Culture & Context
Dec 2024 - April 2025
Third Monday of each month - 5 online sessions & 2 in-person meetings
Culture & Context: Gospel Communication
The best way to love the city is by making Jesus known. When it comes to sharing the gospel, there is a seemingly obvious but often overlooked truth. Unless we learn to communicate the gospel in a way that is understandable to people in our context, it will never affect the culture we’re attempting to reach. The unchanging truth of the gospel must be expressed in a way that makes sense to our city. This is the challenge of contextualisation and requires thoughtful engagement with the cultural narratives and the gospel itself.
Who is it for?
If you are a leader in a local church and desire to be faithful and fruitful in your ministry, Culture & Context is for you.
The Details
Each Culture & Context Learning Community is made of 8-15 people and will focus on the following:
Session 1: 16th December 2024
Understanding our culture and context, including the dangers of both under- and over-contextualisation
Session 2: 20th January 2025
Researching your community and how to create a contextual profile for your ministry
Session 3: 17th February 2025
How to apply the concept of theological vision to your gospel communication
Session 4: 17th March 2025
Understanding plausibility structures and how to practice gospel persuasion in a secular society
Session 5: 14th April 2025 (In person)
Forming your church as a church on mission, including how to develop relational evangelistic pathways
5 two-hour sessions
Third Monday of each month starting 18th December 2024
(Sep 2024 - Apr 2025)
7.00-9.30pm
Alex Brito - Trainer
Alex Brito is a City Catalyst for The London Project and pastor of Mosaic Multicultural Church in Elephant and Castle, London. Before church planting, he had a business background and studied Theology in Brazil. Currently pursuing a Masters in Theology at Union School of Theology, Alex, together with his wife Aluanna, is a proud parent of three daughters. He enjoys meeting people, reading, and barbecuing.
Dan Strange - Trainer
Dan is the director of Crosslands Forum, a center for cultural engagement and missional innovation. Formerly he was college director and tutor in culture, religion, and public theology at Oak Hill College, London. He is a contributing editor for Themelios, and vice president of The Southgate Fellowship. Dan's book, Their Rock Is Not Like Our Rock: A Theology of Religions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), received an award of merit for theology/ethics in the Christianity Today 2016 Book Awards. His most recent books are Plugged In (The Good Book Company, 2019), and Making Faith Magnetic (The Good Book Company, 2021) both with Forewords from Tim Keller. Dan is married to Elly, has seven children and is a West Ham United season ticket holder.
Ashlyn Portero - Trainer
Ashlyn serves at Redeemer Queen's Park, a Co-Mission network church plant in North West London. She has lived in London since March 2022, when she moved from the US after serving at a church in Florida for twelve years. Ashlyn has studied theology and spiritual formation at Talbot School for Theology at Biola University. Ashlyn also serves as Director of Partnerships for the Alliance for Transatlantic Theological Training, where she helps build ministry partnerships for leadership development in local churches between the US and the UK. In her spare time, Ashlyn enjoys travelling, reading, and frequenting London parks with her dog, Rainey.