Evangelism
A resource to enable, encourage and develop your church in evangelism.
Who we are:
Rev Piers LaneDirector of Evangelism
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Cliff College has a long history of engaging in mission and evangelism throughout the UK and further afield. The way we do this has changed in the last couple of years. Whereas in the past students would go on short term mission trips at least three times a year, now they only go once. This doesn’t mean that we engage in less evangelism, though – students have a local mission placement which they attend every week, giving them a more prolonged experience of mission and ministry. The short-term mission that teams do go on happens in spring – though the way we organise these has changed also, in ways that emphasise our belief in evangelism that is long term, relational and contextual. Read on for more details.
Mission placements
Students are currently involved in more than 30 different placements, in places like Sheffield, Chesterfield and the Peak District. They engage in mission and evangelism through after-school clubs, sports activities, friendship groups in multi-faith communities, soup runs and much more. The placements are provided through our network of churches and organisations, and each offers our students a supervised experience of mission and ministry that gives them increased opportunities for learning and reflection. Often this experience can be helpful in them finding a sense of vocation, and is also useful for increasing their employability through hands-on understanding. If you are within 40 minutes of Cliff College and feel that there is an opportunity for one or more of our students to come alongside an existing project on a weekly basis, please do get in touch with Piers Lane, Director of Evangelism (01246584225). Travel expenses for students generally need to be paid by the church concerned.
Short-term mission
We currently are in relationship with a number of churches that we serve alongside in mission each spring. We aim to share with these churches over a period of three years, giving us more opportunity to understand their context and build relationships. This is in line with our overall belief that mission and ministry is best expressed relationally and over a longer period than just one short-term mission. Student teams are in touch with the church they are appointed to early in the academic year, giving time for communication and prayer and a possible preliminary visit. Each year students will visit a different church on our portfolio.
This development means that we cannot respond to churches asking for a mission in the same way as used to be possible – our first gap is in 2013 at present and, even then, we will need to prayerfully consider which church to work alongside. We currently represent urban, suburban, rural and cross-cultural situations in our relationships with churches, and we would want to continue this through the future relationships we make.
We do not make a charge to the churches we are in partnership with – their contribution is accommodation, food and travel only. We are very grateful for the opportunity they offer our students to get a broad understanding and experience of the varied situations in which they may be called to share Christ in the future.
Prayer
Please do pray for us as we continue to develop this new approach to mission and ministry. Our aim is still ‘Christ for all and all for Christ’, yet we also believe that giving students the broadest possible experience of mission and ministry will help equip them for a long term-future serving God. It is with this in mind that we are developing this new approach.
Finally…
If there is a special weekend event that you feel students may like to volunteer to come to, please let us know. We cannot guarantee that this will be possible, but we will happily ask the student body and see if there are some available to come. Such events would, generally, not have staff involvement and would need to be managed by the inviting church, rather than the College.
