Michael Harvey was a director of Aon the largest insurance brokerage in the world before starting his own consultancy. He has helped numerous business and individuals unlock growth and unleash potential. In 2004 Back to Church Sunday was birthed and he started to work with churches throughout the UK and eventually throughout the English speaking world. He has spoken to thousands of church leaders “Unlocking the Growth” Seminars and has to date seen thousands of Christians mobilized to invite, resulting in hundreds of thousands of accepted invitations. Michael Harvey is married to Eike and they have three children Ben, Kirsty and Lydia. He is author of Unlocking the Growth.
You’ve travelled all over the world, often to speak for little more than 15 minutes. Why are you so passionate about this?
An invitation to look at Christianity changed the course of my life. I never lived with my mother and never knew my father (until I was 40) and yet I found a mentor called Frank at the church to which I was invited. Frank invited me to take a closer look at Jesus and eventually I made a commitment. This led over the next four decades to a process of being transformed. I want others to be offered the same opportunity to accept or reject Christianity, which I believe is medication for the soul. Frederick Buechner said our true calling is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need, and this is why I would gladly speak for fifteen minutes.
You speak a lot about inviting people to church; why church – it’s surely about Jesus, not church.
Church has got a pretty bad image in the eyes of many Christians never mind those outside of the Church. I know Church is not perfect, but when we have an act of worship I was taught that God would dwell amongst the praises of the people. In fact God would be present. So if God is present as we worship in church why wouldn’t we invite our friends? Jesus does not say where two or three are together doing it perfectly well in my name, then I am with you. So I would say it is all about Jesus, unless we don’t think Jesus is present when we are at worship. That of course does not mean that we shouldn’t also invite people to discover Jesus in other ways – we absolutely do!
You write, “Mission gives us the opportunity to see our broken-heartedness brought into the clear light of day”. Please expand on that.
There are a number of stories in the Bible that highlight God calling people into mission, where their own issues come to the surface. Gideon says, “I am the least of the least”; Moses says, “Who am I”; Simon Peter says, “We have left everything to follow you!” Jesus came to heal broken-heartedness and it is my experience even today that when God is calling the church, the emotional wounds that have never been healed surface. I think we should become as interested in what is happening to the person going on mission as the person being reached. Mission is about formation and healing our broken hearts as well as witness.
Why do you think we are reluctant to invite people?
The possibility of rejection has grown steadily over the past half-century. There was a time two or three generations ago when good people went to church, then there was a generational change when good people sent their children to church, but they didn’t go anymore. Now neither good people or their children go in the numbers they once did and we have got confused. I think it is easier to invite people when most people would accept your invitation. It is less easy to invite when you might get rejected. Things have changed and we need to have our minds transformed to face the reality of ambivalence, and hostility as well as acceptance of the Christian faith.
We define success in terms of the conversion rate we see but you disagree with that. What is the problem with that way of thinking?
We need some ratio theology. God invited Moses to invite Pharaoh to let the people go free ten times. God through Moses clearly was not very successful. The sower goes out to sow the seed, some of the seed falls on the path! Oh dear we need a new initiative, it just hasn’t worked! The success of the Sower was he kept on sowing. In addition we would have to severely redact the Acts of the Apostles if we only wanted to include the success. It doesn’t say well done good and successful servant, it says well done good and faithful servant.
You’ve been given a S1m grant to do a science and faith resource. That’s a serious amount of money. Tell us more about it.
Following up a General Synod debate in 2010 which overwhelming agreed that science and faith were compatible, I was asked to come up with a way of demonstrating its compatibility. The response was starting a Pre-University Young Scientist Day. God and the Big Bang is a school event where we take scientists of faith and we put them with pre-university scientists for a day. The $1 million grant is allowing us access to some of the world’s top research scientists of faith, train up a new generation of science faith speakers and research the projects effectiveness.
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