Everyone agrees that spreading the Good News of Jesus is one of the most important callings for Christians. The “Great Commission” is our Gospel reference point for this. Here are the first words of Jesus to His disciples as He comes to see them after His resurrection.

Matthew 28: 16 – 20

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

          Rev. Alex Ruth, a recent addition to our DOC Regional Office, shared some of his thoughts with Pastors this week, and I thought it would be valuable for all of us to hear. Many times, evangelism comes down to an individual act – someone sharing with another. And that’s hard for us to do! And yet … Jesus said …

Take a few minutes to check out this short article, and let it speak to you personally as you discern how best you can respond to Jesus’ Great Commission.  

Peace – Pastor Bob <><

“E” is for Evangelism

By Reverend Alex Ruth

I know, for some of us evangelism is almost a dirty word. We may fear knocking on doors, standing on street corners holding up signs, or cornering coworkers around the water cooler with warnings about eternal punishment if they don’t repent and change their ways. I want to take a moment to assure you that it is perfectly OK to feel a good amount of fear about those types of evangelism. You are not alone.

Most people I’ve met shudder (or flee outright) from these more assertive forms of evangelism. And, while those fears are normal and understandable, they have kept many of us from sharing the Good News with others. We might worry that we don’t know the Bible well enough, or that we might not have the “right” words to say, or simply be uncomfortable sharing our personal faith with others. Whatever the reason, our “mainline” denominations have done a pitiful job of evangelism over the past few decades.

There is an outright lack of evangelistic effort in our churches. However, I expect that most of us can point to a time in our lives when God’s presence was almost tangible. Maybe you got through a touchy financial situation without depleting your savings; maybe you experienced a miraculous healing; or maybe you understood in a very personal way that you needed the comfort of Christ walking beside you every step of the way. Whatever your story, whatever makes God real to you, that is a powerful story.

And, that is the basis of evangelism. We are called to share our stories with others. That doesn’t have to mean that we grab the arm of a stranger in the store. Telling our story can start with our friends and our families. Telling our story can start in the safety of church.

I remember several years ago when my grandfather died. As we gathered in the church for his memorial services, my father stood up to speak. I honestly don’t remember any of the words he said that day. But, I do remember understanding for the first time how much my dad loved his father. I understood how much his life had been shaped by this man we both loved. Maybe it was because I was a new father as well, or maybe it was just my time, but I came to see my dad in a different way that day. Our relationship changed, with a few stories about his life.

That’s really all it takes to help someone change their life; few stories, a relationship, openness to sharing part of ourselves with someone else. That is the basis of evangelism. But we can’t stop there. People need a community of faith. And so, we invite people to join us in church, because it is important to us, and something we would like to share. That’s not easy for all of us, it certainly isn’t always easy for me! As a pastor, it can be awkward to invite someone to come and hear you preach, but the community of faith gathered together had been (and I believe will be in many ways) essential to our journey of faith.

If we focus on building the relationship, between ourselves and others, and between all of us and God, evangelism won’t be so intimidating. And, as we work together in sharing our stories we’ll find that evangelism isn’t a dirty word after all.

Rev. Dr. N. Alexander Ruth

Associate Regional Minister for Transformation

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Illinois and Wisconsin

Why are people leaving church?                                                              Why are churches not attracting people?

Surely there are many valid resons why people leave churches. And, almost always, it’s a very tough decision for both the church and the ones departing. It’s situations like this when the true Christ-like narture of a church is revealed.

There are also many reasons given for why people leave chuches, but they aren’t so valid. They’re not the real reasons. You see, people also leave churches for personal resons – ranging from dislike for the pastor, to dislike of some members of the church, to feeling overchurched to not feeling anything when it comes to church. And many other personal reasons that they would rather not tallk about. Thus the need for “other” reasons.   

One things for sure; It’s no secret that many people are leaving churches in this COVID- era. I’ve seen estimates of an average of 60% of church members of small and medium sized churches have left.

It’s a mystery as to how long they’ll be gone or if they’re ever coming back. And almost every church like ours is asking the same question: What does this mean for the future of (fill in church’s name)?

 Jon Benzinger is a guy I came across on Twitter. That’s it! He’s like one of us, it seems. He’s not on the New York Times Best Seller List and he doesn’t have a series of educational videos to buy. At least not yet. At least as far as I know.

On Twitter, this is how Jon describes himself: “Husband. Father. Helping people know, love & serve Jesus as one of the pastors of @rbcgilbert & contributors to @redeeming_truth. Having caught my curiousity, I checked out the tweets he sent out about “When it’s time to leave a church.”

Now, I don’t know what the future holds for us at VSCC, but I know God does, and because of that I know we are being called to follow God’s will for us in these challenging years ahead. And to do that, we must stay close to the heart of Christ, to the truth of His message, and the Spirit of His love.

That’s the context for which I present Jon’s thoughts. Take a look and see what you think. I admit, there are some that I relate to immediately, but there ar also some that I’m still working though. And there aer some I disagree with. Regardless, they are all credible and important for us to explore. As we move forward together, listenng to the voice of our Shepherd must be our guide.

Here are Jon’s 11 reasons why you should consider leaving a church.

Wow! That’s quite a list. But you should see how many tweets Jon received in response. It seems like a lot of people are thinking about this topic as our churches continue to dwindle. Perhaps a reset is needed fo everyone, including churches and pastors.

If you’re willing, let me know the kinds of things you would put on your list, and/or let me know what you think might needs to be reset at Vine Street.

Blessings on the path to eternity!

Pastor Bob <><