Rating: 
Summary: The Celtic Way of Evangelism
Review: "The problem is not that we are too traditional, the problem is that we are not traditional enough." - Leonard Sweet.Hunter's work brings this reality to light in an engaging and helpful way. For those coming to grips with the need to find a foundation for bending the status quo, he gives us insight into the value of knowing the ancient ways. Ways that the Spirit of God has ALREADY endorsed. His study of effective personal and societal change through the application of the realities of Jesus' Goodnews challenges and encourages the Church that we speak to and live out of today. A worthy resource for those leading in the Postmodern World/Church.
Rating:
Summary: Pub-based faith
Review: ... In The Celtic Way of Evangelism, George G. Hunter III explores the spiritual landscape which made Patrick's Ireland (and my local pub) a ready recipient of God's grace. Hunter, dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary, developed his view of relational evangelism in an environment not unlike my own. He learned that "stained-glass jargon" doesn't play well on the sands and surfboards of muscle beach. ...Perhaps that is why Hunter's perspective of Celtic Christianity resonates so strongly. Hunter's retelling of the story of Patrick the Precedent Postmodern provides an able framework for understanding the possibilities and priority of mission. Patrick's own spiritual quest, including rejection of his father's religion and discovery of truth in the midst of brokenness, is of foremost and foundational importance. A Briton, Patrick was captured as a teenager by pirates and enslaved in Ireland. During his time as a cattle-herder near the turn of the fifth century, Patrick experienced three transformations which would equip him in his calling. First, he experienced the truth of an intimate relationship with Jesus. Second, he learned who the Irish people were, of their customs and culture. Third, he grew to have genuine love for his captor-brothers. These experiences reflect the three conditions for dynamic and convincing communication found in Aristotle's Rhetoric. Patrick's personal conversion gave him ethos, his understanding of the Celtic people provided pathos, and his love for his captors was his logos. Patrick was freed from his seminary of servitude after six years, but returned as a missionary nearly three decades later still with this passion within. His Irish pagan hosts were receptive to this message because many aspects of their tribal druidic religions could find relative comparisons in true Christianity. An appreciation for paradox, an acceptance of the complexities of deity, an awareness of nature, the power of tale and fable, common virtues and values, a love for the riddling rhetorical triads and even fascination with the number three were all relatable ways Patrick could immediately and extensively explain the Christ-story. Patrick's Celtic Christianity also provides a model for community. The first of five distinctives in this model is intentional solitude, drawing away from the clan for time alone with the Creator. Second, this community called for each believer to have a companion in the journey, a anamchara (or "soul friend") who would be not a spiritual superior but a friend and peer who could nurture a safe place for transparency, vulnerability, accountability, support and challenge. From the one, to the two, to the three: the third element of this community was a mentor-led small group of fellow believers who would join in study and service. Fourth, the experience expanded to common life: meals, labor, Biblical teaching, prayer and worship. Finally, the impacts of these four aspects combined to compel each member of the community to interact with pre-Christians who had not yet understood the promise of the Gospel. While this fifth aspect of community may seem at first similar to contemporary expressions, an essential difference must be noticed. Modern methods of evangelism begin with a presentation of the Gospel story to those who may be no more than casual contacts. If successful, this effort leads to a decision for conversion. Upon conversion, the new believer is invited to community and fellowship. Hunter contends the Celtic approach is actually and appropriately an inversion of this conversion protocol. In the Celtic approach, the potential believer is first offered fellowship and hospitality, which lead to opportunity for service, ministry and authentic conversation. After this connection and commitment are built and trusted, the prospective Christian may choose belief and conversion based on the reality of relationship, leading to full inclusion in community. Certainly, Jesus' own practice was to call those who would be excluded from most modern Christian communities, never to be given an opportunity to discover His open invitation. (Luke 5:27-32).
Hunter is insistent that readers find within these ancient methods innovative avenues for reaching the "New Barbarians," those whose lifestyles seem unacceptable and unconventional, considered beyond reach by religious institutions tied to structure, tradition and presumed authority Certainly, this reader agrees with the assessment Hunter discovered within the Australian Jesus Movement: the challenge is to see God's Kingdom "as a party -- where the doors are thrown open like an Irish pub to anyone who would come in." This "pub church" would be one where Patrick could be quite comfortable -- a church "festive, music, participatory."
Rating:
Summary: Pub-based faith
Review: At midnight on each of the past three St. Patrick's Days, I've stood at the hearth at the local pub and recited before the fire "The Breastplate of St. Patrick." Patrick's professional hope of "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me" and the extended shield of the Irish saint's faith has called me to a resonance which demands more than pedestrian acquiescence. Indeed, the very reason I began to frequent the pub is found in Patrick's philosophy of mission: to dwell among those who are yet to receive Christ, to know them and to know God's call within them. As a conservative evangelical minister, my tendency toward pubbing was not expected nor easily accepted. Yet it was because of that very reason -- my immersion in the evangelical subculture and my easy residence within the artificial boundaries of religion -- that I was compelled to the neighborhood pub. I realized one day that my circle of friends was centered around those who had experiences quite similar to mine, and faith commitments which had become nice and moral but routine and unremarkable. How could I ever hope to win others to faith in Christ if everyone with whom I was close was convinced they already had all the answers? God's missioning call demanded more of my inner circle, so rather than have my acquaintances change, I changed my acquaintances. Since that time, I've performed three pub weddings (including one at the bar, one at the beach and another on a boat), participated in St. Patrick's Day Mass, enjoyed hundreds of boxty potatoes, endured a great deal of Celtic music, and become table-mates with whiskey priests. I've also seen several "pub people" make life-affirming decisions to follow Jesus. Indeed, these have become some of my most steadfast friends. In The Celtic Way of Evangelism, George G. Hunter III explores the spiritual landscape which made Patrick's Ireland (and my local pub) a ready recipient of God's grace. Hunter, dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary, developed his view of relational evangelism in an environment not unlike my own. He learned that "stained-glass jargon" doesn't play well on the sands and surfboards of muscle beach. Through nearly a decade of ministry in Fort Lauderdale, I learned that what makes religious sense in Atlanta or Dallas doesn't necessarily translate well in the South Florida spiritual spring break lexicon. Perhaps that is why Hunter's perspective of Celtic Christianity resonates so strongly. Hunter's retelling of the story of Patrick the Precedent Postmodern provides an able framework for understanding the possibilities and priority of mission. Patrick's own spiritual quest, including rejection of his father's religion and discovery of truth in the midst of brokenness, is of foremost and foundational importance. A Briton, Patrick was captured as a teenager by pirates and enslaved in Ireland. During his time as a cattle-herder near the turn of the fifth century, Patrick experienced three transformations which would equip him in his calling. First, he experienced the truth of an intimate relationship with Jesus. Second, he learned who the Irish people were, of their customs and culture. Third, he grew to have genuine love for his captor-brothers. These experiences reflect the three conditions for dynamic and convincing communication found in Aristotle's Rhetoric. Patrick's personal conversion gave him ethos, his understanding of the Celtic people provided pathos, and his love for his captors was his logos. Patrick was freed from his seminary of servitude after six years, but returned as a missionary nearly three decades later still with this passion within. His Irish pagan hosts were receptive to this message because many aspects of their tribal druidic religions could find relative comparisons in true Christianity. An appreciation for paradox, an acceptance of the complexities of deity, an awareness of nature, the power of tale and fable, common virtues and values, a love for the riddling rhetorical triads and even fascination with the number three were all relatable ways Patrick could immediately and extensively explain the Christ-story. Patrick's Celtic Christianity also provides a model for community. The first of five distinctives in this model is intentional solitude, drawing away from the clan for time alone with the Creator. Second, this community called for each believer to have a companion in the journey, a anamchara (or "soul friend") who would be not a spiritual superior but a friend and peer who could nurture a safe place for transparency, vulnerability, accountability, support and challenge. From the one, to the two, to the three: the third element of this community was a mentor-led small group of fellow believers who would join in study and service. Fourth, the experience expanded to common life: meals, labor, Biblical teaching, prayer and worship. Finally, the impacts of these four aspects combined to compel each member of the community to interact with pre-Christians who had not yet understood the promise of the Gospel. While this fifth aspect of community may seem at first similar to contemporary expressions, an essential difference must be noticed. Modern methods of evangelism begin with a presentation of the Gospel story to those who may be no more than casual contacts. If successful, this effort leads to a decision for conversion. Upon conversion, the new believer is invited to community and fellowship. Hunter contends the Celtic approach is actually and appropriately an inversion of this conversion protocol. In the Celtic approach, the potential believer is first offered fellowship and hospitality, which lead to opportunity for service, ministry and authentic conversation. After this connection and commitment are built and trusted, the prospective Christian may choose belief and conversion based on the reality of relationship, leading to full inclusion in community. Certainly, Jesus' own practice was to call those who would be excluded from most modern Christian communities, never to be given an opportunity to discover His open invitation. (Luke 5:27-32).
Hunter is insistent that readers find within these ancient methods innovative avenues for reaching the "New Barbarians," those whose lifestyles seem unacceptable and unconventional, considered beyond reach by religious institutions tied to structure, tradition and presumed authority Certainly, this reader agrees with the assessment Hunter discovered within the Australian Jesus Movement: the challenge is to see God's Kingdom "as a party -- where the doors are thrown open like an Irish pub to anyone who would come in." This "pub church" would be one where Patrick could be quite comfortable -- a church "festive, music, participatory."
Rating:
Summary: A Relevant Book an An Ancient Topic
Review: Can a 5th through 6th century Christian phenomenon speak to the Christian Church on the edge of the 21st century? Yes! Author George G. Hunter, III brings the ancient Celtic world to life and then draws remarkable and striking parallels between the two. In the final chapter he draws on modern examples of Christian ministry to demonstrate how the basic tenets of Celtic Christianity can be adapted to today's ministry. One caveat: the author quotes from Tom Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization and it would have been wise to cut out the obscenity in the passage as it is a jarring interruption to the narrative. This book would make a great basis for a group study, but in some groups the quote may detract from the message,
Rating: 
Summary: Revisioning evangelism through the eyes of the Celtic Church
Review: Finally, a book that takes the interest in "celtic Christianity" that seems to be such the rave now and applies it to the modern church in a life-changing way. This book re-visions evangelism in a way that will reach out to people who haven't grown up in a church setting. Through his study of celtic Christianity, George Hunter saw an evangelism that does not expect people to live by the "rules" of Christianity before they are even accepted into the doors of a church. Looking at a group of Christians who reached out to the world around them and asked them to be "christian" and not "civilized" is true inspiration for us today when our churches seem to want people to know how to act before we are willing to even let them in the doors. This book is well worth the read for anyone interested in bringing Christ to their world.
Rating:
Summary: Revisioning evangelism through the eyes of the Celtic Church
Review: Finally, a book that takes the interest in "celtic Christianity" that seems to be such the rave now and applies it to the modern church in a life-changing way. This book re-visions evangelism in a way that will reach out to people who haven't grown up in a church setting. Through his study of celtic Christianity, George Hunter saw an evangelism that does not expect people to live by the "rules" of Christianity before they are even accepted into the doors of a church. Looking at a group of Christians who reached out to the world around them and asked them to be "christian" and not "civilized" is true inspiration for us today when our churches seem to want people to know how to act before we are willing to even let them in the doors. This book is well worth the read for anyone interested in bringing Christ to their world.
Rating:
Summary: Irish Church Multiplication: It Adds Up!
Review: George Hunter argues that the growth of the Celtic Church was essentially a movement from which we can learn lessons for church planting in the postmodern western world. He writes, "Patrick and his people launched a movement... An ancient document called the 'Annals of the Four Masters' reports that Patrick's mission planted about 700 churches..." Pastors and missionaries working in urban and rural contexts who want to see churches multiply into movement, will be challenged and inspired by The Celtic Way of Evangelism. Hunter's insights into the history of the Celtic Church, show why it flourished first in Ireland, then in Scotland and the north of England, and then in Europe. He identifies key factors for the success of the Celtic Church as a multiplication movement (in contrast with the institutional Roman Church), and draws contextual parallels between that period and today, in order to show contemporary church planters the relevance of the Celtic paradigm. Some of the key factors which Hunter identifies are apostolic teams; close identification with the people (including their language and culture); the formation of "apostolic" communities; their contextualized, holistic, Trinitarian faith; the guided, contemplative prayer life; and the discipleship, training and mobilization of laity. He says they were "essentially lay movements". Though he ordained maybe as many as 1000 priests, the movement featured "laity in ministry more than priests". Hunter describes Patrick as an apostolic bishop rather than pastoral one (as in the Roman Church). Hunter helpfully describes the Celtic communities and their role in evangelism. From his description you can see that they were both centripetal and centrifugal. The community was established in order to bring people into a community of faith. Seekers would be intentionally engaged in conversation within the community and in time be invited to commit. The communities also sent out mission teams under apostolic leadership to plant new communities and churches. Hunter describes how Celtic Christianity communicated the Gospel. Perhaps unwittingly and perhaps partly intentionally, they employed effective strategies of communication. I felt that at times Hunter verged on the point of romanticizing Celtic Christianity, even though he warns us of that possibility and notes how there is a postmodern hankering after Celtic values (without their Christian content and context). Nevertheless, this mild criticism does not detract from the pertinence of this book for church planters. His final chapter helpfully cites a number of recent movements, which consciously or unwittingly have put into practice some of the key factors of the Celtic Christian movement. Among these are recovery movements such as New Horizons in USA and the Jesus Movement in Australia and the St Martin's Community Churches, which it spawned. He also refers to the Alpha Course, which burgeoned from 5 "registered courses" in England in 1992, to 10,500 in 1998 and can now rightly be called the Alpha Movement! Why did the Celtic Church movement die out? Basically because it was forcefully institutionalized by the Roman Church! The Celtic Church was indigenous, organic and non-centralized. The Roman Church wanted control and conformity to the "Roman way". There is a sobering lesson there. Read all about it in The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West... Again!
Rating:
Summary: Irish Church Multiplication: It Adds Up!
Review: George Hunter argues that the growth of the Celtic Church was essentially a movement from which we can learn lessons for church planting in the postmodern western world. He writes, "Patrick and his people launched a movement... An ancient document called the 'Annals of the Four Masters' reports that Patrick's mission planted about 700 churches..." Pastors and missionaries working in urban and rural contexts who want to see churches multiply into movement, will be challenged and inspired by The Celtic Way of Evangelism. Hunter's insights into the history of the Celtic Church, show why it flourished first in Ireland, then in Scotland and the north of England, and then in Europe. He identifies key factors for the success of the Celtic Church as a multiplication movement (in contrast with the institutional Roman Church), and draws contextual parallels between that period and today, in order to show contemporary church planters the relevance of the Celtic paradigm. Some of the key factors which Hunter identifies are apostolic teams; close identification with the people (including their language and culture); the formation of "apostolic" communities; their contextualized, holistic, Trinitarian faith; the guided, contemplative prayer life; and the discipleship, training and mobilization of laity. He says they were "essentially lay movements". Though he ordained maybe as many as 1000 priests, the movement featured "laity in ministry more than priests". Hunter describes Patrick as an apostolic bishop rather than pastoral one (as in the Roman Church). Hunter helpfully describes the Celtic communities and their role in evangelism. From his description you can see that they were both centripetal and centrifugal. The community was established in order to bring people into a community of faith. Seekers would be intentionally engaged in conversation within the community and in time be invited to commit. The communities also sent out mission teams under apostolic leadership to plant new communities and churches. Hunter describes how Celtic Christianity communicated the Gospel. Perhaps unwittingly and perhaps partly intentionally, they employed effective strategies of communication. I felt that at times Hunter verged on the point of romanticizing Celtic Christianity, even though he warns us of that possibility and notes how there is a postmodern hankering after Celtic values (without their Christian content and context). Nevertheless, this mild criticism does not detract from the pertinence of this book for church planters. His final chapter helpfully cites a number of recent movements, which consciously or unwittingly have put into practice some of the key factors of the Celtic Christian movement. Among these are recovery movements such as New Horizons in USA and the Jesus Movement in Australia and the St Martin's Community Churches, which it spawned. He also refers to the Alpha Course, which burgeoned from 5 "registered courses" in England in 1992, to 10,500 in 1998 and can now rightly be called the Alpha Movement! Why did the Celtic Church movement die out? Basically because it was forcefully institutionalized by the Roman Church! The Celtic Church was indigenous, organic and non-centralized. The Roman Church wanted control and conformity to the "Roman way". There is a sobering lesson there. Read all about it in The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West... Again!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Practical History Lesson, But Not Without Faults
Review: George Hunter does an excellent job of tying history into current culture and challenging the church to see evangelism in a new way. A book such as this is badly needed today and I hope that every church examines these ideas carefully. Those who are willing to view past evangelism trends introspectfully and critically know that Christian evangelism in the United States has not been widely successful. Single contact point, aggressive evangelistic sales pitches bring a lot of people to the point of saying the "sinners' prayer", but they do not result in changed lives. Hunter argues powerfully to hold off on "closing the deal" until a person actually believes the gospel and accepts Christianity for himself or herself. This sort of evangelism requires more than reteroric. Christians must live their faith.
I wish I did not have to be critical of this book, but I believe there are a couple of weaknesses that could lessen its effectiveness. First, this is not a "how to" book. It is a lesson from history that requires the reader to think and decide how to apply its message in our present world. My experience has been that too many Christians' eyes glaze over when asked to read history and too many would rather have clear steps (1.2.3. etc.) laid out for them. The book's style may cause some people to stop reading after the first couple of chapters.
Second, the first 6 chapters of this book are rather general and then the last chapter becomes specific on how these ideas might be worked out in our present culture. When moving from the general to specific, I think the author went a little too far. He spent most of the last chapter describing how the Celtic methods of evangelism could work with people caught by addictions. I would like for this chapter to have been a bit broader. Addictions are strong in our society, but new age religions and world religions are so strong that this book would have made a natural introduction to evangelism in a world of religious diversity. That is where I think this book hits real treasure and the last chapter leans off on a tangent.
Still, when all is said and done, this is a powerful book that should be used in every church across our land.
Rating:
Summary: A Tough Model to Follow
Review: Hunter draws attention to the Celtic movement in Ireland and Europe. It is worth noting how "Rome" silenced this movement and how the author traces the same authoritarian attitude to modern Protestantism. When the ancients moved into to an area they established "muinntirs" or colonies to interact wholistically with the people they were reaching. I think this is a great example in history, but if we are to do it we need to GO TO WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE! Perhaps this is a call to the open-air rather than to ecclesiastical structure.
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