CE in your workplace

Susannah Trafford is 30 and works as a solicitor. She went to church with her parents in Cumbria as a child, and became a Christian in her early teens. She’s been in her current office for seven years, and started running a CE course there a few years ago.

Why did you decide to hold CE in your workplace?

I’ve been committed for a while to trying to share the gospel with the others in my workplace, though it’s not easy! Actually doing a course at work, rather than trying to get people to come to my church’s course, makes it much more convenient. I don’t live close to a lot of my colleagues. People who have children, or are simply very busy, find it difficult to take an evening to do something like this. The lunch hour is an easier time!

Also, people feel secure going to a course if it’s in their workplace—they don’t have to go onto “church territory”.

The CE is a great way to get the gospel out to colleagues. The main advantages of CE is that it goes through Mark’s Gospel, so it’s simple and focused. The materials are very good, which makes it very easy. The work is pretty much done for you already!

When do you hold the course?

During the lunchbreak. The aim is to do it in about 50 minutes, to give people five minutes to get there and five to get back. That means we don’t cover things in as much detail as the evening courses my church does, but people coming along know it’ll last for lunch and no longer. It’s better to have people there for some time, than no one there for a longer time!

How did you advertise it?

When we started, we were allowed to send an office-wide email advertising the course, though we’re not allowed to do that anymore. We also put some posters up.

Who has come along?

We’ve had a mixture of people. Some have been Christians, some have been people who go to church sometimes, some have said they certainly aren’t Christians. We had one Muslim man come along.

Most people I invite say no. But I find that a great opportunity to discover what they believe. I often say “Why not come?” which sometimes leads to good conversations.

How tricky did you find leading the course?

Much easier than I expected. I had thought I couldn’t do it because I wouldn’t know the answers to people’s questions. But actually most questions are the same, and the materials are great and equip you really well. I read up at the weekend, and then re-read to prepare the night before. And you do need to commit to setting aside the time to go that lunchtime, and I get into work early to make sure I can do that.

You said you squeeze the course into 50 minutes. How do you do that?

The main aspect is the DVD. We start off with questions about the reading people have done during the week since the last meeting, but we quickly move onto watching the DVD.

Then for the last 15 minutes we just discuss the questions the DVD has raised, and do a Bible study for five minutes, just taking two big questions that are simple. We don’t do as much Bible time as when my church runs the course.

What’s the hardest thing about running CE?

Trusting people will come! And keeping making the effort and remembering that it’s worth it. One other thing I’m trying to make sure I do more now is to help people realize that they need to make a decision about Jesus—gently saying to people: “What are you going to do about what you’ve heard?” That’s quite hard to do in a work environment, because people aren’t used to talking about personal things in the office.

What fruit have you seen from the course?

One person came last year who thought they were a Christian, realized on the course that they weren’t, and now truly are! A lady in her 50s came along to a few courses, and then the penny dropped and she really understands and appreciates God’s grace now. A lot of people have come who were probably already Christians, but it’s really helped them to understand how amazing the gospel is, and to commit to living out their faith more.

But I try always to remember that my responsibility is to faithfully proclaim the gospel message—which CE is so great at doing—to sow the seed. The rest is up to God—and you never know what God might do with that seed now, or years ahead.

Susannah uses the course DVD and the leader’s handbook to run her course. Have a look at CE’s course materials in the US and the UK.

If you’ve run, or are thinking of running, a CE course in your workplace, whether it’s an office, a factory, or somewhere else, we’d love to hear your experiences—drop us a comment below.