I recently had the privilege of taking a little trip to the tucked-away town of Saltburn-on-the-
Sea for a day of training with some ministers and congregants in the area. It was a jam-
packed schedule, but the group was full of energy and we had a great morning together. I
often get to speak on some big tricky topics, like the question of suffering, the reliability of
the Bible, and God and science, but this particular morning was a little different, having a
strong practical focus with a blend of teaching and workshops.
I kicked off with a session on conversational evangelism, and then later a session on some practical ways to share our faith with those who are more apathetic – something so relevant, especially here in the UK.
The workshops were really fun – and something that I’m trying to do a little more with groups
to put things into practice. The workshops focussed on sharing testimony – what that means
and how to do it in a way that takes into account the person we’re speaking to, rather than
just a cookie cutter approach for all situations – and the second was titled ‘Explaining our
Theology in Simple Language’. This is a really fun and interactive session that always leads
to a good few laughs, but is also a great learning experience (and I feel like I always walk
away having learned something useful about how to take a piece of rich, but sometimes
misunderstood theology, and make it more accessible simply by explaining it in different
ways).
As usual, we closed with a time of Q&A. It’s always such a pleasure to work with
groups of all sizes and demographics who are fired up to get the message of the Gospel of
Jesus out of the four walls of the church, and I look forward to seeing how the community of
believers there continue to impact their community and see many more come to find true life
and hope with God.
