There's never been such an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus! It might not feel like it, as a terrible pandemic spreads death and disease, keeping us stuck inside, unable to meet people. However, despite COVID-19 closing church buildings, it has also opened up new possibilities online. Church services on YouTube and Facebook now allow people who don’t normally go to church, to watch from the comfort of their own home. People in different countries can also access these services, enabling the UK church to reach the nations like never before. As the church exists for the benefit of those who are not its members1, surely this is an opportunity that has to be fully grasped. But is it being taken? Despite an increase in broadcasting, there are at least some seekers watching these services who are saying "what do these words mean?", just like the Athenians did with the Apostle Paul (Acts 17:18). Could Christians respond to this challenge, like Paul did, and make a few changes to their communication, to help take the good news to the ends of the earth?
Who would benefit?
There are at least three groups of people who would benefit from clearer language.
Firstly, starting at home, British people who don’t normally go to church would be helped. The UK has very high levels of Biblical illiteracy2, with many not understanding basic Christian words. Despite this lack of knowledge there has been an increase in spiritual interest since the pandemic began, with COVID forcing secular Brits to consider the meaning of life3. Last spring, as the virus spread, many churches were excited by the increase in spiritual interest and the subsequent growth in church attendance. Sadly, however, this trend seems to have waned somewhat.4a/4b
Secondly, there is a global audience, as the online services can be accessed by literally billions of people around the world. Those watching in second or third languages find it challenging to understand - unless the English is clear. Whilst internationals do appear to be ‘randomly’ joining UK church services5, it is more likely that people will watch if they have a connection to the church or city.
Which leads us to the third group who would benefit from clearer language. They are more likely to watch than the other groups as, unlike many British people, they continue to have a strong spiritual interest, and unlike other foreigners, they have a connection to a specific city in the UK. Who are they? This group are international students and they merit a closer look.
Spiritual interest
The hunger of many international student seekers can be surprising to British people- we're just not used to it! Here are some of the things that international student seekers have said to me:
“I’m excited to be here in the UK, as I can find out about Christianity and the Bible.”
“I want to know what it is about Christianity that my government doesn’t want me to hear.”
“We’ve been looking for someone to tell us about Jesus”.
An established church service is seen by international students as a trustworthy way to find out about the Christian faith, more reliable than just coming across an evangelistic YouTube video. This makes me wonder: is the UK church as excited about this group’s spiritual interest as it was about the British surge in spiritual enquiry last year?
Connection
International students still desire to be connected with a church near where they live in the UK, even though most churches are currently online. For example, a Taiwanese student, who moved from Sheffield to Leeds during this current lockdown, contacted me as she wanted to be put in touch with a church here in Leeds. She could easily have continued attending the Sheffield church online, however she wanted to make a connection with people in the city where she is now living. She said, “I still want to feel that I am belonging to a place, a community…[where] we could meet face to face in the city.”
Understanding
So if international student seekers, past and present, are likely to watch church online, what's the problem with their understanding? Well, despite having a level of English which is good enough to study at university, international student seekers said in our recent survey that they could understand only 40% of the online services they were watching. Interestingly, this online understanding is significantly lower than previous years “normal” services which could be understood 65% of the time. One international student, who has above average English and recently became a Christian, said that in church services there are “new words which are not usually used in our daily life, this is confusing and hard to understand. It affects the engagement of the international students with the church.” Words and phrases which she couldn't understand from a recent service included: sermon, adoration, diocesan and ‘elephant in the room’.
Four suggestions
Although communicating clearly sounds straightforward, it does actually take a little bit of thought. I've been working with international students for many years and just last week the international student I was talking to didn’t understand what I said!! So how can Christians adjust their communication to make the most of this opportunity to share the good news?
Firstly, there are many Christian words which neither internationals nor unchurched British people understand, for example ‘sin’, ‘grace’ and ‘redemption’. If these words are used in a talk, song or prayer, why not explain them so that everyone is clear on their meaning?
Secondly, when a camera is put on many of us, we start speaking quicker because of nerves. This makes it even harder for the groups mentioned to understand what is being said! Why not remind those participating in the church services to speak slowly, so that everyone has the best chance to understand.
Thirdly, when idioms are not understood, international students tell me that they feel excluded. They would love to learn the meaning of new phrases, so if you want to say something like ‘elephant in the room’ why not explain it as well, so that everyone understands you?
Finally, even after having made all these changes you may still want to give internationals further space to explore faith. That is why Transformations Leeds has produced ‘Explore International’ an online evangelistic course which international students said they could understand 86% of. Contact us or click here for more details.
So, if you are preaching, praying or leading worship in an online church service consider the opportunity you have to share the good news. Because if you make the changes suggested, they will help you to spread the good news even more effectively to the ends of the earth.
