Hunter's work is quite valuable because our postmodern cultural landscape simply will not accept the ancient Roman model of religious engagement. The Celtic approach Hunter discusses is a hope-filled alternative. I'll definitely be referring back to this one in years to come... ( )

George G. Hunter III, "The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christians Can Reach the West...Again", (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000).

George G. Hunter, III holds B.A. (Florida Southern), B.D. (Candler), Th.M. (Princeton) and Ph.D. (Northwestern) degrees, and is a leader in evangelism, church growth, communication theory, leadership and missiology. He is the author of ten books in these areas and has served the U.M. Church in roles ranging from pastor to head of the Board of Discipleship's section on Evangelism. Hunter is the founder of The Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education and the co-founder of the American Society for Church Growth. In 1983, Hunter became the founding Dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary where he served for 18 years before being named as the seminary's first Distinguished Professor.

In "The Celtic Way of Evangelism", Hunter works on the premise that the challenges faced by the evangelist in modern US society are similar to those faced by St. Patrick and those who succeeded him in the evangelism of Ireland from the early 5th century onwards. In both cases the populations consist of "secular people" with no Christian memory whose worldview is challenged by the problems of everyday life. Based upon the available historical evidence, which is often fragmentary, Hunter pieces together a picture of how St. Patrick won Ireland for Christ. Key to Patrick's success was his willingness to learn the language and culture of the Irish, to settle among them and embrace them, and to discover how God is revealed through nature. Natural revelation was to play a large part in disseminating the Gospel to the Irish who lived close to nature and who found resonance with the Presence of God in the everyday things of life.

Hunter describes how Patrick's methods led to - perhaps even required - a break with the organized church and its highly Romanized ways which focused on worship rather than evangelism. Patrick sought to bring the Gospel to the Celts without importing the Roman church. He succeeded in divorcing the Gospel from the cultural baggage associated with it and importing the former while rejecting the latter. Critical contextualization of the Gospel message, such as contextually appropriate ways to understand the crucifixion, were developed over time. Patrick's methodology seems to have been to work as part of a team and to establish relationships with the local people. As the team helped with the sick, prayed for the community, and engaged in storytelling, so locals became involved and joined with the growing band such that a local church was formed. These communities were a new kind of church - resembling a monastic order - and were essentially lay communities, some as large as 3,000 in number. Patrick focused on teaching Christianity as a way of life, not as a philosophical proposition. After the death of Patrick, his followers continued his work and Hunter describes the various scenarios as the Celtic way of evangelism encountered existing churches among the population of England and Scotland. The conflict as the Celtic church encountered the Roman church eventually led to the disappearance of the movement that Patrick started.

Hunter shows how the postmodern US culture is poised for relational evangelism in the Celtic way. He correctly observes that leaders of mainstream denominations tend to focus inwardly and to downplay evangelism but he proposes no way forward for those of us within denominational structures other than the familiar gestures towards the Wesleyan class meeting and the Alpha Program. Patrick was criticized and ostracized by his church. The question for many of us is how to engage in Celtic evangelism without further damaging denominations already beaten and battered by decades of inwardly focused leadership. Had Hunter included chapters on Celtic evangelism tailored to the congregations of the local church his interesting book might find more direct application. ( )

Hunter recounts the history of Celtic Christianity and uses this history as a paradigm for a contemporary missionary approach. Reflecting Celtic Christianity’s communal, monastic, and artistic emphases (including hospitality, seeker participation, and imaginative prayer), Celtic evangelism utilizes the speaker’s ethos to capture and engage the audience’s pathos with the logos of the Gospel – it is a holistic approach. B+ ( )

This is one of those books that i think everybody should read. Part history, part exploration of St. Patrick (the man and myth), part fascinating account of the transformational effect of Patrick's ministry to Ireland, part refocus of evangelism and its effectiveness today, this is an excellent reference. ( )