The gospel opportunities of English teaching

I had admired the English For Life (EFL, aka ESL) classes at St Michael’s since I became the minister in late 2004… from a distance. But I was also critical of the inclination to “put all the cross-cultural eggs in the English class basket”, which seemed (to my limited perception) to prevail in my region.

I certainly appreciated the loving service and outreach potential of English classes. I just thought it was unrealistic to expect the ministry to do all the heavy lifting of reaching out to the nations living among us with the gospel. I used to say, “It’s like trying to eat peas with a one-pronged fork. It works, but it’s the slow way. We need other prongs on our fork!” 

I still believe that—but I see that inadvertently my attitude distanced myself a bit from “on the ground” English class efforts. 

However, the leaders in my Anglican denomination were encouraging ministers to lead parishes by example and connect with their community. It can be hard for Christian pastors, whose full-time job is dominated by contact with Christians, to meet non-Christians, but it dawned on me that one of the best options I had was right on-site.

Every week, people from all sorts of international backgrounds come voluntarily to our church to receive a genuinely useful service offered freely and lovingly, without discrimination, to all. They are frequently keen to make friends. Also, most people from other cultures are more open to talking about religious and spiritual matters than the average Australian-born Aussie (who are often rock-hard against it).

So now I go along to the English classes every week possible, just for the 30-minute morning teatime of conversation practice. I made an effort to talk to the men there, since there were fewer of them and not as many male teachers around. Every week I have fascinating discussions learning about people’s families, backgrounds, cultures, interests, and often sharing something of my own family.

They generally realize I am the minister or pastor, and sometimes that results in questions. Other times, maybe one week in three, I find the natural opportunity to raise a matter of belief, moral values, or of practices like praying that are somehow related to God, Jesus, the Bible, or something that we do or get involved in at our church. 

I think the connection is really strengthened if you can move the relationship outside the classroom. Can you have a couple of students (and their families, if appropriate) over for a meal? Can you go out for a coffee with a couple of them? Can you help them with a particular task? Can you take them to the football?

I said I tried especially to connect with male students. One thing I do is invite them to my home for a ‘cultural occasion’. These occur on three Wednesday nights in the middle of the year. I tell the men all they need to do is to wear blue; I invite them to watch the State of Origin with me. I tell them I will explain the basics of rugby league, and that these are almost always the best games you can see in Australia. I put on my blue wig and we generally have a great time. 

I have made some wonderful friends this way, from many nations, including several who have decided to follow Jesus and have been baptized as Christians. I have made far more progress via English classes than I have in parallel efforts I made to meet parents through our kids’ school. I met a lot of parents as acquaintances, but with life’s busyness, the relationships have mostly seemed not to go anywhere (especially in high school, although primary school was better). 

Sometimes Christians worry that there might be something unethical about tying up teaching English with the offer of Christianity. And of course, there could be inappropriate ways of doing that. But most people learning another language realize they are not just learning words; they also need to learn the culture that the words are embedded in.

Most internationals from non-Western and/or non-Christian backgrounds realize that Christianity has had a very big influence on our Western culture and on our English language. And often they intuitively realize that that influence is good—good in our laws, in our care for individuals, in our desire and defence of liberty, etc. That’s why, even if they have no intention of converting away from their religion or world view, I have found most students at our classes are open to hearing about Christianity, our beliefs, our customs, and something of what the Bible says. 

Some English teachers are worried about using a Bible story as a text for an English lesson. And I don’t think it wise to make your texts exclusively or even mostly from the Bible. But I find it quite appropriate that Christians freely offering English classes might choose the Bible as a text at times. And I have never heard any objection from students. One extra way I have seen this Christian sharing work well is in the offer to students to stay back for a voluntary Bible study after class. Often a few will be interested, and who knows where that can lead! 

Then there are the annual lessons focusing on what Christmas and Easter mean to Christians. Sometimes we have explained a Christmas carol. Sometimes we have performed a kids’ puppet play. Other times we go into the actual church building itself and ‘in context’ explain some gospel aspect of Christian belief about Easter or Christmas using the visual aids of a cross in the building or a suitable image from a stained glass window. We like to give students chance to share what happens at Christmas or Easter (if anything) in their country and culture. Christmas crafts or Christmas foods can be created and enjoyed—this is always very popular.

And of course, we are always giving out invitations. Invitations for young parents to try the church playgroup. Invitations to our Easy English congregation. Invitations to Christmas and Easter activities, to outreach events like our recent “Thankfulness from a deep place” women’s coffee and dessert night, or to helpful courses like a parenting course we have coming up. 

You can see I am now an enthusiast for this vital outreach ‘prong’! Anglicare has more information and ideas on running English classes to help your church get started.

Photo courtesy of Sue Radkovic and Anglicare.