In July 1999, the Board for Church in Society asked for a review of Evangelism work in the Diocese. The end of the Decade for Evangelism was in sight and the Revd Jerry Lepine, Diocesan Evangelism Adviser, had already indicated that he would find such a review useful as he approached the end of five years in post. The purpose of the review would be to look forward and help set out the future shape and priorities for Evangelism work in the Diocese.

A group was called together under the chairmanship of Canon Bruce Saunders, Canon Missioner for Church in Society. Its other members were: The Revd Ivelaw Bowman, The Revd Canon Rodney Bomford, The Revd Simon Butler, The Revd Jerry Lepine, Jill McKinnon, Janice Price (appointed as an external consultant, but who moved from London during the review process and was unable to take an active part).

Terms of Reference

• To evaluate the Evangelism work undertaken by the Diocesan Evangelism Adviser and the Evangelism Resources Group in the parishes during the years 1995-2000.

• To note other work of evangelistic significance that has taken place in the Diocese during the Decade

• To report to the Board for Church in Society with recommendations about the future shape of evangelism work in the Diocese and the policy undergirding it.

The Review Group met four times between September 1999 and March 2000, with individual members meeting between times for specific tasks.

Data was assembled from a variety of sources:

• Records of the work of Jerry Lepine and the Evangelism Resources Group

• A questionnaire sent to a cross-section of 17 parishes with whom Jerry had worked (12 returns)

• Personal interviews with fourteen clergy and four lay people from a cross-section of parishes some of whom had used Evangelism Advisers and some had not.

• Note was taken of other work taking place to evaluate the national significance of the Decade and the current practice of evangelism in the Church of England

• The earlier work (since revised) of Canon Rodney Bomford on the size and shape of congregations was also noted as an important tool for understanding some of the dynamics and limits of congregational growth.

The collated data received the attention of a further group of clergy and laypeople at a seminar in March 2000, where the key issues arising from the data were identified and prioritised for future action. These form the basis of the Review’s recommendations.

Thanks are due to Jerry Lepine, for researching and assembling much of sections 1 and 2 and to Christine Bainbridge, Simon Butler, Chris Chapman, David Fudger, The Ven Douglas Bartles-Smith, Chris Skilton, Conrad Parsons, Ann Wright, Jill McKinnon, Bertrand Olivier and Ray Khan who helped to identify priorities for the future.

Canon Bruce Saunders

Download Acrobat Version of Report (439Kb)

Back to top of page