In the late 1950’s Ben Johnson was a Methodist pastor in the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference and a sought-after revival preacher.  He found that his work as an evangelist had grown stale.  He started a prayer group and the members grew close to one another and prayed for Ben regularly. 

Soon after that, he was doing a revival that proved to be difficult.  He sent for his prayer group to come and they prayed for him before the service. When he stood to preach Ben was moved by God to ask several of the prayer group members to share a witness. It was a God inspired moment. Those chosen to share were anointed and the congregation was electrified. Hearing lay people talk about what God was doing in their lives stirred the church.  Ben was led by the Spirit to not preach after that, he just gave an altar call. The people rushed forward to kneel and the altar service lasted more than an hour. It was the witness of laypeople rather than the preacher’s sermon that stirred them.

When vital lay witnesses described how they had been loyal to the church program, how they had served in many official capacities, and yet were lacking in a genuine experience of Christ, other lay people could readily identify with them. But their witness did not stop with describing an empty, meaningless Christian life. They went on to relate how their lives were changed through prayer and a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.  Each of them shared relevant experiences of how their new life worked on the job, in the home, in the church fellowship, and in the community life. 

From the first experiment with using laypersons on a mission several discoveries were made:  laypersons listened to other laypersons; laypersons were willing to discuss pointed problems with other laypersons; dialogue resulted in deeper commitment than traditional altar prayer times; the laity and clergy learned to participate as equals in a group and witnessing laypersons both inspired and encouraged others to witness.  

After this, as Ben was invited to preach for revival services, he arranged in advance for his prayer group to come and he gave them opportunity to share.  More pastors urged him to come to their churches. He would preach and intersperse laypeople to witness but soon he discovered that power was released as the lay people told their stories.  Gradually the weekend schedule began to shift and his preaching was minimized and he became more of a moderator.  Later he found that these open and honest, prayer-filled laypeople could be effective in leading small groups.  Sunday morning altars were filled.  Prayer groups were started.  And the Lay Witness movement was launched.

In 1960 the movement was incorporated as the Institute for Church Renewal and for 50 years now, the Lay Witness Mission has continued to lead people to new or renewed faith in Jesus Christ, to start in United Methodist Churches, in other denominations and in countries around the world.

It continues to be effective because it is biblical!  It is Andrew telling his brother Simon about Jesus.  It is the Woman at the well telling her village about Jesus. 

It is also Wesleyan!  The Love Feast was an important part of the lives of early Methodists.  These were gatherings where a simple meal of bread and water would be shared and then testimonies would be given.  However, the essential core of the Love Feast was the testimonies.  It was a time to share together what God had done in their lives.  Hearers were touched powerfully by those testimonies.  And that is the core of the Lay Witness Mission. 

Aldersgate Renewal Ministries continues to schedule Lay Witness Missions all across the country!