Missionary and Evangelism

• Mission


  The vocation or calling of a religious organisation or individual to go out into the world and spread their faith
• The Great Commission


  Jesus' instruction to his followers that they should spread his teachings to all the nations of the world
• Missionary

  A person sent on a religious mission, especially to promote Christianity in a foreign country through preaching or charitable work
• Evangelism


  Spreading the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness
• Christians have the responsibility, according to the Great Commission, to tell others of their faith
• This may be spreading the word to people they meet in everyday life or, for some, through organised events or preaching
• Others may feel called to go to other countries and become missionaries, which involves evangelism and in some cases humanitarian work among the poor and disadvantaged
• The main aim is to persuade people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and to extend the Church to every nation of the world
• The New Testament book, the Acts of the Apostles, explains how the early Christian Church grew in this way and includes, for example, the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul
• Alpha


  Originally known as the Alpha Course, started in 1977 by a Church of England curate, Reverend Charles Marnham, at Holy Trinity, Brompton, London
• The aim was to help church members understand the basics of the Christian faith but soon it began to be used as an introduction for those interested in learning about Christianity
• Alpha course

  An evangelistic course described as 'an opportunity to explore the meaning of life through a series of talks and discussions'
• The idea caught on and many of the major Christian denominations in Britain and abroad began using it
• In the 1990s the Reverend Nicky Gumbel from Holy Trinity, Brompton was involved in revising the course and encouraging its use
• Alpha courses take place not only on church premises but also in peoples' homes, universities, workplaces, prisons and other venues
• Worldwide, millions of people have taken part in this course and other related courses have been started, including relationship and marriage courses for adults and study programmes for young people