is about three-fourths caught and one-fourth taught.

My cautious conclusions about how most people become Christians were reinforced by a more empirical study sponsored by the United Bible Societies in Great Britain, led and written by John Finney.

A research team received 360 completed questionnaires from converts, and they interviewed 151 converts. These 511 converts represented the range of denominations in England, from Anglican and Roman Catholic, to "Free Churches" and the "New Churches."

In Finding Faith Today: How Does It Happen?  Finney reports that most people experience the faith through relationships, that they encounter the gospel through a community of faith, and that becoming a Christian involves a process that takes time.

 In his later book Recovering the Past, Finney summarizes their chief finding in four words. For most people, "belonging comes before believing."

 Finney believes that we are now rediscovering the approach to mission first pioneered by ancient Celtic Christianity. He contends that the Celtic way is more effective with postmodern Western populations than the Roman way (and its more recent version—the traditional evangelical way). His data show that more people come to faith gradually (the Celtic model) than suddenly (the Roman model).

Furthermore, the ongoing contagious common life of the congregation that permits people to discover faith for themselves, at their own pace, now appears to be much more influential than special-event-preaching evangelism.

Finney outlines the typical journey of faith that most people experience today:
X is introduced into the church through a member of his or her family, through friendship with some Christians, or through a minister.
He or she begins to ask questions.
He or she is invited to explore further and come to a knowledge and practice of the faith (often this is through a nurture group or some form of catechumenate).
The individual discovers that he or she has become a Christian and marks it publicly through baptism or confirmation or whatever is appropriate to his or her denomination.

If, as observed above, "belonging comes before believing," then evangelism is now about "helping people to belong so that they can believe." Finney believes that, as we adapt to a changing Western postmodern culture, we will observe a widespread shift from the entrenched Roman model to the rediscovered Celtic model.


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