Church of England, Evangelical Alliance evangelism projects 

The Church of England is undertaking the largest evangelism project in the UK this millennium; the Evangelical Alliance an exciting new evangelism resource

Cathedrals and churches have been urged by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu, to set aside the week leading up to Pentecost (15 May) as a week of prayer for evangelism.

The entire Church is being urged to pray throughout the week for "all Christians to deepen their relationship with Jesus" in order to have "confidence" to share the faith. The aim is for "all to respond to the call of Jesus Christ to follow him." A series of beacon events are being organised in cathedrals for Pentecost weekend “to ignite and inspire worship and intercession for a generation to rise up with a fresh passion and confidence for the proclamation of the gospel.”

Ecumenical support is encouraged with Project Leader Emma Buchan stating: “The hope is that in many places, Christians across denominations and streams can pray together, as the unity of the whole Body of Christ is a powerful reality and symbol to the world."

The plans were outlined in a new report on evangelism. The report, launched at the General Synod in February, calls for more paid children and youth work posts; and for evangelism and witness with younger people to be prioritised.

'Grasp this moment'

Gavin Calver, the Evangelical Alliance's director of mission and an accredited Baptist minister, commended the Church of England's commitment to evangelism and urged others to participate in prayer.

"Prayer is crucial as we seek to reach out to our friends and neighbours with the good news of Jesus. That's why I am excited about this new initiative," he said. "The more we pray for people who don't yet know Jesus, the more we share in God's heart for them giving us greater confidence and passion to share our faith.

"I want to encourage Church of England members, in fact Christians across the UK, to join in with praying for boldness, courage and love to share the message of Jesus with the people around them in the week running up to Pentecost 2016."

The Evangelical Alliance is working on a new resource to equip Christians to "grasp this moment".

Launching later this year, the project will be spearheaded by a website pointing people towards resources suitable for evangelising in their contexts. 
 

Gavin has blogged for The Baptist Times about equipping the church to share the gospel: read his piece here