Evangelism and post-Christians

I am reading the chapter on evangelism in Dan Kimball's The Emerging Church and had to stop mid-paragraph. A lot of what he is saying is confirming some of what I've been feeling in how the worship gathering/small group model that we are currently using probably will be counter to what we will need to see in any kind of post-Christian evangelism efforts. He draws some parallels between modern/post-modern approaches and the Roman approach when they first encountered the Celtic tribes. The Roman approach was to 1) present the Christian message; 2) invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; 3) If they do respond, assimilate them into the church. This is a very logical approach, but when the Romans encountered the Celts, they encountered a pagan culture that "favored a more sensory approach to learning."

If the modern church models the Romans in the example, the post-Christian culture represents the Celts. In the Roman model the logical progression was:
1) Presentation
2) Decision
3) Fellowship

The Celtic model (in contrast) became:
1) Fellowship
2) Ministry and conversations
3) Belief, invitation to commitment

What this means for us: Hanfield has had a "if we build it, they will come" approach to things. This worked well for us for awhile. We still see the worship service as the main entry point for non-believers. Once they show up, we work to assimilate them into groups. Thankfully, I think we understand that we need to get people involved in fellowship regardless of whether they have made a commitment or not, but we still tend to approach our adult groups in ways that the post-Christian would have a hard time engaging with. That's not a criticism, just an observation. Our adult groups are made up almost entirely of people with a Judeo-Christian mindset or understanding. I don't think our current groups would experience a lot of success with the Celtic model unless they really worked hard at making changes to the way they function. It is possible, but not without reimagining the purpose of groups beyond incubators for discipleship. I suspect Leanne is helping them to move beyond that in their planning.

I'm wondering if we won't experience more success in the satellite by recreating adult ministry models to where our adult groups are the first contact point for post-Christian people. Could the groups be done in a way that we begin by engaging in relationship with non-believers, learn about them, live with them, love them and let them experience community at that level as a way of introducing them to the faith before they ever set foot in a larger worship gathering? Obviously, assimilation for those that begin in the service setting is still important to consider, but what if it wasn't our primary modus operandi?

I'll probably wrestle with this some more, but it's time for lunch.