“New England has a similar cultural context to Europe,” according to a northeast Baptist leader.
Both regions experience a “post-Christian environment and a postmodern mentality” that shapes their approaches to ministry and missions, explained Sam Taylor, Baptist Churches of New England global missions mobilizer and former Boston area regional coordinator
BCNE now has partnered with churches in Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Wales.
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Taylor also noted a tripartite ministry BCNE began in March 2021 with the International Mission Board and the International Baptist Convention, after BCNE Executive Director and Treasurer Terry Dorsett led five New England pastors and mission leaders on a vision tour to Madrid.
Post-Christian cultures
The two post-Christian cultures, although similar, are “much more advanced in Europe than in New England,” Taylor said. BCNE pastors “will understand the European pastors better than pastors in the Bible Belt would, and our ministry strategies would probably be better for that context,” he noted, referring to relational evangelism approaches that earn credibility and develop friendships before the gospel is discussed.
“The problem with [the] term post-Christian is that it implies that Christianity is somehow over. It is not. In fact, the various alternatives throw the superiority — and the truth — of Christianity in high relief,” wrote Gene Edward Veith Jr. in “Post-Christian: A Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture” (2020). “Our contemporary secularist thought and culture are not nearly as formidable as they may seem. Post-Christian ways of thinking and living are running into dead ends and fatal contradictions.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Dan Nicholas and originally published by Baptist Churches of New England.
