2025 Week 1 Adult 19+: God Talk for Secular Ears

This course proposes that one of the reasons for the precipitous decline in church attendance may be the inability of churches to express the faith within the language of our secular society. Just as traditional missionaries learned the language and customs of cultures to which they were sent, what if our modern mission field is not on another continent, but right here in secular Canadian culture? What if we took its language and culture seriously? What would a proclamation of the gospel sound like then?
In this course we will explore why so many religious proclamations fall on deaf ears and how the rise of secularism may be part of a deep religious experience, we will learn the basics of secular language, and we will discover how the Good News of God, Christ, and the Spirit might sound when spoken from within the language and assumptions of secular culture. That could be a revelation for secular people as much as for ourselves.
Participants can expect to be affirmed in their faith as well as to be challenged to explore the disturbing realities behind declining attendance, and to find within that painful experience, the essence of the Gospel shining through. We will experience how that will give both believers and secular people new life and joy and hope in their church commitment and in their personal lives. Participants should be prepared to engage with and critique Harold’s presentations, to share with other participants their own experiences of secularism, and work together to design a liturgy of word and art to express the faith in secular language.
Harold’s book “Faith in Doubt” will provide useful background, but is not required reading for the course. It’s available directly from Harold (get a signed copy! And download a free study guide) at www.haroldmunnbooks.com, from the publisher FriesenPress (https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000371585045/Harold-Munn-Faith-in-Doubt), and through the major online sources such as Amazon and Chapters. Copies will be available at the course.
Homework: before leaving home ask several non-religious friends what their idea of God is, and what they think is the significance of Jesus. Just listen, don’t suggest the right answers! Ask permission to take some notes and share their responses anonymously. Even better, invite such a friend to attend the course and provide their non-believing feedback!
Come to talk, come to listen, come to question, come to share, come to live, come to joy. Open to all, spiritual and secular, young and old, committed or curious or neither.