“What’s the point? Why am I here? Can we possibly be on our own?”

 

Many have these kind of questions about the nature of life - and now there is a new resource to help explore them in a Christian context.

Question is a stylishly-filmed new DVD for Christians wanting a tool to explore the kind of spiritual questions that are often asked early on in a journey of faith.

It’s been the vision of Baptist minister the Revd Jonathan Vaughan-Davies for a number of years, growing out of conversations that would regularly pop up in his pub church.

‘We’ve been aware for a while of people having spiritual experiences and inquiries, but not really having a context to talk about it,’ said Jonathan, assistant minister of Bethel Baptist Church in Cardiff. ‘We ran a pub church project called Revive. We invited an artist and asked friends to come along. It was a very natural setting to ask ‘what did you make of that?’

‘And these were the kinds of things people were asking. We’ve also done some street work and these questions came up. But we didn’t have anything to point them too - a church is not necessarily the first place people go to answer those questions.'

The DVD course tries to address some of these inquiries, and provide a space for churches and individuals to use. It features six talks – in Welsh as well as English – with each designed to stir up a sense of questioning, providing direction for the conversation time that follows. Questions pop up on screen, and there is also a two minute prayer video, and blessing, if appropriate.

In one sense it is similar to Alpha - but Jonathan said there are some important distinctions.

‘I think Alpha is amazing,‘ he said, ‘but this is different – it asks some questions that happen before. It’s something creative, taking a step back.’

Question has now come about through a partnership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Baptist Union of Wales, Cyhoeddiadau’r and 2V Studios, with jonathan praising the excellence of these partners. It was officially launched at Bethel Baptist Church in Cardiff on Thursday evening - and has already received some excellent comments.

The Revd Chris Duffett, evangelist and president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, described it as ‘beautifully filmed’ and ‘great for introducing people to the best news this world has been graced with’. ‘It’s an invaluable resource to help ‘make sense’ of what God is doing in the lives of people who have yet to become Christians.’

The Revd Marc Owen, the outgoing church life secretary of the Baptist Union of Wales, said, ‘Question is a purposefully written, bi-lingual six part introduction to spirituality, written for those with no previous church background or faith understanding. I warmly commend this resource to you.’

The Revd Ian Bunce, head of mission department for the Baptist Union of Great Britain, said, ‘Question is a great, fresh way of looking at the gospel in a pre-Alpha context – with the ability to engage seekers from many different walks of life.’