(Re) Claiming Evangelism?

Why can't these be at night......for those of us that are working it is really hard to try and fit into this time slot.

Two great speakers - should be very interesting for sure.  I too am at work, but will hope to catch it in the archives. 

Yes, this video discussion will be posted on UnitedFuture.ca afterwards and open for folks to add their comments anytime.

Actually Jobam - I think Saturday would be a better time to host it than a weekday evening. I say that because, by the time I am getting home from work, many people in Eastern Canada are heading off to bed. 

The United Church is really good at saying it wants younger people to get involved, but not so good at allowing for it. This is one example of that. They have chosen a time that most non-retired people are either at work or school. I understand that the video will be posted on the website and the comments will be left open, however I doubt many people are even aware of that option - and thus will think that they either have to participate live or not at all.

It isn't just the higher courts, either, somegal. One of the United Churches I attend on occasion has two Bible study groups, both on weekday afternoons. Not very conducive to us 9-5'ers getting involved. I worry that as the church ages, it is getting used to the more flexible schedules that older people have and forgetting that not everyone has that flexibility.

Mendalla

And, though I understand that most of the population is in the Eastern time zone, there is no way I can (on Mountain time) make this work as a lunch break.  I'll go back to watch it after the fact, but is that really what this is about?

I would endorse a change to Saturday.

I agree Hilary.  Either say that it's so that it works for coast-to-coast or that it's for a lunch break for certain areas.  It isn't both.

That's a good point to try a Saturday - I wonder if the lead group considered that already.  It does make it difficult in a wide country!  And some of us are doing other things on Saturday too.  Plus, ministers who work all week & Sundays are usually "Off" on Saturday so that is one more layer.  Also, when we offer things during the evening, it isn't a priority over the myriad other things that younger/working folk have going on.  Personally, choosing dates/times is one of my pet peeves about my work.

Yes - you can participate after the fact. There are ways to watch the recorded forum and use the online set-up to post comments or start discussions.  There are some there already that are interesting, and show how the ideas are flowing from the last forum.  

I think of this like the big ship that takes forever to turn, but if we don't start turning it, it will never turn at all.

Who is interested in evangelism? Who wants to be subjected to evangelism? I just don't see it.

If you proclaim the "good news" to 1000 people, what are your returns, in terms of positive responses? How many negative responses? This is how you should think about it - how many people have you completely alienated because they don't want to hear about your imaginary friend, vs. the number of people who may be interested?

In other words, are you achieving anything other than bothering people about a subject they've already decided on?

I don't know, but when I see evangelists on the street, I don't see respect going in either direction. I see a person who thinks they have access to some knowledge that is denied to others, and I see a lot of annoyed passers-by. Would the positive responses from those who are not already believers be more than 1%? I sincerely doubt it, but maybe I'm wrong.

Your best form of evangelism, is just doing good things for others. That'll earn you respect, no matter how silly people internally feel your beliefs are. I just have no idea how you translate respect into believers. How you get people who don't already believe, past the barrier of believing the unbelievable in this century, I have no idea.

Why not have them at different times?

Right now there are numerous discussions about schools in the area and where to send the kids as they can't build them fast enough.  The meetings are at different locations, on different days, at different times to try to catch as many people as possible at least one.

Some of the topics could even be catered to certain groups a bit.  Is a particular topic more interesting to clergy?  Set a time that works for them best.  Want to capture the working crowd - evenings or weekends will be better.

Oh, sorry, we're talking about times. Yes, for an interactive attempt, making it at a time when most young people can't interact is curious.

I'd be more interested in discussing the actual topic after watching the video myself.  I don't know if that will be after watching it live or after the fact.

I completely agree - I've had to speak up about it on more than one occasion in my own congregation. I'm currently skirting the rules of presbytery too. I'm supposed to be a part of a division, but every division in our presbytery meets at 4PM. I am technically a member of one of our divisions, but have only been to two meetings in three years!

Scanning this quickly, and having poor eyesight, I read the headline as "Panelist bias"

Evangelism, of course, means more than just bible-thumping fundamentalism. Being passionate about one's spirtuality, as I myself sometimes am, can be evangelism.

Here's a quick guide for adding a comment via Livestream during today's (Re)Claiming Evangelism discussion [PDF]: http://ow.ly/sq8Nu

You can also watch the live forum at www.unitedfuture.ca/live without signing in.

If you're on Twitter and want to participate there, the hashtag is #unitedfuture

I was able to watch it live.  I also contributed to a pet peeve of mine, I didn't think I was signed in yet, tried posting like I had previously (before it had started) just to bring the pop up again to sign in turns out I was already in - oops!  lol

I don't have much to add to the discussion about the video, I'm following the one in R&F though and maybe something will come up :)

As for the tech, for both livestreams the chat went black for a bit.  Refreshing fixed it, but it only brings up the new chat messages, not the previous ones.

Hi chemgal

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