Evangelism--Methods

Victor Ariel Segura Schonbrunn D.Min.

El problema a tratar en este trabajo de investigación fue el identificar y evaluar la efectividad de las estrategias evangelísticas utilizadas en las iglesias de la Convención Regional Bautista Central, que cubre tanto a la Ciudad de México como a la Zona Metropolitana.
Para dar respuesta a esta pregunta, el investigador de este proyecto propuso las siguientes hipótesis: La efectividad de una estrategia evangelística utilizada por las iglesias de la Convención Regional Bautista Central se reflejaría en base a: (1) La intencionalidad de los líderes en modelar y promover la estrategia evangelística; (2) El contenido y modo del evangelio comunicado; (3) La preparación y empoderamiento de los participantes en la estrategia; y (4) Los resultados tangibles e intangibles de la estrategia evangelística.
Se encuestaron a 49 participantes pertenecientes a las diversas iglesias de la convención - mediante el uso de una encuesta mixta vía internet - en donde se recabaron sus opiniones y percepciones acerca del estado y experiencias del trabajo evangelístico en el que se han involucrado, tanto de manera personal como de manera colectiva dentro de sus iglesias.
Los resultados de las encuestas confirmaron las hipótesis establecidas al inicio del estudio. La gran mayoría de los encuestados afirmaron que el líder del trabajo evangelístico juega un papel esencial en que este se lleve a cabo de una manera productiva. Asimismo, tanto el contenido del mensaje, su modo de ser compartido, como la preparación dada a los participantes, aumentaron la percepción de efectividad del trabajo evangelístico. Finalmente, los resultados fueron fundamentales en la manera de que los participantes percibieron que el trabajo evangelístico fue efectivo.

Seth Robert Stiles

The first part of the project consisted of the construction and distribution of a church-wide survey about Christian witness in the workplace. A survey was helpful in developing an accurate approach to helping Northshore Bible Church members practice Christian witness in the workplace more effectively. The second part of the project consisted of constructing and teaching an essential “theology of the workplace” in a seminar based on key expositional and theological teachings from the Bible. In the third part of the project, the project director constructed and distributed two reproducible worksheets to seminar attendees. The first “self-assessment” worksheet enabled seminar attendees to gauge present engagement in Christian witness in the workplace. The second worksheet assisted seminar attendees in developing a personalized plan for improving Christian witness engagement in the workplace. The final part of the project consisted of establishing a way for seminar attendees to stay in touch with the instructor for encouragement. The project director documented the most popular issues, questions, successes, and failures from seminar attendees to discern trends for bettering future seminars.

Tracy Mooney

Small-to-medium sized United Methodist churches often struggle with adapting to new technology. Unfortunately, this problem has now become a large obstacle which must be overcome by each individual congregation while trying to spread the message of Jesus Christ. While congregations could be evangelizing through technology, the lack of enthusiasm and/or resources in many congregations has stifled the voice of the Methodist church in the digital world, slowing the dissemination of their message of God’s grace and love. Seeking guidance from the growth of Methodism through John and Charles Wesley’s leadership, the research proposes a plan for small-to-medium sized churches to evangelize online. The project studies the benefits of creating Audio, Communication, and Technology (ACT) Teams, enabling a new generation of leaders and bringing them together with other United Methodist congregations to share and then implement technology resources. With ACT Teams, United Methodist churches can develop itinerant leaders that “go out” digitally to build relationships with people who may not be able or be willing to enter a physical church building. The project also explores the ways leaders can use video to create an atmosphere for viewers to have a transformational experience with God. The hope is that by following the Wesleyan example of evangelism, The United Methodist Church may break through the digital noise to connect to those in a new way.

Randall Cagle Clayton

The purpose of this project was to equip selected members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Greenwood, Mississippi, with conversational evangelism skills. The project began with project director researching the field of evangelism for the purpose of identifying essential conversational skills. Next, the project director developed an annotated bibliography based upon the completed research. After conducting research and identifying essential conversational skills, the project director wrote a report that discussed the findings. Expert evaluators evaluated the annotated bibliography.

The next step in the project was to develop a curriculum to equip selected members of Immanuel Baptist Church with essential conversational evangelism skills. The project director acquired skills for writing curriculum by completing a self-guided study, Design for Teaching and Training, by LeRoy Ford. The project director wrote the curriculum and an expert evaluator evaluated the curriculum. The project director next conducted a six-session discipleship class to equip selected members of Immanuel Baptist church, Greenwood, Mississippi, in essential conversational evangelism skills. Finally, the project director concluded the project by administering tan devaluating post0test results and evaluating students' role play encounters.

Michael Christopher Gayle Dr. D.Ed.Min.

Matthew 28:18-20 records Jesus’s command to His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations,” a passage of Scripture referred to as the Great Commission. This command is at the heart of what should be the life mission of Christians today. Christians have found it increasingly difficult to execute this mission successfully for a variety of reasons. In today’s cultural environment, a level of resistance to the Word of God often renders conventional methods of sharing the gospel ineffective. In the face of this resistance, it is necessary for approaches to be developed by which unbelievers can be reached. This project sought to identify some of the issues that create obstacles to having meaningful discussions with unbelievers, and develop a method to help Christians bridge the gap between misperceptions and scriptural reality.

James Keith Adams

The purpose of this project was to develop an evangelistic outreach strategy for Fellowship Memphis. The project focused on local evangelism for the surrounding area of the two campuses of the church using demographic and psychographic research. Demographics describe who people are while psychographics explains what people prefer. The project director contracted with Church Answers to obtain demographics and psychographics. Dr. Sam Rainer disaggregated the data obtained from the report.

The goal of the demographic and psychographic analysis was to determine marketing and outreach strategies best suited for the community surrounding both campuses of the church. The demographics and psychographics of the campuses were similar, but the strategy planning team identified differences that would produce different focuses for each campus. The next stage of the project was researching best practices of evangelistic outreach utilized by effective churches. The project director surveyed and interviewed selected ministers from evangelistic churches to determine best practices in the field of evangelistic outreach. He then developed the strategy with the assistance of a strategy planning team.

Matthew P. Hill

The purpose of this project was to equip selected adults of First Baptist Church, Forney, Texas, with personal evangelism skills. To accomplish this purpose, the project director first researched the field of evangelism to identify personal evangelism skills. From his research, he then produced an annotated bibliography and report on personal evangelism skills. Next, the project director researched curriculum writing. He then developed a curriculum that incorporated the personal evangelism skills discovered in research. Finally, the project director equipped eighteen selected adults in a one-day, personal evangelism training workshop. The personal evangelism skills the participants acquired taught them how to adopt a new mindset, live and attractive life, and share the message conversationally. These skills will help the participants reach the increasingly post-Christian and fast-growing population of unchurched people of Forney. Expert evaluators in evangelism and curriculum design validated multiple aspects of the project to ensure accuracy and effectiveness.

Loren B McClanahan

This book is designed as a resource for persons who interpret the Christian Faith through sign language. It resupposes the interpreter has had basic sign language training. The work is composed of five chapters, a bibliography, and an alphabetical listing of the words found in the lexicon.

Chapter One discusses the author's own involvement with the deaf community of his parish; the need for better sign language training for those who interpret the faith in a worship setting; and the specialized vocabulary needed to interpret biblical, theological, and liturgical concepts.

Chapter Two presents a brief history of sign language, highlighting the major personalities and controversies which evolved over the past four hundred years; and the implications of that history for the interpreter in a religious setting.

Chapter Three looks at the role of an interpreter in a religious setting, with special consideration given to the ethics governing the exercise of this gifted ministry within the church.

Chapter Four presents approximately five hundred signs frequently used within the context of the church's worship. Each sign is accompanied by a definition; its etymology, if known; an illustration and verbal description of how the sign is executed.

Chapter Five introduces a series of "modifiers" which expand the basic lexicon. Some of these affixes are well known within the deaf community; others have recently been introduced in those schools which place great emphasis on manually coded English.

Barbara Yandell

Global geo-political realities have unsettled and promoted massive movements of Muslims fleeing countries formerly restricting Christian witness into Europe and North America. Many current Islamic regimes have been destabilized contributing to Muslims experiencing cognitive dissonance, disillusionment and despair. Christians now have the opportunity and urgent commission to witness to Muslims on their block, at their workplace, attending schools with their children, and attending universities. The scale of the upheaval in Islam demands an all-Church emergency mobilization training effort to fast track Church engagement with Muslims.
Evangelical leaders that I have worked with my whole ministry career are asking for Biblically faithful training for evangelism and missions. Many existing courses on Islam commend highly contextualized methodologies, dynamic equivalent models, peacemaking and friendship. They do not teach the fundamentals of evangelism, of communicating the Gospel for the conversion of Muslims from Islam to Christianity.
The methods of research employed are narrative inquiry in collaborative action research with colleagues having vast experience in missions, evangelism, apologetics and discipling Muslim people. Field notes, roundtable reflection, interviews and Kirkpatrick’s evaluative process collected and gleaned best practices from case studies and from the Engage Course classes that have been offered so far.

Gavin Perkins D.Min.

The author’s chief goal in this project was to produce and pilot a useful and effective resource in training believers in personal evangelism. Although he conducted the field work during COVID-19 lockdowns and disruption that goal was substantially achieved.

Biblical study, theological reflection, and sociological insights formed the foundation for the author’s development of the training course. That research shaped a congregational survey regarding attitudes to personal evangelism, which in turn fed into an expert sample of ministry leaders and evangelistic trainers. In the light of these inputs the author wrote and piloted a four-week evangelistic training course. Course participant responses enabled the author to make a preliminary assessment regarding the effectiveness of the training course.

The author then suggested a trajectory along which he could develop the course, and supplement it with additional support and resources. He also mapped out a ministry plan for the construction of an evangelistic ecosystem within a local church, incorporating an adapted version of the piloted course alongside additional groups and further input.

The needs identified in this project regarding evangelistic training were greater than could be met in a short four-week course, but the author identified sufficient reasons for confidence that, alongside further ministry inputs, such a course could play a vital part in shifting a church’s culture in a more evangelistic direction.