By Nancy Devine

Andrew Weeks talks to more than 160 people at St. Mary's, Richmond Hill. Photos by Michael Hudson

Andrew Weeks would like North America’s mainline churches to abandon the “vampire church” model of member recruitment in favour of radical and intentional hospitality.

The Magnetic Church, Mr. Weeks' powerful conference on practical evangelism, was sold out May 12-13 at St. Mary’s, Richmond Hill.

Mr. Weeks told more than 160 people from across the diocese that congregations often yearn for “new blood – something like vampires – rather than wanting to introduce people to a place where they might find something they actually need.”

A cradle Anglican who was born and raised in Montreal, and who has since moved to the United States, Mr. Weeks stumbled across Christ Church (Episcopal) in Rhode Island. He was not looking for God, he told the gathering. Despite his love of the pomp and spectacle of the Anglican liturgy, he no longer truly believed in God.

Adwoa Mould-Mograbi of St. Peter's, Erindale enjoys a breakout session.

“What I wanted was a connection to the community,” he said. “I worked with a bunch of people, and they were friendly enough, but you know, you never knew if they were being nice to me because I signed their paycheque or if they truly liked me. And so, I wanted to form some kind of meaningful association in this place I was now calling home.”

He liked the look of Christ Church and, despite the fact he almost had to drive up the sidewalk to read the worship times listed on the small sign by the front door, he decided to test-drive the congregation.

One person met him, spoke with him, made sure he was comfortable, and shared his story about how his family was connected with the church. That person kept welcoming him Sunday after Sunday until, before he knew it, Mr. Weeks was part of the congregation. Before long, he was a member of the choir, and then the treasurer.

“It was hard for me to go back to church, and I know the language – and believe me, we Episcopalians (Anglicans) have some strange words for things: doesn’t narthex sound like a disease? Like anthrax? Can you imagine what it must be like for someone who has never been in a church?”

Mr. Weeks said that no matter why people come to church for the first time, it is an honour, privilege, and a commission from God to welcome them, and to offer a radical brand of hospitality that connects them at first to the people in the church and at some point to the love of God and Christ.

As Mr. Weeks became more and more part of the fabric of life at Christ Church, he came to the realization that “you can’t be a Christian by yourself. It is a community activity. We say, ‘Let us pray.’ We do not say, ‘Let me pray.’ Prayer is a gift from God, reflected through each of us and back to God. We need each other to pray.”

One Easter Sunday morning, after a very clear and certain vision of the divine, he found his calling as an evangelist. It came in the form of many great commissions in the Anglican tradition: his parish priest sent him to a conference on evangelism.

“I thought, there is no way I am going to stand on my feet, testify, speak in tongues or hug someone,” he said. “I went to the conference and ended up asking the people leading it if I could join them in their ministry.”

That led to his acceptence of God's call to make evangelism his life’s work.

Now, 11 years later, he criss-crosses North America, spreading his mission to “help mainline Christians learn how to invite non-believers to move from the bleak ‘forsakenness’ of Psalm 22 to the ‘fear no evil’ of Psalm 23, connecting with Jesus as both the guide and the goal,” he said.

“We mainline churches have the opportunity to be a strong centre, after more than 40 years of being a rather mushy middle. I don’t want anyone to miss the experience of God because we didn’t get to them.”

A second Magnetic Church Conference in Pickering May 26-27 is full. However, another conference may be held late this year or early in 2007. This conference will be advertised when more information becomes available.

See Welcoming Ministry resources.

See Greeting Requires Training, says Evangelist

Evangelist still moved by ‘God moments’
By Nancy Devine

The television evangelists of the 1980s did little to bolster the good name of Jesus and his church. Evangelism has been paying the price ever since, says Andrew Weeks, creator of The Magnetic Church.

The broadcasts full of fire-and-brimstone preaching of the gospel and “send us money” pleas hijacked evangelism, he says. It was intended to be a transforming force when Jesus gave his disciples the great commission to go out and preach to the world.

Mr. Weeks isn’t a big fan of brimstone. But he is a committed evangelist who delivers his message with wisdom, humour, and the ardent belief that people long for deliverance from spiritual poverty.

He’s likely to pause mid-presentation to let his words sink in. When he relates the stories of the come-to-Jesus moments he has heard in the more than 230 times he has presented his Magnetic Church Conference, he calls them God moments. And they are continually profound for him.

“You feed off the energy you get in the room,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 11 years, but there are always new things and they are reflected in new people. I am amazed at how viscerally people respond to this ministry. It helps change churches. It helps change lives.”

When he first began, following the publication of his book, WELCOME! Tools and Techniques for New Member Ministry, Mr. Weeks found many North American audiences desperate for some solid solutions to fill emptying church pews.

“It’s different now,” he says. “Now they have a vision for what they want their churches to be, and they are looking for practical solutions to bring about the vision.”

See The Magnetic Church