AOCM

Mission Shaped Church Army: Delivering Tomorrow’s Evangelism Today

David Coleman is the Communications Manager for the Church Army in the UK

“So Church Army is not the Salvation Army then!”

This is a comment often heard by many evangelists and other Church Army staff after sharing the nature of its work with churches and congregations.

Church Army has been described as ‘the Church of England’s best kept secret - so secret that despite a 122 history, much of the Church of England does not even seem to know they exist.

Church Army has been at the heart of evangelism within the established church since 1882. It was then that Revd. Wilson Carlile, a young curate at St Mary Abbots Kensington, founded Church Army to take the good news of Jesus Christ to those people who would not normally have had contact with the Church - this has been the goal ever since. Ann Morisy, Director of the Commission on Urban Life and Faith, outlines something of the society’s character; “Church Army has respect for being a pathfinder organisation that goes into places first. The radical discipleship demonstrated by its evangelists is what makes the work so important within the Church at this crucial time in our history.”

Over the past few years Church Army has helped the church work towards becoming more “mission-shaped.” - deriving its shape and style from its mission context rather than from an understanding of what we think Church should be. George Lings who heads up the Sheffield centre, Church Army’s research unit, was a key player in the development of the recently published Mission-shaped Church report, and continues to help set the agenda for “fresh expressions of church” through his quarterly publication “Encounters on the Edge”.

Philip Johanson OBE, Church Army’s Chief Secretary comments;

“Earlier this year at a church planting conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned the church that it is heading for “an exciting and un-chartered future”. Only a month later, he was calling for Church Army “not to be domesticated by the church but to continue to surprise and astonish the church with the need for urgency in sharing the Gospel”.

Church Army takes the Archbishop at his word as we add value to mission teams up and down the country and equip the church to be able to respond to the future now in terms of meeting the challenge it poses for mission and evangelism. “I suppose you could say we are focussed on delivering tomorrow’s evangelism today.” Johanson adds.

To assist this process the Church Army Board has developed the theme of “making a difference on the cutting edge” as part of the strategic focus of the Society- investing in key projects in Belfast, Grimsby, Cardiff and Nottingham which focus on developing fresh expressions of Christian Community. “Our role is to help equip the church to get more of its people out in the community sharing the good news of Jesus where people are and we need to see more Christians out in the community sharing the things that are important to people so we can show how God is concerned with every aspects of out lives.”, comments Philip Johanson in the latest issue of Share IT- Church Army’s supporter magazine.

The approach seems to be working. Church Army projects have been receiving ever increasing profile in the secular and Christian Press and much is being done by the Communications team, led by David Coleman, to present the work of Church Army evangelists and projects as relevant to the needs of the communities they serve. David comments:

“I am knocked out by some of the work that our evangelists are doing- usually very effectively but without fuss or fanfare. It is really important that we engage positively with parishes and diocese to make sure ministers, church goers and the wider public are aware of the positive difference Church Army people are making to the lives of individuals and communities up and down the country.”

Johanson is enthusiastic about the challenge ahead for Church Army

“Church Army was founded by Wilson Carlile, who was characterised for his pioneer risk-taking approach to mission and evangelism- with a strong focus on sharing faith through words and action among the marginalised. The Board has pledged its backing to build on this vision, in partnership with others, and share our expertise and resources in helping to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known. To do this we are at our most effective when we work outside church buildings and church culture, sitting loosely to it, working with those who have little or no meaningful relationship with the church, discovering ways of creating relevant expressions of Christian community.”

Church Army evangelists come from across all the traditions within the Church of England and around 350 evangelist share the Gospel through words and action in almost every diocese around the UK and Ireland. Some work with children; some with the elderly; some with homeless people; some with refugees and asylum seekers; some are church planters; some are deanery evangelists; some are diocesan evangelists; some are even evangelists in a specialist role or location, such as a chaplain to a nightclub or supermarket. The hours they work are unsociable to say the least but they tend to have one thing in common- a call to be at the cutting edge of relevant outreach in communities and a focus on developing fresh expressions of church.

Church Army also runs a college for Evangelism training- the Wilson Carlile College of Evangelism and a specialist research unit, the Sheffield Centre, as well as www.word-on-the-web.co.uk an e-mail and internet ministry recently backed by chart topping bands Delirious? And Y-Friday. The Church of England’s National Mission and Evangelism Adviser, the Revd Paul Bayes, commented recently that “Church Army can be confident about the future direction of its evangelistic ministry and makes a significant contribution to the thinking and practice of the Anglican Church in mission and evangelism.”

Canon Mark Rylands, Exeter’s Diocesan Missioner and Director for the Council of Mission and Unity, writes in ShareIT!- Church Army’s supporter magazine:

“The Church Army evangelists I know have a sense of desire and energy for mission and have been fun to work with. I like the fact that Church Army seem to support people where they are and meet them in their need. Their training seems to emphasise getting to know people and how they tick first of all. They seem to produce real, rounded, fully human evangelists.”

Philip Johanson adds:

“Keep your surprise alive and you will help keep the church growing, Archbishop Rowan told our new evangelists at the service held to mark the start of their ministry this summer. We continue to be surprised about the areas of work our evangelists are called to, but with your continued partnership and the support of the wider church and our key partners, we feel that we are equipped, with the guidance of God to meet the challenge of tomorrow’s evangelism today.”

To find out more about Church Army and receive a free copy of our magazine, Share It and Prayer Diary call 020 8309 9991 or e-mail us at information@churcharmy.org.uk