• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Recent Issues
      • January/February 2023January/February 2023
      • March/April 2023March/April 2023
      • November/December 2022November/December 2022
      • September/October 2022September/October 2022
      • July/August 2022July/August 2022
      • May/June 2022May/June 2022
      • More…
  • Authors
      • Stuart OlyottStuart Olyott
      • Rhodri ThomasRhodri Thomas
      • Tony BrownTony Brown
      • Wayne ProbertWayne Probert
      • Anne DaviesAnne Davies
      • Steve NapperSteve Napper
      • Kerry OrchardKerry Orchard
      • Mike AdamsMike Adams
      • Ceri DouglassCeri Douglass
      • Tom OlsonTom Olson
      • More…
  • Sections
      • Bible
      • Church
      • Comment
      • Faith
      • History
      • Life
      • Mission
      • My story
      • Prayer
      • Remembering
      • Reviews
      • Theology
  • Subscribe

Life In The Greenhouse

Elaine MacdonaldElaine Macdonald3 minute readSeptember/October 2022, page 26

It takes courage to speak of Jesus in a world where Christ crucified is seen as a stumbling block and foolishness. Therefore, it’s so important to create safe spaces where we can support one another as we do this. In essence, this is what the Greenhouse is all about. Anna McCracken, one of the mentors says, ‘The Greenhouse is about people using their own situation, whatever it is, to create opportunities and be spurred on in their evangelism.’ It’s a safe place to develop ideas and to grow, similar to how a greenhouse in a garden is used to cultivate and protect tender plants.

I had the privilege of being involved with the project in the lead up to Christmas 2021. I’d like to tell you a little more about it and about my own experience as part of a small group.

How does Greenhouse work?

The Greenhouse project is for women who want to deepen their own understanding of the gospel and grow in their ability to share it with those around them. It happens twice a year in the lead up to Christmas and Easter, and provides training, mentoring and feedback for each participant. The intention is to help one another create and deliver evangelistic material, maybe a talk, a short video, a blog or poetry. In our small group, we helped one another prepare for two wreath-making events, a toddler group Christmas party and a coffee morning for first time mums, but more of that later!

Greenhouse lasts for five weeks. There is a video for everyone to watch beforehand and an online training event two weeks in, but the majority of the time is spent in small groups, either online or in person. These groups provide peer feedback and support, a key element in the process. At the end of the five weeks, encouraged and spurred on by one another, each participant is ready to take up the opportunities that Christmas and Easter afford.

Small groups meet four times. In our first session we talked about our own situations and the evangelistic opportunities we’d been given or hoped to create, our feelings of anticipation and apprehension as we embarked on this process, and we read the Bible together and prayed. Each of us brought concrete ideas to the next session and gave one another feedback, encouraging one another and praying together. In the final two sessions we spent time tweaking our talks and discussing final preparations. We were able to deliver our talks in a safe place before having to do it ‘for real’ at an event.

The companionship and the walking together throughout the four sessions were appreciated by everyone. All of us benefited from being a part of this project in one way or another. It was a timely reminder of how good it is to work together on things, one body but many parts in action. The different personalities, gifts and experiences enriched the whole process.

Putting it into practice

Two evangelistic opportunities that came out of Greenhouse were a church based wreath-making event and a coffee morning initiated by a first-time mum for first-time mums in her community.

A great team from church, together with an experienced wreath maker, organised the event and a talk was given by one of the Greenhouse participants. 37 of those who attended the wreath-making event were invited friends or community sign-ups and most were unknown to the church. At least 20 went along to other Christmas events.

The speaker said: ‘I found the Greenhouse fun and stretching, and enjoyed the training session part-way through. Being part of a diverse group of women with whom I hadn’t worked before was brilliant. They were gracious and helpful.’

The first-time mums’ coffee morning was full of cake and crafts with a goody bag to take home. We included a Christmas storybook, an ‘Emmanuel, God with Us’ decoration, baby snacks, chocs for mums, and an invite to the church Christmas events.

The mum who organised it said: ‘I’ve had some encouraging conversations with one mum in particular who has moved to Wales and struggled to make friends. She was so taken aback by the offer of hospitality, and it’s been the start of a great friendship.’

Personal reflections on Greenhouse

I’m glad I did it! Being part of a team was such an encouragement. We all grew in our appreciation of the gospel and our desire to speak of Jesus more often. We talked together, worked together and prayed together. We saw God at work in one another, and in others too. It’s God who brings growth and yet there is planting and watering to be done (1 Cor. 3:7- 9). There is work for us to do.

Greenhouse is a real opportunity ahead of Christmas for us to get ready to talk about the coming King. If you’re not sure this is something you can do, then know that we all said that when we first met last November. If you feel a measure of apprehension and yet anticipation, so did we. Can I encourage you to at least explore the possibilities? Be in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

For more information visit www.pfe-women.co.uk/the-greenhouse-mentoring-scheme

 

To subscribe to the print edition visit www.evangelicalmagazine.com/subscribe/

 

Found this helpful? Like, share or tweet

Want more like this? Get the latest articles direct by email every week:

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your personal details are safe. We won’t spam you, or pass your details onto anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time.

About the author

Elaine Macdonald
Elaine Macdonald attends The Bridge Church, Cardiff and works alongside others at Wales Leadership Forum to encourage and equip women to share the gospel in the context of the local church.

Read next

Home For Good
by Neil Davies
Everyday Mission
by Katie Hadley
Weary From Serving
by Mandi Archer
Chasing Away The Darkness
by Nay Dawson
Behold Your God
by Andy Pitt
Bringing God’s Love Into A Prison
by David Lewis
Lessons For Evangelism
by Adam Thomas, Elspeth Pitt and Jonny Raine
Gossiping The Gospel
by Meg Conway

Primary Sidebar

Like us on Facebook

Evangelical Magazine

Latest issue

Other popular articles

  • What is ‘praying in the Spirit’ and how do we pray in this way? by Stuart Olyott
    97 likes
  • God Is At Work In The Bridgend Valleys by Rhodri Thomas
  • Golgotha - Why was Jesus crucified outside the city? by Mark Barnes
    32 likes
  • Until we meet again by Alun Ebenezer
    182 likes
  • Sharing Jesus with Mormon Missionaries by Tony Brown
    48 likes
  • Sharing Jesus with a Jehovah’s Witness by Tony Brown
    107 likes
  • Door-to-door with a difference by Sheila Stephen
    18 likes
  • Why was Jesus baptised in the River Jordan? by Mark Barnes
    76 likes
  • From bare-knuckle fighter to Sunday school teacher by Wayne Probert
    461 likes
  • How to secure your church's online Zoom meeting by Mark Barnes
    26 likes

The Evangelical Magazine is published by the Evangelical Movement of Wales.
Waterton Cross Business Park, South Road, Bridgend CF31 3UL.
Registered charity number 222407. View our privacy policy.