Christianity in UK not in the dumps says leading Anglican Evangelist

By Michael Green, as interviewed by David Virtue
This message received September 18, 2001

If you listen to the radio, watch the TV or read the press you would get the impression that the churches in England are going down the drain. There has certainly been a decline in numbers in practically all denominations during this century, but this has now largely bottomed out, though children and young people are still leaving the church in large numbers.

It is true that many churches are rather dull and there are serious financial problems. However here are just seven (there are many more)! of the positive and encouraging things about Christianity in U.K. that are rarely reported:

1. Unlike some parts of the world the vast majority of our clergy and bishops are orthodox believers. Moreover I know of only two bishops who are openly in favour of homosexual marriages, although secular pressure is moving strongly in that direction. In contrast to the United States, no clergy perform same-sex marriages.
2. At this time of year you will find many thousands of young people in camps, outdoor ventures and house parties where effective evangelism and the training of disciples goes on in a relaxed but often challenging environment.
3. At this time of year you will also find many thousands of people coming together to have a holiday and to get serious help and teaching in their Christian lives. The Keswick Convention, well over century old, still draws its thousands, so do more recent initiatives such as New Wine (7000 the first week and 9000 the second), Soul Survivor (10,000 young people) and similar events in several parts of the country, such as Oxfordshire and Norfolk.
    
   These great gatherings always have lively worship, quality Bible exposition, the opportunity for personal ministry, and then a multitude of seminars where people can pick and choose, or decline to go to any.
    
   Similarly in the springtime Spring Harvest draws upwards of 70,000 in Butlins Holiday Camps ( which are heavily populated with ordinary holidaymakers in the summer but would otherwise be deserted at Easter). Weeks like these enable whole families to have a good holiday, and excellent teaching is laid on for all ages - the arrangements for children and teenagers being particularly brilliant. They are a great encouragement to thousands of Christians who come from small, scattered churches where the teaching may be indifferent and the fellowship thin. All these great gatherings are interdenominational, and their flavour is evangelical and charismatic.
4. You will also find hundreds, if not thousands, of Christian students ministering in short term summer missions in various parts of the world. They do much good, and they learn a lot, often in difficult and testing circumstances. Some of them, like my own son, find a lifetime's mission call emerging from a student overseas venture like this.
5. You might think that the ordained ministry would seem an unattractive profession these days - ill paid and despised. What fascinates me, as I teach in a theological seminary, is the fact that lots of very talented men and women are giving up prestigious and well- paid jobs in order to train as clergy!
    
   In our own college, Wycliffe Hall in Oxford University, we are packed out, and have had to turn down more than thirty applicants this year for lack of space! Actors, chartered accountants, lawyers, teachers, salespeople, nurses, youth workers, professors, doctors, politicians all find their way through our doors. Many of them have doctorates or first class degrees. All of them have a passion for Christ and a longing to draw others to him. It is an enormous privilege to have a part in the equipping of such people for full time ministry, and I for one feel that with men and women like this coming into the ordained ministry of the church, the future is bright.
6. 'Springboard' is an initiative in evangelism founded by the Archbishop of Canterbury as his personal contribution to the Decade of Evangelism. He was soon joined by the Archbishop of York. The original team, comprising Bishop Michael Marshall, Canon Dr. Michael Green, Mrs. Rosemary Green and Mr. Martin Cavender worked for four years up and down the country encouraging evangelism in the Dioceses, as and when they were invited by the bishops.
    
   Nowadays a fresh team is in place, still superbly compared by Martin Cavender. They are in tremendous demand all over the country. They major on training Vestry members as well as clergy in evangelism, and they regularly do practical evangelistic projects showing how it can be effective. They run conferences, particularly an extended one to sharpen the skills of those who have already shown gifts in evangelism. All of this, and more, is financed (through supper parties run by the Archbishop) by the Lambeth Partnership, a group of people who put their money where their heart is - in evangelism.
    
   As a result, all ministry carried out by Springboard comes free to the church - just like the gospel it proclaims. In addition, the Archbishop himself does no less than 6 weekend teaching missions in his own diocese during each year. What previous archbishop has done anything remotely similar?
7. The Alpha Course has proved a phenomenal success. Launched in Holy Trinity Brompton, this ten-week introductory course to Christianity has spread throughout the world. It has brought hundreds of thousands to Christ.
    
   They reckon that more than half a million people are currently taking the course in England alone. Most of these are not Christians when they begin the course, and the majority are by the time they finish it. It is by far the most significant evangelistic tool the churches possess at present. So much interest has it evoked that the celebrated broadcaster Sir David Frost hosted a ten week enquiry into Alpha on prime time television - and in England you cannot buy time: it has to be of such public interest that the TV company puts it on.

Was it not G.K. Chesterton who said ' Five times in past history they have said that Christianity was going to the dogs - and each time it has been the dogs that died'?

Canon Michael Green is a consultant on evangelism to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. He also teaches at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and is the author of numerous books on the New Testament and evangelism. His most recent book ASIAN TIGERS FOR CHRIST is a best seller.

Journalist and author David Virtue is the former Religion Editor of the Vancouver, PROVINCE newspaper in Vancouver, BC Canada, and has worked with a number of major US nonprofit organizations including World Vision International, the American Bible Society and the American Leprosy Missions as a writer and journalist. He is the author of two books on social justice and evangelism, and he is presently completing a Memoir on the life of Malcolm Muggeridge. David has been writing about Anglican issues for more than two decades and recently attended The Lambeth conference in Canterbury, England. He has lectured on "Christianity and Culture" as well as journalism and has traveled extensively throughout the world, especially the Middle East, writing on matters of religious concern. See also the Virtuosity web site containing his writings..