Church Army researcher to speak at Mind, Body, Spirit festival this weekend

Earlier this week Steve Hollinghurst , Researcher in Evangelism to Post-Christian Culture at Church Army’s , and Yvonne Richmond (Chaplain for evangelism at Coventry Cathedral) kicked off a national tour “Equipping your church in a spiritual age” designed to help local churches engage with today’s growing  interest in spirituality. The tour continues throughout October and November in 12 venues across the UK -  more details at Ciasa.

 

This weekend (30th September - 2nd October), Steve will be speaking for the first time at the 10th  Mind, Body, Spirit festival to be  held in Manchester’s G-Mex Centre on “discovering meditation with the Christian mystics.” Steve has been running a stall there for some years and is well-known for succ ess fully training and equipping churches to engage with the spiritually seeking communities. This year he will be joined by Church Army evangelist Ben Edson who heads up emerging church projects  Sanctus1and  Nexus.

 

This comes after being a key member of “Elemental” at this year’s Glastonbury festival where Steve and others engaged with spiritual explorers through washing feet and providing a music, chat and chill out venue. He even runs a web blog called  On Earth As In Heaven which he describes as “a place dedicated to musings about the work of God and how it is expr ess ed and lived out in this new spiritual world and its many cultures.”

70% of the population say they pray

76% say they have had a religious experience

books on Body, Mind and Spirit sell more than those on religion

Angels “are in” for 2005

……..yet 6% or fewer attend church regularly

 

“Spirituality shopping” is really in at the moment,” outlines Steve - an ordained Anglican minister who, in his early teens, turned his back on all things church and within a few years was into the occult, tarot, astrology and ritual magic. Steve continues, “For me it is about connecting with the large group of people who are actively seeking some satisfaction and meaning from the spiritual things in life, and to provide them with a safe space where they can explore spirituality within the Christian tradition and hopefully be moved on in a journey with Christ from wherever they are starting.

 

 

 “For me, it is this upsurge in spirituality amongst people with no church backgrounds that is both the main opportunity and challenge today’s church needs to face if it is to have a future tomorrow. As those on the fringes of the church, or with understanding of the Christian message, decline in number over the next few years this new spiritual but un-religious group will become the mainstream in our country. This is even being reflected in our religious broadcasting with the BBC’s Heaven and Earth Show just as likely to feature paganism and new age spirituality as Christianity”, adds Steve. “At these events people show a very open attitude to the Christian faith as a factor in what he describes as a “consumerist approach to spirituality, where Jesus is considered one of a number of product options.

 

 

“My work helps equip churches to deal with the serious challenge this poses in knowing how best to respond to this new mission context. I help churches set up stalls at New Age Fairs - there were over 150 held in Britain last year attended by approaching half a million people from all walks of life. I am exploring how we can connect with people’s spirituality in health centres, nightclubs, shopping centres, sacred sites, on the internet, and indeed in any place that people meet. This is a challenging and pioneering new mission field in a country that is now largely post-Christian. Church Army through my role in research, training consultancy and publications is seeking to equip the church at the cutting edge in facing this challenge and presenting Christianity to many who see the alternative of New Age and Paganism more attractive, meaningful and relevant. If this is a challenge to us, it is one we can face with confidence in the relevance of the gospel in every age. Our calling is to let Christ be seen in our actions as well as our words. We must journey gently with those who seek spiritual reality in that the knowledge that the message of reconciliation, love and hope is indeed placed in us as Christians.”

 

 

Steve’s commitment to this area of work has opened up a role for him within the Group for Evangelisation (A co-ordinating group of Churches Together in England ) and a specialist researcher post in evangelism to post-Christian culture at Church Army’s . He was a key speaker in last year’s “Where’s your church in a spiritual age?” tour of eleven venues across the UK and has recently returned from speaking engagements in the USA .

 

 

“How can churches engage with today’s spiritual age? New thinking and risk taking are essential if churches are again to be places where spiritual searchers find meaning and help and our new photocopiable workbook  Equipping Your Church In A Spiritual Age has been designed specifically to help churches understand the issues for mission and evangelism with contemporary spiritualities.”

 

 

Steve is passionate about the need for such a resource: “The Church has been used to engaging with those who doubt God’s existence and feel science has replaced religion. Today a far more spiritual nation is open to many gods and is posing different questions. The Church desperately needs to be equipped for this new spiritual age and our workbook aims to help them achieve just that. “

 

 

You can order your copy of Equipping Your Church in a Spiritual Age for £9.99 (including p&p) from GFE book offer, c/o Evangelism and Church Planting, Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5JR. Cheques should be made payable to Group for Evangelisation.

 

You can listen to Steve Hollinghurst as he explains what a new approach to evangelism means on an interview with John Pantry of Premier Christian Radio. Download the full interview below:

Steve Hollinghurst interview with John Pantry (25.8MB)

Steve Hollinghurst , is a Researcher in Evangelism to Post-Christian Culture, Church Army’s  and author of “New Age, Paganism and Christian Mission”, Grove Books, 2003 and a co-author of “Equipping Your Church in a Spiritual Age”, GFE, 2005.