Solas recently paid a return visit to Deeside Christian Fellowship Church for a Confident Christianity weekend. And as well as the usual Saturday half-day training event, DCFC organised a Friday night youth event, inviting not just their own young people but those from neighbouring churches. Almost 100 young people packed into DCFC and Andy and Steve tackled three tough questions — giving a 10 minute talk on each: “True for You, Not True for Me?”, “Is Christianity Bad for the Environment?” and “Do human rights make sense without God?”
In each case, they shared an answer to the question but also showed how that answer connected to Jesus and the gospel. We also had three Q&A sessions and the young people managed to ask over fifty questions! They ranged over everything from science to sexuality to the Bible to culture, and Andy and Steve did their best to cover as many as they could. Afterward the youth leader remarked he could use the remaining ones for the next two terms’ of youth programming! The evening was a reminder to me how young people need a space to ask their questions—not least, it encourages them to ask their friends along (as many did). But also surveys have shown that churches who encourage their youth to ask their questions and help them discover the answers produce young Christians who are massively more resilient in their faith at university.
Steve said, “Events with youth are always exciting – there’s always such a great buzz from the energy in the room – and this event was no exception. It’s really encouraging to see that there are churches that see the value in getting youth to think through tough questions and make space for the youth to bring their friends along to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Whether your youth ministry is large or small, we highly recommend churches pulling together to put on youth events like this!”
On Saturday, Andy and Steve were joined by Gavin Matthews from Solas and host Elizabeth McQuoid from the church for a morning Confident Christianity conference. In four sessions plus a time of Q&A, they looked at some useful skills for evangelism, as well as some hot topics that come up when we seek to share our faith. The sessions were all recorded and can be seen here:
Andy Bannister: Asking Questions like Jesus:
Steve Osmond: Given all the options, why Jesus?
Gavin Matthews: Where is God in the midst of Suffering?
Andy Bannister: Technology and Humanity:
Q&A:
On Sunday, Andy Bannister went over to Deeside’s sister church, Donside Community Church where he spoke on the uniqueness of Christ; while Gavin continued to speak about the question of suffering but from the encounter of Jesus with Mary, Martha and Lazarus in John 11. The audio of that talk can be heard here.
Working more intensly with a church over a weekend with evangelism, evangelism-training and Sunday preaching too, seems to be something we are being asked to do more regularly in the last year or so. It’s something we really enjoy doing as well, as it gives us the opportunity to get to know people in the church better, and to work with them in a variety of contexts. It’s great to be able to bring a whole team from Solas too and to engage in both sides of our work: evangelism and evangelism-training. Churches seem to appreciate this approach too, which facilitates a far deeper and more fuitful partnership between us than a single event. It keeps travel costs at a minimum too, which is good for everyone. If a Solas weekend might be of benefit to your church, we’d love to hear from you. We can tailor the programme to suit the needs of your fellowship, and work with you to help get the gospel out into your community effectively. Please do drop us a message so we can have an informal chat about the ways in which we serve churches!
