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How do new Christians find answers to the questions they’re really asking? Mark Woods asks Peter Graystone  “People are honest with computers in a way they wouldn’t be with ministers,” says Peter Graystone. “And they’re used to being anonymous – that’s the way the internet works. They’d rather go online to ask questions than ask a person.” Straightforward It’s pretty straightforward, when you think of it, but it led Peter to develop an innovative way of connecting with people who’ve just found faith – or who might still be on the way. And Now a Christian was shaped by another insight, too. “Most courses for new Christians tend to be started by Christian who say, ‘What do I need to tell people?’ I started the other way round – ‘Now I’m a Christian, what do I want to know?’ “So it deals with things like, ‘Will I be able to swear and have sex?’ and ‘What if people think I’m weird?’” Put these two ingredients together, and you have an exciting and accessible introduction to the Christian faith that’s catching on rapidly. Now a Christian is web-based, and it’s free. Sign up for it and you get an email every day for five weeks, with the option of listening to a podcast. Each week has a theme, including making sense of life, giving God a chance, and hoping for the best. Part way through each week there’s a link to an interactive site where you can ask or answer questions, and make your own observations on what you’d learned. Amazing response And Peter’s been amazed by the response. “There was a rush of sign-ups in the first couple of days and I thought, ‘The responses are all quite religious,’ he says. “As the days and weeks have gone by, I’m increasingly moved by the honesty and simplicity of what people are saying.” Now a Christian is being well used. But does it replace sermons – and does it replace church? “I’m not knocking sermons – they have particular functions,” Peter says. “But I would love for it to be a normal conversation in Christian life to talk about what faith means, for us not to be embarrassed to talk together. “I’d like us to bring some strength and integrity to the large number of hours we are not in church.” And yes, church does matter, he believes. “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, but if you aren’t part of a Christian community you’re missing all the best things. It supports you when you need help, you have an opportunity to see other viewpoints, and pray for each other; a community can bring so much.” But whether someone’s just starting out as a Christian, or has been on the way for a while, doing discipleship like this is meeting a need. And in the age of the internet, shouldn’t the Church be there as well? To find out more, or to sign up, visit www.nowachristian.org |
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