Maximising the Opportunities
Much good work could be done if rural churches make better use of the resources of the Christian Enquiry Agency and the rejesus website. Both organisations have a reputation for excellence and are broadly accepted across the various Christian traditions. Both are ideally placed to enhance the work and witness of any local rural church without it necessarily costing them anything.
While we might idealise that anyone hearing the gospel for the first time is likely to make an immediate response to follow Christ, the reality is that personal faith and commitment only come after several contacts. That is where both these organisations can be useful.
The advantage of the rejesus website is that it is there 24 hours a day and seven days a week with a wealth of information and potential interaction. There are several ways in to find out more about Jesus, who he was and why he lived, died and rose again. Like Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night many prefer to make further enquiries about faith issues discreetly. So why not give the website a higher profile in your church?
Have you visited the website yourself? If not you will find it at www.rejesus.co.uk. You will quickly see what a valuable website it is. Why not put the website address in your weekly notices? Why not add it as a footer to pages of your parish magazine? Why not ngive the website address a place on any special invitations that your church sends out? Take a tip from how large organisations exploit the opportunities of the internet. Take the BBC for example. Following many programmes there is an invitation to go to their website (including the opportunity to listen again), and in some programmes they make mention of it several times. So be bold and get that address familiar to all.
The other great resource is the Christian Enquiry Agency
Working in partnership, the Christian Enquiry Agency provides opportunities for people to enquire about Jesus Christ and, in confidence, supplies information about the Christian faith. Links with local churches are offered to all enquirers.
Christian Enquiry Agency works on behalf of all the major churches in England and in association with Evangelical Alliance, Bible Society and many Christian organisations. It is an agency of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and a registered charity, No 297393.
People contact CEA by freepost or email through an invitation on websites, leaflets , postcards , posters, booklets, radio, newspapers, and DVD/videos
In response to enquiries CEA sends a personal letter and, free of charge, high quality relevant information about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith either printed, audio or video.
More than 40,000 people have contacted Christian Enquiry Agency so far. Around 15% ask for further help and many are men aged 20-40 who are difficult for the church to reach.
The CEA website address is www.christianity.org.uk. Here you will find more information. There is also a section on the site for enquirers.
If you have a church website then why not ensure that there are clear links to both these sites. Add value to what you are akready doing to share the good news in your village.
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