Posted on: July 13th, 2011 Soul Friends (Belonging before Believing)
I recently reviewed George Hunter’s The Celtic Way of Evangelism.
The Celtic way of evangelism was all about bringing people into a new kind of community, through such practices as radical hospitality as well as “soul friends” (anamchara). Soul friends would engage the visitor or stranger in “the ministry of conversation,” and involvement in small groups of fellowship. In all these ways and more, the Celtic Christians practiced evangelism in a way which many “postmodern” Christians have come to embrace, that is, in recognition that many times “belonging precedes belief,” that before many people can begin to believe in Jesus, they must feel that they belong to a community of his followers.
This kind of evangelism, based in a ministry of hospitality, is (among other things) what we are doing in the Epiphany Community of Tyler.
2 Responses to “Soul Friends (Belonging before Believing)”
-
leidy Says:
July 16th, 2011 at 11:35 amhey matt, trust you are well. do you know much about shane claibornes work?
-
matt Says:
August 30th, 2011 at 2:21 pmLeidy,
Great to hear from you! Please tell Z I miss him!
Yes, I’m familiar with Shane Claiborne.
Why do you ask?