Assignment #8

Points Possible: 100

Celtic village structures

At this point in our journey we're starting to veer more into the evangelism side of things. In a more elementary class we might teach you an evangelistic method -- for example how to preach an evangelistic sermon or how to use the Four Spiritual Laws or the Roman Road. Learning to use tools is important. But more important is developing the ability to create and discern approaches -- that is the framework in which the tools exist. Eventually you need to be able to adapt existing approaches and/or develop something new for new situations.

An important aspect of this is developing a sense for context. And that is what Assignment #7 was about. Not all approaches or tools are appropriate for all contexts. So, the greater variety in your tool box the better equipped you'll be to function evangelistically in a greater variety of situations. Indeed, you will even figure out how to invent new tools.

As you will see, having tools in no way diminishes the work of the Holy Spirit in all this. It is the Spirit who leads, empowers, and motivates. And there is a sense of mystery as to how that all happens. Anytime we try to systematize evangelism we're on the edge of tuning out the Spirit. But that does not mean we should completely avoid learning how evangelistic systems work. Indeed, in my experience the Spirit prompts me to pull from this system or that, depending on the context.

The first "case study" in evangelism dips into European history and the evangelism of the Celts. The Celts were an earthy rough and tumble lot which didn't respond well to the first evangelistic wave across Europe. They were not impressed by the Latin ways and Celtic cultures functioned differently than those under the influence of the Roman Empire.

George Hunter III attempts to tap into that history as a model for reaching the post-Christendom societies of the 21st century. In this brief video clip Dr Hunter explains how it happened that he wrote the book The Celtic Way of Evangelism.


For this assignment read The Celtic Way of Evangelism and write an essay of at least 300 words. I intend to share what you have written with the other members of the class. Make sure that your essay:

• identifies Hunter's thesis and his main ideas) 
• suggest its implication(s) for the practice of evangelism in your main context 
• raises a question that may warrant further class discussion
• states, and explains, some specific insight that may inform your ministry. 
• includes, if possible, a personal experience or "war story" that illustrates the evangelistic implications of this approach.

After you have completed this assignment, embed it in an email (NO attachments please) and send it to me at bboydston@piu.edu. Let me know if you have any problems meeting the deadline or if you need further explanation.