Evangelism Coach

First time here? Thanks for dropping by. Get our Monthly Newsletter and get a free article on hospitality. Keep your evangelism passion high by subscribing to my Feed.

At the Transformational Pastor’s Gathering, I have referenced many different books.  

Here is a downloadable bibliography in a PDF format.  

If you use the links embedded in the PDF to purchase your copies from Amazon, Evangelismcoach will receive an affiliate fee from anything you order when you click through.  Some churches will order their entire small group cirriculum through Evangelismcoach which blesses our ministry with up referral fees of up to 10%.  

If you want to peruse more books, visit http://www.evangelismbookstore.com.  It’s still in beta with a few kinks to workout, but it’s our online bookstore.

It was great being with you all these past few days, and I want to welcome many new subscribers to our newsletter.  I look forward to seeing you again.  Remember to be in prayer about our upcoming visit to Venezuela on Thursday.

In late October, I am scheduled to go to Faith Community Fellowship Church in Mt. Vernon Washington, to help facilitate a 4 day workshop on personal evangelism, as part of the Dunamis Course series for Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International (www.prmi.org).

Here are some testimonies:

• “I liked how the Holy Spirit was allowed to move.”
• “The scriptural foundation is very valuable.”
• “There was an atmosphere for healing prayer to take place.”
• “The ministry is so authentic. So helpful!”
• “The lessons built confidence in me as to how the Lord is leading me.”
• “The whole atmosphere was safe and loving. No pressure. Everything is explained and low-key .”
• “There is a good balance between teaching and lab time.”

I have been amazed about the rapid growth of the website over the last 9 months of this year.  I remember waiting for the moment of the first 10,000 page views.  Took almost 12 months.  Then it would take 3-4 months.

Here in September, there were 10,000 page views for the month and it’s not even over yet (there is still a few more hours left in September).

While I have nothing to bench mark against in terms of other evangelism trainers, I’m thankful for the growth and impact this website ministry has globally.

I simply want to thank my loyal readers, both those who receive the EvangelismCoach feed, and those who simply visit.

Thanks for advancing the ministry of Evangelism Coach and sharing it with your church leadership.

The two most popular articles in the life to date of this website:

• www.evangelismcoach.org/2008/09/10-ideas-for-church-visitor-gifts
• www.evangelismcoach.org/2008/08/ideas-for-church-visitor-welcome-packets

If you haven’t done so already, subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter to stay in touch with our ministry.

Here is part II of the conference.  See PC USA Pastors Conference Part I.

If you wish to link to this presentation, please link to http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2008/09/pc-usa-transformation-conference-part-ii

I’ve had the joy of being with about 65 pastors these last few days, conducting Evangelism Training for the Presbyterian Church (USA).

As promised, here is part I of the slide shows.  

If you choose to link to the slides for your church website or newsletter, please use this link: http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2008/09/church_transformation_part_1.  

Some of the images in the presentation are licensed.

Campus Crusade for Christ puts out a weekly newsletter,  particularly for those ministering on a college campus.  It has practical tips, and planning reminders (such as make sure you are planning now for your fall retreat if you haven’t gotten started).

Here are a few links from this week’s edition:

• Unstoppable Evangelism
• The Freshman Difference
• Developing Friendships of Integrity with Lost People

Shepard’s Fellowship put out a great list of practical ideas for personal evangelism, Lifestyle Evangelism & Your Church, which suggests ideas for pastors to help promote lifestyle evangelism in the local church.

• Hand out NT to the congregation as giveaways
• Offer an Evangelism Training Class regularly.
• Use Christmas programs
• Model Lifestyle evangelism and preach on it.

Check out this post by Matt Dabs: Outreach and Reputation Risking

It never seemed to bother Jesus if his reputation was at stake when it came to reaching the lost:

- Speaking with adulterous Samaritan women at a well alone.

- Having his feet annointed by a woman with a checkered past.

- Eating with tax collectors and “sinners.”

- Associating with and even healing Gentiles.

- Being crucified because it meant our forgiveness.

I write this sitting at the airport (Thanks for free wireless!), way too early in the morning. 

I’m headed to Tampa for the Transformation Pastor’s Conference, where I will be speaking a couple of sessions on on the role of personal evangelism and evangelism training in transforming a church.

What exactly is Church Transformation?

I’ve spent the last month talking with pastors around the US about church transformation.   A few are in really difficult situations (Leaving Egypt and Not Liking it).

From those discussions, it seems that a common idea is to help move a church that is stuck or in serious decline, and lead them into a new vision of what God has for them, thus launching a new life cycle of growth.

Stetzer calls them Comeback Churches.  I’ve seen other various titles, like Boomerang church, Redevelopment, Revitalization.  Seems the common word now is Transformational.

Moving from Attractional to Missional

Simply based on my conversations and reading, a common thread these pastors were sharing was working with congregations to shift from exclusive focus on attractional tweaks to becoming more missional and engaging their community.

Attractional ministry focused on quality programs, excellent hospitality, and marketing to get people in the door.  This was sometimes called a “magnetic” church.

As I’ve looked at Evangelism Committee reports, church information forms, and mission studies, a lot of churches still think that making small process adjustments to their parking lot, greeting process, or welcoming will help them reach out to the neighborhood.

Attractional ministry is based on the idea that visitors are coming to your church already, and that if you do enough marketing, you can get more foot traffic in your door.  Your hospitality will help the newcomers “stick” (see www.stickychurch.com), and your church will grow.  It’s a variant of “if you build it they will come.”

Missional however moves to help the church re-engage its neighborhood. 

Some pastors are in island churches, meaning their church is mostly commuters who used to live in that neighborhood.  The culture around the church has changed (demographically, socio-economically), but the church has not adjusted accordingly, thus being a cultural island.

Missional helps the church get out of hoping people will visit them to actively engaging the needs and people of the community, and in the process both demonstrating and sharing the faith in Jesus as Lord.

Many of the pastors I spoke with this past month are trying to move congregations in this direction.  They still seek to improve their attractional ministries, but now realize that churches have to be connected to the neighhborhood.

It’s a journey process, and some have moved further along than others. 

Block Party to Pre-School

Ten years ago, an island church invited me to do some Evangelism Consulting with them about launching a new worship service.  The average age was 60, and no young families in the neighborhood.  They were in survival mode and needed something to get new people.

The pastor wanted a new worship service, but the congregational elders didn’t. 

Instead, I lead them into a brainstorming process, and out of that process they decided to do a block party.

The congregation organized the block party.  Food, games, inflatables, and so on.  Members hung door hangers around the neighborhood and invited the local community to come.

As a result of that block party 10 years ago (and its continued annual repeats) this church has discerned the neighborhood needs and launched several new ministries to reconnect with the neighbors:

• Preschool (now with an annual budget larger than the churches).
• Meals on Wheels.
• Neighborhood Watch
• And other ministries.

This church has become much more missional in it’s mindset and has lots of new vitality and energy to serve. 

Now they are being more intentional about actively sharing their faith along with serving the area and that is where more intentional evangelism training will come into play.