Richard Peace, Holy Conversation: Talking About God in Everyday Life, Twelve Sessions for Small Groups. IVP Connect, 2006.
Referenced in: Approaches to Evangelism – Conversational/Relational
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Richard Peace is a recognized author on many subjects, especially spiritual formation and small groups. This is a twelve-session primer on evangelism designed for weekly small groups of five to thirteen. The small group serves as a base for training participants “to talk about the gospel in natural, informal, conversational ways,” which is practiced by “linking up with a conversation partner outside the church.” (7)
Each week focuses on a different aspect of the gospel and how to talk about it, illustrated by stories and supported by additional resource recommendations. The topics are spiritual pilgrimage, the presence of God, good news, Jesus, need (longing to find meaning in life), sin, repentance, confession, believing (and more specifically belief in Jesus), commitment, and holy conversation. These are summarized in the appendix for those who want to understand the theological orientation of the material. The appendices also include a guide for small group leaders.
This is a good series. For some it will not go far enough, and it may not be the guide for use in your context, but is worth perusing to generate ideas on how to use groups for evangelistic training.
From the Publisher
Winner of a 2006 Chicago Book Clinic Award of Excellence! God is back on the agenda. Today people are fascinated by spirituality, and they have lots of questions. Who better to talk with them than Christians? Trouble is, many of us don’t know how to talk about our faith or are uneasy about religious salesmanship and canned evangelistic formulas. We are afraid of button-holing others, being offensive or saying something wrong. We simply don’t know how to express our faith naturally—in everyday language.
In Holy Conversation Richard Peace teaches us how to engage in easy and comfortable conversation about the good news of Jesus—the pressure is off. Using small, easy steps, he explains the gospel in plain language and encourages us in practical ways to share our faith with friends, neighbors and colleagues.
Written as a guide for small groups, Holy Conversation is designed to be completed in twelve weekly sessions (other options are provided). Not only do group members read about holy conversation, they actually engage one another in spiritual conversation. This is the ideal resource for helping laypeople to become competent and confident Christian conversationalists!
About the Author
Dr. Richard Peace is the Robert Boyd Munger Professor of Evangelism and Spiritual Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Dr. Peace has over a hundred and fifty titles to his credit including Learning to Love trilogy of Bible studies.
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