By Victor Hulbert
Editor’s note: Over the years churches in Europe have been drawing attention to new forms of outreach, especially engaging young people. Café churches in Denmark and Finland, as well as Sabbath sofa conversations in public places in England and Poland, have drawn interest in other parts of the Adventist world. Imagination and creativity are hallmarks of new generations with alternative experiments in reaching society for Jesus. The following is a report on this experimental outreach in Europe.
A brief report in a Trans-European Division news bulletin has sparked interest around the world. In addition to traditional forms of evangelism, the TED mission board voted $40,000 of seed money for 12 innovative evangelistic projects—even though the projects might fail!
There is a simple reason for this new approach. Europe is no longer the home of mission, sending missionaries around the world to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. The reverse is now true. Many countries are now highly secular—though evidence suggests that their populations still have spiritual needs. [See Guardian article: “Atheists don’t need faith, any more than we need religion.”] Others, such as Greece and Serbia, are equally moving towards secularism while holding on to the traditional wrappings of Orthodox Christianity. Where there is religious growth, the fastest growing religion is Islam.
In such a culture, and with a passion for evangelism, groups across Europe are willing to experiment, finding new and innovative ways to touch people’s lives.
The twelve projects voted this year include a mission to leather-clad bikers in Serbia, a clinic that offers daytime dental care and evening seminars, and a two-year Bible exhibition in Wroclaw, Poland that will run through its tenure as a European Capital of Culture (2016) and host of the World Games in 2017.
“Generally we are looking for something that has not been tried before,” Daniel Duda, TED Adventist mission coordinator states. “But also what we are looking for is some- thing that nobody will finance as it’s so creative, so out of the box, so risky that it may or may not fly.” If a project succeeds, Duda hopes it will be an inspiration elsewhere.
This is not the first time the TED has seed funded such projects, and many more than these twelve are under- way, regardless of financial support.
A church plant aimed at teens and disaffected youth has been running for the past five years in Cornwall, an area of Britain with an extremely high youth unemployment rate. Basketball, surfing, and game nights are mixed with small- group meetings, Sabbath afternoon house church, and involvement in the community (such as cleaning up local beaches). A recent weekend retreat, “Live in a Field” run by the leadership team of the church plant, attracted 120 youth and their families ranging from the highly committed and spiritual to those who had never been inside a church.
One attendee, who confessed to struggling with faith and having a history of depression stated, “The most amazing thing with this camp is that I truly believe anyone could go and feel they belonged, not just Adventists, not even just Christians, but anybody and that is really something.” People influenced by the church plant who have then moved elsewhere in search of work, have come returned to the camp to share their experience and to re-establish friendships.
The FaceOut church plant in Denmark runs a Friday evening café and brunch once a month—providing activities of interest to the local community. Music plays an important part, featuring guest singers and choirs. Visiting speakers also talk on a current, timely topic. Teenagers come in on Thursdays for table tennis, a hot drink and a snack. It is a safe space for them to talk.
Children are a vitally important part of mission. Over the past five years “Kids in Discipleship” (KID) programs and “Messy Church” Sabbaths have been run or set up in churches all across Europe. KID focuses on church families, helping parents and children to develop a vibrant spiritual relationship in their own homes as well as at church, while the “Messy Church” program has been highly successful in attracting families to a time of creative crafts focused around a biblical theme, singing, a short talk, and a meal.
“Happy Hands,” a café-style shop offering quality second-hand goods has been so successful in Copenhagen, Denmark, that it is now opening two new branches in other parts of the country. The venue has become a safe place for women in particular to come and chat, have a drink, and share what is on their hearts. The local church pastor is available for counseling on a regular basis, and can sometimes be found at the café just playing his guitar.
Sometimes it is even simpler. Youth in Novi Sad, Serbia, hit the parks on Valentine’s Day to interact with people by sharing balloons, heart framed “selfies” and friendship. A couple of months later, they joined with the health ministry director to run a major health expo—in conjunction with politicians and leaders in the city—touching the lives of more than 1,000 people. The provincial secretary for health care, social policy and demography exclaimed, “This was the best organized event in the last 50 years.”
The aim, whatever the project, is to be “salt and light” in the community—even if the community comes to you, as it did in a tiny Swedish village where 100 refugees were housed in a building near the Adventist church. Members adopted them, running Swedish language classes, teaching them to ski, and opening a free clothing store. To date, 25 children have joined the Pathfinder club, 40 attended the Christmas program, and a number are now involved in the life of the church—all from a group who were initially very distrustful of Christianity.
As evangelist Mark Finley likes to proclaim, “The best form of evangelism is doing it.” Whether innovative or traditional or simply caring for neighbors, “just doing it” is making a difference across Europe.
–Victor Hulbert is Trans-European Division communications director, St. Albans, England.