Well, I'm on the prayer ministry team for my district -- which means that we get the weekly emails about this or that mission or outreach program in our district, and their particular concerns, and we pray for them.
I couldn't tell you how many of these programs would be done if not for Ablaze!, but I know that they are mentioned as under the Ablaze! mission -- to share the Gospel with others. I've been amazed at the variety of programs -- from new churches and missions to the deaf, Koreans, Chinese, Africans, etc., to one church's booth at their state fair last year, where they hoped to evangelize fair-goers, to some of the cup-of-cold-water ministries that serve our communities, to new preschools and dayschools opening up.
They also sent each member of the prayer ministry a booklet about prayer in the church: how to encourage it, different ways of praying, confidentiality issues that might arise, even outlines for prayer breakfasts and prayer vigils.
Our district's yearly leadership conference, coming up in August, is also touted under the banner of Ablaze, and of course it contains workshops on evangelism, but it also offers workshops on many of the things we've mentioned here -- how to keep people, how to get people interested and involved, how to grow people's Bible understanding, or how to help them incorporate Christian disciplines into their lives (Bible study, prayer, service, evangelism, etc.)
Would all of this happen without Ablaze! ? Probably. I would hope so. But having Ablaze! as an umbrella helps connect people together in their work to grow in Christian knowledge, love, and service.
I disagree with some of the things I've heard taught as evangelism. I'll ignore some of the suggestions about prayer that I think are more liberal than I am comfortable with.
But truly, in looking at places like Concordia Publishing, there isn't a whole lot of Lutheran-specific material just on evangelism, or prayer, or service. We're expected to do it, and to know how to do it, but there aren't many references available to us from a strictly Lutheran perspective. At least, not that I've found.
My husband and I have been asked again to teach adult Sunday School this fall. They want something dealing with Christian living. I wasn't able to find a good overall study for what we were seeking -- something that would touch on Bible study and prayer and service, etc. So we are submitting Celebration of Discipline to the elders as a potential book. It's not Lutheran. There are some parts of it that will need to be taken with a grain of salt.
But there just aren't a lot of Lutheran-specific resources to choose from on this stuff. So we're left with either pulling stuff together ourselves on our own (which we did for our heresy class and our denominations class) or using something from the "Christian Evengelical" movement (which granted, puts out a lot of crap, but some of it is pretty good).
It is my hope that, if nothing else, Ablaze! and other programs fo the church provide the interest and impetus to equip Lutherans better for our service in this life.
