Does CMI ministry to churches reach unbelievers?
You might be surprised to know who attends church these days
by David Catchpoole
Published: 26 January 2012(GMT+10)
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From time to time, we at Creation Ministries International (CMI) hear this
criticism from our supporters: “You refer to your ministry visits to churches
as being ‘outreach’. But true outreach means reaching out to unbelievers.
CMI should hold more meetings specifically to address non-Christians.”
Implicit in that comment is the understanding that non-Christians don’t attend
church—a view I used to hold, too, until I became one of the international
panel of CMI speakers in 1999. Since then I have met and heard of many people who
have been brought to belief through having attended a church on the day of ministry
from a visiting CMI speaker. Some of those people were regular attendees at that
church.
A recent article in an Australian newspaper highlights this phenomenon, and gives
an insight into why people would bother attending church regularly if they don’t
believe in Christ as Saviour, or even in any creator God at all.1
Andrew Burnard is a 45-year-old father of three who attends church every week, and
is chairman of his church’s council. However, he “hasn’t believed
in a traditional god, the virgin birth or the literal resurrection of Christ”
since his teens.
Andrew Burnard is a 45-year-old father of three who attends church every week, and
is chairman of his church’s council. However, he hasn’t believed in
a traditional god, the virgin birth or the literal resurrection of Christ since
his teens.
The newspaper article says Mr Burnard is hardly a rarity, as a survey by the Australian
National University “suggests this could describe a quarter of people attending
church monthly or more”. The poll found 1% said it was impossible to know
if there was a god, 2% didn’t believe at all, 3% ‘sometimes believed’,
6% believed merely in some sort of ‘higher power’ while 13% acknowledged
belief in a ‘personal god’ but had their doubts.
So why do they attend church? According to the newspaper article, it’s “for
the sense of community, shared social values, the ritual—or even the choir—despite
holding religious convictions that are wavering, non-traditional or completely absent.”
This is certainly the case with Andrew Burnard, who says he “wants to be in
a spiritual community that has a sense of mission to do good things and to help
do justice in the world. But I also like the Christian and other religious liturgies
and spiritual practices—I find that they’re very good for me. But, for
me, belief in a literal god is quite unnecessary.”
According to the pastor, Reverend Ben Gilmour, the atheist parishioner can ‘appreciate
his atheism through the silence of the [church] service’.
Really? It seems Mr Burnard is unaware that the only alternative to a creator God,
evolution, renders religious liturgies and ‘spiritual’ practices nonsensical
(see Evolution—the ultimate antidote to spirituality). However, in company with certain
well-known atheists, he recognizes the link between church and charity—see
Atheists credit the Gospel.
While Mr Burnard rejects the label ‘atheist’ for himself (instead preferring
‘non-believer’ or ‘agnostic’), a fellow parishioner is happy
to be known as an atheist. According to the pastor, Reverend Ben Gilmour, the atheist
parishioner can “appreciate his atheism through the silence of the [church]
service”.
So in light of such widespread unbelief in church circles, I’m no longer surprised
at the number of people converted, or brought closer to conversion, through hearing
CMI ministry outreach to churches. (See also the box about other
ways this happens.) Nor am I surprised at the strength of opposition that a CMI
presentation at a church can sometimes stir up. Such is only to be expected when
not everyone in attendance is a believer!
So there should be more CMI ministry outreach at church services, not less,
so that each new generation of teens at least get to hear that the Bible (including
Genesis 1–11) can be trusted, before they would otherwise
reach the point of leaving the church. I say ‘leaving the church’ because
attending makes no logical sense if the evolutionary paradigm they are taught at
school, college and university is true. In fact, the aforementioned newspaper article
cites 25-year-old atheist Helen Hughson as an example of someone who remained at
church while her appreciation of church music lasted, but has now left. She said,
“I think I’ve come to a more mature view of religion, which is probably
that it’s not for me but I have nothing against it.” What a pity she
apparently hasn’t yet read this article:
That’s nice for you, but it’s not for me. (Incidentally, Ms
Hughson estimated that as many as half of her former fellow performers in the choir
were also atheists.)
“We want CMI ministry at our church”
In the countries in which CMI has accredited speakers,2 we are happy to consider all
requests for ministry from churches. But there’s the rub—we can only
go out to minister at churches which have specifically invited us. Have you considered
asking your church leadership to request that CMI come and minister to your church?
(See Ministry programs
for your church.) You can point out to them that CMI speaker presentations
demonstrate that there are straightforward answers to the common objections and
queries people have relating to the creation/evolution issue, which are some of
the most frequent objections to faith in Christ.
The testimony of a gentleman in Canada, whom we’ll refer to as Larry, is a
good example of the ‘fruit’ possible from creation ministry. CMI–Canada
speaker Calvin Smith addressed Larry’s church in 2009. Larry recalls:
“After Calvin spoke, many questions that I had had for years were answered
and I became a ‘capital C Christian’. I have always gone to church but
now I realize I was an agnostic during those years. I really didn’t believe
the Bible and thought that many questions like, ‘How do we know God exists?’
just didn’t have answers.”
Larry related that after hearing Calvin he experienced a growing love for studying
the Bible and listening to sermons.
However, we should perhaps warn you gently that some pastors and ministers might
not be as enthusiastic for creation ministry as you might have expected.3 Because
when it comes to Genesis, we hear from many people who, when they begin to lobby
their church leadership to invite CMI, are consequently dismayed to discover that
“we have a pastor who doesn’t believe the Bible!”
Andrew Burnard’s own testimony of his experience at the church he attended in
his teens is instructive. At that time he was called to confirm his belief in God,
the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of Christ. However:
“I just went to this minister and I said, ‘I just think this is all
rubbish.’ And he said, ‘Well, you know, I think you’re right.’”
Reaching unbelievers in many ways
It’s not just the unbelievers within a congregation who are reached by CMI
ministry to churches. In fact, on average, even more are reached who are not actually
at those CMI sermons. This happens because many of the believers present have been
‘switched on’ to the total trustworthiness of the Bible—and armed
and equipped with powerful creation resources. It’s because this information
often finds its way through them to their unbelieving friends, relatives and acquaintances,
that scarcely a week goes by without hearing of a testimony from one of the many
people around the world who have had their lives transformed from such resources.
Your support keeps making a huge difference.
A reader’s commentMerrill G., United States, 30 January 2012
I was saved when I was 56 years old, after spending 35 years thinking I was a Christian. I was even a Deacon in a Baptist Church. God's Grace allowed me to see how lost I really was and kept calling me to salvation. Thank God for the continued knock on the door to my heart. |
Related articles
Further reading
References
- McKenny, L., Churchgoers keen to take a pew despite their
disbelief, The Sydney Morning Herald, www.smh.com.au/nsw/churchgoers-keen-to-take-a-pew-despite-their-disbelief-20120106-1posf.html,
7 January 2012. Return to text.
- USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
CMI also regularly sends speakers to Singapore at the invitation of churches in
that country. In addition, CMI speakers have periodically toured other countries
too, e.g. in Europe and Pacific island nations. Return to text.
- Having a chairman of the church council who doesn’t believe
in God is probably an indication that the hierarchy of his church has abandoned
Genesis as history. Unbelief rarely stops at Genesis—the ‘slippery slide’ syndrome
is all too common. Return to text.
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