For lots of churches there is a familiar pattern of pre-Christmas events aimed at sharing Jesus with our friends and contacts. For the ladies this often includes a Christmas Pudding Night or a Wreath-Making Evening. But for all the effort, how effective are these events? Often the same guests come every year because they like the event but there is little engagement with the gospel.
What if there was a way to do Christmas evangelism differently, that presents the gospel in a potentially more engaging way and encourages and equips the Christians in the church? We spoke to Ros Ventham at Christ Church Hayward’s Heath about something new they are trying this year as they rethink pudding night.
For Ros, the pattern of the Christmas Pudding Nights never felt quite right for her friends. It can be awkward trying to introduce our non-Christian friends to our church friends at an event with lots of people. It’s great to have a gospel talk, but often it can seem like it interrupts the flow of an evening and feel uncomfortable. And when there’s a wide range of people in the room, it’s hard to get the talk to hit home.
Ros was also struck by a Sunday series in the book of Acts focused on evangelism, including a recent sermon on testimonies. Alongside this, their women’s Bible Study group had a session focused on telling their stories. The women were encouraged to write out their testimonies and tell them to one another with the emphasis on ‘what difference does Jesus make in my life?’ It was hard work at first to express this to one another, but the more they did it, the easier it got. They had also recently read Nancy Guthrie’s Revelation book, Blessed, which had challenged them to see the urgency and need to speak about Jesus, and to be motivated to overcome their fears by seeing Jesus as He truly is and having an eternal perspective.
All this led Ros to rethink how their pudding nights worked. This year, rather than organising one central event, they are encouraging the women of the church to host their own pudding nights in their homes. They have sent round the pudding recipe but given the women the freedom to do whatever they think will suit them and their friends, so they can tailor the evening to make guests feel comfortable. Hosting in homes can create an informal and relaxed atmosphere, where conversations can go deeper than they otherwise would. The focus will be on starting natural conversations that can intentionally lead into sharing the difference Jesus makes to their lives in a way that is personal and specific; not just sharing their experience of Him, but their relationship with Him.
In preparation, they are spending a week in prayer, and a week in the practicalities of writing and telling their stories to each other. Ros has been encouraged by how this has warmed their hearts to Jesus and helped each of them grow in confidence to share their faith: “We want to behold Him more in our lives so we’re chatting about Him”.
They are hoping this can flow into other parts of the Christmas programme, like the carol services, but more deeply that this will give each guest the opportunity to hear a friend share how the gospel has made an impact on their lives. Whilst it may be awkward at first, and hard to cross the pain-line, the aim is to slow down, be bold, and make their friends the priority: “It does just boil down to speaking!”
Trying something new is always daunting, but it’s inspiring to see the passion for sharing the gospel being worked out in the lives of everyday believers. It’s great to see how a small change to the Christmas programme is both encouraging and equipping Christians to be bold in sharing their faith whilst also discipling them and helping them to see Jesus acting in their own lives.
