Evangelism and the strength of weak ties

The Alpha invitations have gone out by post and email, to several dozen contacts and people on the edges of St Paul's. On Sunday, I'll be asking the congregation to take at least one flyer each and think about who they could invite.

Classically, congregations are encouraged to think first about their family and close friends as those most likely to be invited to an evangelism course. But I'm wondering if it might be better to ask people to think of an acquaintance who could be invited instead.

I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point this week. Gladwell talks about the strength of weak ties in the propagation of ideas, fashions and news. He takes the work of sociologist Mark Granovetter who found that personal connections are powerful factors in issues such as getting a job. The surprising thing that Granovetter found is that acquaintances are actually more fruitful than close friends in this respect. Gladwell adopts this idea; that while word-of-mouth is a significant force it's these weak ties that are instrumental. Hence "the strength of weak ties".

I wondered if this might be true for evangelism. Certainly most people find faith through the encouragement of other people who are known to them. Evangelism is a relational matter. But, perhaps contrary to what we might usually think, could it be through our acquaintances, rather than through our close friends and family, that these introductions happen. There's plenty of evidence in the bible for the spread of the gospel through the strong ties of family and close friendships. But there's also evidence of people receiving encouragement through weaker ties too.

When I think about the list of people who I have sent the invitations to, they are people who are known to me through funerals, weddings, baptisms, community use of our buildings etc. I know them well enough to remember their names and some relevant information about them, but I'm hardly their friends.

So this Sunday, I shall be asking the congregation to think in the same terms. Perhaps there are people in their street, office or in the pubs where they drink, that they might invite. I'll report back through the blog how we get on.