Faith Stories, an eight week course on sharing faith, is a new resource developed by Graham Beattie, Duncan Macleod, Peter Armstrong and Jason Bray. The course, launched this month in Redcliffe, provides an opportunity to develop a ‘cringe-free’ approach to talking about faith with friends.
Graham and Duncan developed the course after noticing that most resources on evangelism overlooked key obstacles in the minds of Australian Christians. The course begins with motivation associated with hope for transformed lives, rather than obligation or guilt. Christians are invited to take the course not as a way to convert their friends, but to become more effective and gracious as they communicate their faith.
Graham’s work on Spirit-given life quests was inspired by Gossiping the Gospel, an evangelism-training course developed in the 1980s. Duncan found his inspiration for material on entry points to the gospel in the writing of Mennonite missionary John Driver. We need more lots of ways to describe the good news of Jesus, Duncan says. The course includes a session on coaching for faith response, step by step, rather than pressuring people to make one big commitment.
A key element to the Faith Stories course is the DVD, prepared by Jason Bray and Red Earth Films. Peter Armstrong, minister at Redcliffe Uniting Church, introduces each session and invites us to connect with the faith stories of Uniting Church members from Queensland.
The DVD includes a photocopiable participant’s manual and is available for purchase for $100.
