Preaching to the margins

SERMONS FROM THE SCHEMES
Edited by Mez McConnell
Grace Publications. 231 pages. £13
ISBN 978 1 912 154 838

It was good to have time to chat with Andy Constable, one of the contributors, about how this book came into being. He explained that the it arose out of training conferences held over the past ten years.

‘20 Schemes Weekenders are open to people who work in council estates all across the UK. The sessions seek to underpin our methodology for the work that we do in the schemes. We thought that it would be good to put into book form the main focus of our work.’

Those preaching in a deprived area or who have a sprinkling of ‘working class’ people in their congregation will find this book invaluable. Five things I appreciated were:

1. Robust theology combined with an awareness of distinctive life circumstances of people from different socio-economic groups. To quote Andy Constable again: ‘In my experience unless you know people and the specific struggles that they are going through, then you are not going to be able to apply the Scriptures specifically to their lives. Many people in ministry do not have relationships with certain people – an electrician, plumber or roofer, a person on benefits or struggling with addiction…

‘I know it is a generalisation, but a lot of people I come across spend too much time in the study and not enough time with people … My best sermon preparation comes from having conversations with people in the café or in the community about the passage I am preaching on. It shows me how they are thinking and how the sermon might land in their lives.’

2. Using stories to communicate the gospel accessibly.

All people love stories, but storytelling is a particular feature of working-class culture; learning how to use stories well in the service of the gospel is an invaluable skill.

3. Determination to think through tough issues like abuse and addiction, and establish Biblical strategies for addressing these issues through the gospel.

In one of the sermons Mez McConnell, the leader of 20 Schemes, uses the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement to address the issue of abuse.

4. Commitment to the local church as an instrument of transformation in a community.

In an unstable world, it is important not to undervalue the loving superstructure of a local church as a place where people can find Christ and grow into maturity in Him.

5. Fostering a Biblical version of diversity.

Not everyone who serves 20 Schemes looks like a cast member of the film Trainspotting. One 20 Schemes church leadership team includes a white middle-class private-school educated English guy from a solid Christian family, and a fatherless guy from the schemes. This is often the sticking point in churches that attract working-class people; there is often no expectation or strategy for these evangelistic ‘trophies’ to be equipped to preach and lead in the church.

This book is not a series of the coal-face Sunday sermons from the growing network of 20 Schemes churches. Perhaps Grace Publications might be persuaded to release that as a sequel! What is on offer here is a set of stimulating messages to help readers be more intentional in thinking about how to do church, and how to preach God’s word with a sensitivity to both the context of Scripture and the context of the hearer.