Tips from those who have run the course
We hope you will be encouraged by the feedback, advice and encouragement from the church leaders and course facilitators who feature below.
You can read general comments as well as tips for church leaders and course facilitors; advice and suggestions about the take-away actions and the day of action, plus a variety of outcomes and benefits from the course.
_______________________________________
'The Just People course blew a wind of change through our church moving social justice from the sidelines right into the centre of our theology and practice of mission. Several initiatives have resulted and we are increasingly determined to live as God’s community, in the community, for the community.'
Vicar, Christ Church, New Malden (suburban greater London)
'Just People was great. It helped me and a small group of people look at our local community and ask the question "does God care?" The answer to this question provoked us to get involved and see the relevance of Jesus and His perspective in our local community.’
Church leader, Sunbridge Road Mission, Bradford (inner-city)
'Just People was significant for us, not just because it stretched our theological perspective on issues of social justice, but also because it provided us with an opportunity to practically engage, along with our partner churches, in practical community service. I cannot recommend the course more highly than to say it will regularly feature in our own programme of discipleship training at St. James.'
Vicar, St James Church, Streatham (urban SW London)
'The course was a real watershed for us in our own church and in our work with other local churches. It took us up to a different level, although we’ve still got miles to go to implement it. It’s a sort of 're-wiring' church (from being inwardly-focused to outwardly-focused) and this means amidst everything else it can be difficult to keep it on the agenda.'
Minister, Mitcham Lane Baptist Church, Tooting (urban SW London)
'As a church leader it changed my perspective on the Bible, I often refer back to it and try to reinforce the teaching and attitude. I also recommend that leaders be pleased about a fresh understanding of your existing community activities as well as any new ground you break as a result of the course.'
Vicar, St Gregory, Tredington (rural Warwickshire)
The following comments are from a range of church leaders and course facilitators plus some comments from course participants
- 'It’s vital that people buy into it – make sure you cancel your small groups for a while'
- 'You will be challenging the existing mentality so will need to integrate the course with everything else you are doing, such as tying it into a sermon series.'
- 'The whole agenda needs visiting regularly particularly if your church is word-based and conservative. It has to filter out into regular teaching and ongoing drip-drip to see ongoing change or the church can drift back into being inward looking.'
- 'You need to recognise there is a hill to climb!'
- 'Challenge yourself to come back to the agenda in different ways.'
- It has reassured those who felt instinctively that these issues are right as well as those who felt they were a distraction, that they are solidly biblical and inherent to gospel ministry. We have all been reminded that orthodoxy is radical!
- 'You’ve got to have the church leader on board – I would even say it’s a waste of time otherwise and you will struggle. There is a likelihood it won’t take root unless the leadership team are on board. '
- 'One of the best things about the course is that the material is good and easy to deliver – tell the church leader it’s all there and requires no work to adapt. '
- 'The course leader needs to grasp the vision and ideally get input from others ahead of time – maybe talking to someone else who’s done it, or lead a course, to enable them to prepare and get the most out of it.'
- 'The course works best where people are prepared and open to engage personally with the issues and not just assent intellectually.
- 'I believe you have to be realistic, if at the end of the course you haven’t achieved what you wanted to achieve focus on those for whom you have been a catalyst and encourage them to continue to engage – particularly if you don’t have the clout to engage with the whole church.'
- 'The take-away actions are good and it’s essential to get people engaging with them – they are not onerous and because it’s are all about living it out it helps to root the teaching and really transformed it for some. '
- 'Doing the take-away action was hard but it actually became the best part of the course for me. I found out a lot about the community I live in.'
- 'Having the discussions was a great way to learn for me and doing the meant we were applying what we were learning and I really liked that.
- 'Getting everyone involved in the action day and doing something is essential – it was the action day that topped it out – people will have many more memories of the course and the day.'
- 'For the day of action we helped with a local Christian teenage initiative and two years on from running the course the church has a good and supportive relationship through a handful of people being involved with a local teenage initiative which is had no contact with before. We have also taken on Adopt a cop.'
- 'We didn’t do a day of action during the course but we have established a ‘small steps group’ and are planning one now based on some of the outcomes of the course where we explored the needs and opportunities of the area. The message is that it is now part of the life of the church –we now see engagement with the local community as a core part of why we are here and most of the church is happy with this.'
- 'As a church we are beginning to recognise why we are here in town – the needs are not about starvation and cholera, but there is relative poverty and living out being the kingdom of God means making a difference locally. We are now looking at what impact church should be having on the community and realise it’s all about being the kingdom of God. It may be that we don’t set up something new, but get involved with what another church is doing locally. '
- 'We intend to continue to develop this as a long term thing. In the meantime, we have taken some small steps such as gifts to people attending Christmas lunches held by other churches, and to council-run homeless hostels for their Christmas party and registering as a Fairtrade Church. We hope that, under the label “Small Steps”, we will be able to build a group of people who want to continue to keep social action to the forefront of our church life. '
- 'What came out of the course was a lunch club at the church which now feeds 50 people. It was initially started with the homeless in mind, but has become popular with those who are lonely, suffering from depression, or have learning difficulties. Out of this ministry (they call it their church) we have made contact and be able to build relationships and help people we would otherwise not have made contact with – we have gone to court with people, done a house clearance for someone who was about to be evicted and tried to be there for them.
- 'An 80-year-old lady on the course was inspired and keen to take action, and now co-ordinates a service whereby people contact her with the names of people who need visiting and she arranges for someone to go and do it. '
- 'The outcomes for us were to pray more. We also created a noticeboard and put all the social and community initiatives on it to demonstrate the integration and the connection with church and we pray round them regularly. A year on from the course a club for pre-school children is still running and we have definitely broken new ground with people who previously had no contact with the church at all.
- 'For me, one of the main results was a new understanding of community service as part of our worship - of seeing it as part of our liturgy, which was really transforming for a number of us.'
- 'We found that most were already involved in some kind of social and community activity and that 90% of the such activity in the village was being done by church people. This meant that for us as a church there may not have been many new initiatives started, but it has helped people to connect what they do with their faith so many have seen what they do in a new light. In theological terms it feels like we have baptised the initiatives to make them more evidently gospel-focused.
- 'People are looking for something to belong to and a way to make a difference. I have found that doing the course has really helped us evangelistically and having built some of the teaching and my commitment to the issues into the way we do Alpha, by calling people to join a community that is part of making a difference in the world. I do believe that for some people it has made Christianity more credible and more attractive to people and that some people have become Christians who may not otherwise have done.'