Since this was my first discussion with them, I wanted to get a feel for their experiences and their pre-conceptions about

What is evangelism?

The outgrowth will be future discussions into particular areas.

What is evangelism?

Leading a group discussion on evangelism can be a challenge because the field of evangelism is huge.

In fact I did an evangelism mind map to start thinking about all the different aspects for this group discussion.

If you are

• gathering a new evangelism team, or
• starting up a new evangelism work in the local church, or
• leading some other group discussion on evangelism

here are some discussion questions I used that you might find useful.

Discussion Questions – What is evangelism?

• How would you describe or define evangelism?
• How do you think evangelism should be done?
• How do you do evangelism in your life now?
• In your journey to faith in Christ, how did evangelism happen in your life?
• What is the role of the congregation in evangelism?
• What is the role of the pastor in evangelism?

The Group Discussion on Evangelism

The opening question generated lots of answers that felt like cliches or rote answers — quick bursts of answers from years of hearing it from the pulpit.

• Preaching the Word.
• Sharing the Good News.
• Sharing your testimony.
• Giving the reason for your faith.

It may seem like a no-brainer question, but this questions reveals assumptions that people bring to the discussion on evangelism.

As the group facilitator, I pushed back a little to help people think through the “fixed answers.”

For example,

• What’s good news?  What makes it good?
• Can laypeople do evangelism if it’s only preaching?
• What are the key elements to the gospel that you want to share?
• Personally, how do you share?

As we got into the group evangelism discussion, it became clear that on a surface level, these 8 people had great answers, but underneath that surface, I saw

• Different approaches to evangelism.
• Different experiences.
• Different theological understandings.

Avoid conversational drift.

Most opening discussions on the nature of evangelism, if unchecked at this point, tend to drift into colorful theological debates. For example,

• Do people respond to God’s grace, or do they make a decision to respond?
• What is the value or lack of value over the “sinners prayer?”
• Do people have to fully understand their sin first, or can they start following Jesus and learn about sin later?
• Can people follow first and understand later?
• Can people follow Jesus before even having a completely biblical world view?
• What do people have to understand before following Jesus?
• Can conversions be “false?”

Other times, it may drift into areas of practice and styles:

• Rush to present the gospel to as many people as possible.
• Take the time to build relationships of influence with people.
• Invite people to church
• Go to the mission field.

The purpose of this group discussion on evangelism was not theological debate, but to expose some of the presuppositions that these group members were bringing to the table.

By exposing the presupposition through careful questions that challenge simple rote assertions, it made for a very rich discussion, and then setup the potential for further discussion into particular areas.

Get a full copy

I’ll send you the full PDF discussion guide that I used.  I want to have it field tested with other users, not just me.  To get it, leave a comment below (or at the blog if you get this via feed).

At least tell me how and with whom you’d use this discussion guide.

I’ll send it to you and then follow up to see how the discussion went.

The pastor organized one of their leadership committees that were taking on some new areas of responsibility, particularly in the area of church hospitality.

Why did they do that?

The church was experiencing some new and fresh growth, both internally as well as new visitors coming.

The combination of the two helped them to see that they were not yet really prepared to receive new visitors in the way they wanted to.

They felt overwhelmed and stuck.

• Where do we start to organize our hospitality minsitry?
• What are we supposed to do?
• What are we going to do?

It was a feeling of starring into the fog and not seeing much of anything clearly.

The problems appeared too big, too nebulous.

The pastor and leadership committee needed someone outside of their situation to chase some clouds away.

What did it take?

So, here is how we did a Church Leadership Coaching Session for this particular church

1. Each of us had SKYPE (free software from Skype.com) installed on our computers.
2. Each of us had high-speed internet.
3. Each of us had a video cam and microphone available for use with our computers.
4. We connected through the free service of Skype.  I saw them, they saw me.

Sometimes, we’ve simply done teleconference via a service I have.

They call in from their own phones to a conference calling number I have and we talk simply over the phone.  There was no need for computers or video cameras.

Here is what we did:

For about 1 hour, we talked about issues that were on this hospitality committee’s collective mind.

It had the give and take of a conversation.

They went through a brainstorming process to find a their own solutions.

I simply facilitated a the conversation.

Along the way, I shared some of my experiences, but generally, they were developing answers to the questions I asked.

What did they get out of it?

In their process of talking out loud, they shared how they were

• Re-energized to find new solutions.
• Ready to implement some solutions they just thought of
• Full of hope that they can make effective changes in some of their processes.

How can you get yours?

I’ll get on the phone with you or your team for up to an hour or so, and you can tell me what’s the most troubling about your church’s hospitality ministry.

I’ll then give some coaching or advice specific to your exact situation to help break through the logjam.

Read more here: Church Leadership Coaching Session.

I have a one time call as well as a 4 month process to help you implement various aspects.

Source: PC(USA) – Presbyterian News Service – PC(USA) records steepest membership loss since reunion in 1983.

Membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) fell by 69,381 in 2008, the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) has announced in its annual statistical report, continuing a trend that began in the mid-1960s.

Total membership of the denomination is now 2,140,165.

According to the Research Services office of the General Assembly Council (GAC), the 2008 decline was the PC(USA)’s largest numerical and percentage net membership loss since Presbyterian reunion in 1983.

Almost 104,000 people joined the PC(USA) last year, but that good news was more than offset by the 34,101 Presbyterians who died, the 34,340 who were members of the 25 congregations that left the PC(USA) for other denominations, and the staggering 104,428 who were removed from the rolls by their sessions without apparently joining any other church.

Can a positive spin be put on this?   The General Assembly Stated Clerk announces

Parsons insisted that “Presbyterians can be evangelists!”

“But we often stumble over the words. Can we not challenge one another to be able to answer these basic questions,” he said. “Why do I believe in God? Why do I go to church? Why do I go to that particular church?”

Fewer congregations were dissolved in 2008 than in 2007 — 65 vs. 71 the previous year. And 40 new churches were organized last year, 23 more than the previous year. The PC(USA) currently comprises 10,751 congregations.

This suggests the need for

• Additional personal evangelism training.
• Personal or Congregational Coaching to help existing congregations in personal evangelism, not just church planting or transformation
• Evangelism Trainers who can help members articulate their faith or share their personal stories of God’s activity in their life.

Part of this ministry’s goal is to help individuals learn how to share their faith without being obnoxious, and without stepping into all the politics of denominational positions on social issues.

Later this year, I will launch www.EvangelismTrainingUniversity.com, to help provide some personal evangelism training.  It will have a susbscription fee with it, but the material is in the works.

There is a signup form to get more information as it unfolds over the summer of 2009.

The course is still in the works, so there is not a lot of details I can provide at the moment.

Eric Hoey, in an additional statement wrote:

In a June 18 statement, the Rev. Eric Hoey, the GAC’s director of Evangelism and Church Growth,  . . . . . attributed the large number of new members, in part, to the “Grow Christ’s Church Deep and Wide” initiative that came out of the 218th General Assembly (2008).

“Grow Christ’s Church Deep and Wide” created a groundswell of local and regional activity. The initiative challenged all levels of the church to acknowledge our decline and to commit to four areas of growth: evangelism, discipleship, servanthood and diversity,” Hoey said.

“Presbyterian News Service has written a series of articles about congregations that are engaged in innovative outreach programs in order to Grow Christ’s Church Deep and Wide,’” he added.

Note: Shameless self-promotion follows.

I’ve collected a few more stories of how people are using and finding my book How To Welcome Church Visitors.

We have been giving church hospitality workshops for over 15 years and of the 25 or more books we have used in the past, yours is by far the best contribution to the field with all it’s nuts and bolts practicality.

We’ve been photocopying the cover and telling our client churches that if they want to start improving their first impressions, they should start here with How To Welcome Church Visitors.

Bill and Gail Royster
Church Hospitality Trainers
The Welcome & Hospitality People
Houston, TX

One who claimed the bonus coaching session with me after purchase had this to say:

How To Welcome Church Visitors is a well-written, thought-provoking resource that is going to be a blessing to anyone who reads and applies it’s content to their church needs.

This book is especially important to me, as I serve on my church evangelism board and recently volunteered to manage our greeter program.

I measure the worth of a book by the number of ideas I’m able to apply to real needs. I found no fewer than 25 great ideas that I can apply immediately!  I recommend this book without reservation.

Chris Walker’s coaching ability is wonderful. He’s a clear thinker with a way of cutting through the clutter and confusion surrounding a problem.  He focuses on the most practical path to a resolution and effectively communicates how to reach the intended goal.

Les Dahlstedt
St. Matthew Lutheran Church
Rocklin, CA

The Rev. Paul Stokes has published a review for GEAR (the Group for Evangelism and Renewal in the United Reformed Church).

Ron Crandall, connected with Asbury seminary, wrote about his take on this book.

One Presbytery in the Presbyterian Church (USA) bought and gave away copies of How To Welcome Church Visitors to over 50 of their church congregations.

Free Webinar on First Impressions – April 28, 2009.

Register Online

Order your copy: How To Welcome Church Visitors

See Part I of Evangelism Where You Live – A Review Part I

The authors do make progress in developing their thesis in the remainder part of the book.

Chapter 3: Place

In my take, Chapter 3 serves as the crux of the entire book, even before the authors get to defining what they mean by community based servant evangelism.

They do an analysis of the idea of “the third place.” I think Starbucks is famous for that term.

I remember reading Pour Your Heart Into It, about the founding of Starbucks.  Founder Howard Schultz does not conceal his passion for good coffee or for his company. His initial goals were to introduce Americans to really fine coffee, provide people with a “third place” to gather and treat his employees well.

In an attempt to make Starbucks a “home away from home”, the café section of the store is often outfitted with comfortable chairs, as well as the usual tables and hard-backed chairs found in cafés. Free electricity outlets are provided for patrons, and many branches also have wireless Internet access.  Many larger retail stores also host “mini-concerts” for local musicians (Wikipedia)

Other stores have followed suite, such as bookstores.

Wikipedia describes the third place as: “Third places, then, are “anchors” of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction.”

To Wilkes and Pate,

Place is a prioritized period of time which an individual is forced, feels obligated, or chooses to invest who they are. [Emphasis mine] (46).

Best use of Place?

The question they ask, and the brilliant one that struck me:

What place is the local church for most people?

What place should it be?  First, second, third, or farther down the list?  . . As the local church goes after first, second, or third place, with whom will they do battle?  . . .

Why do churches add places instead of leveraging the places that are already central to people’s lives?

As the foundational premise for their community based servant evangelism, Wilkes and Pate argue that church members should be out in the community as the “third place” serving the community in ways that utilize their passion and gifts.

To those far from God, the church is likely not even in the top 10.  To those who even are close to God, I would argue it’s not even 3rd for many of us.

Family, work, school activities, typically fulfill first, second, and third in a person’s life.  Followed in no particular order with personal or family interests, sports, music lessons, recreational activity, leisure activity, community activities and religion activities.

Where is the church to fit when it has to compete for all these “spaces” in the lives of those who haven’t made space for it yet?  People will make space for what they deem valuable.  Marketers know that.

If we think of all the person hours it takes to run the church, have we left our parishioners with enough space to build relationships with unchurched people?

Helping our members in the 3rd Place

The key question for Wilkes and Pate is this:

Why can’t the church support its members when they are involved in their third, forth, and fifth place activities?

Why can’t the local church encourage members to serve in secular and civic organizations instead of only serving church programs?

Our churches can re-engage it’s culture by actively serving in schools, community, and civic organizations at a higher place (51).

Serving in the community as the third place will provide for lots of natural opportunities for people to share their faith and meet the needs of the community.

They provide several examples about coaching volleyball, helping neighbors find jobs, counseling for teen pregnancies, homeless shelters.  These community service activities are more than just good works, but provide conversational connection points where church members can share their faith and influence the world.

This can help your church members get beyond the “I don’t know any non Christians” (See Do you have any non-Christian Friendships?).

By giving your church members

• permission and encouragement to serve in the community
• training on how to talk about their faith

you can help the people build relationships with those who are outside the church.   This sets up Chapter 4 and the rest of the book.

Chapter 4: Defining Community Based Servant Evangelism

Community based servant evangelism (which they dub CBSE) is more than doing random acts of kindness in Jesus name.  It’s intentional evangelism.

It’s a philosophy of ministry and strategy of organizing the church that will influence ministry, events, and programs of the local church and specifically, the community (55).

Pate and Wilkes spend the next several pages defining each word and how they are using it.

The end result is picture of empowering individuals and small groups to find a need in the community that fits their passion and gifts and then creatively find ways to meet that need.

The resultant relational connections built on the foundation of service and meeting mutual needs establish opportunities for spiritual growth and evangelism.  Instead of always recruiting church members for program needs of the church, this permission giving approach empowers your members to get out and serve.

As people serve, relationships naturally form.  The evangelism portion of this model is for your members to be intentional in looking for opportunities to talk about their own spiritual walk with Christ.

CBSE involves a Christ follower who serves others out of his or her passion, using one’s spiritual gifts at connection points of need in the community to demonstrate the love of Jesus to others as a salt and light servant.  . . . .

Administratively, CBSE reduces the church’s events and ongoing programs to allow people to be deployed into their daily lives to exercise their passions and gifts. (73)

This really is a philosophy of ministry.  In this chapter, the authors give lots of examples of how this has played out in their experience and what it means for this to become part of the DNA of a congregation.

Learn more

Part III (final Part) comes tomorrow — Grab my feed to have it delivered to you automatically.  See Part I of Evangelism Where You Live – A Review Part I

Learn more about this philosophy of ministry direct from the author, Stephen Pate.

Register for the Community Based Servant Evangelism Webinar this coming Thursday.

This example comes from Bill Tenny-Brittian, Hitchhiker’s Guide To Evangelism

Several years ago we moved into a planned subdivision that hosts over 5,000 homes.

I was a church planter launching a church in a nearby town and so I was “too busy” to get to know my neighbors.

However, that didn’t stop me from encouraging my flock that they should be busy inviting their friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, and coworkers. And I personally spent a good bit of time in the area near the church doing the same.

But after living in my neighborhood almost two years, the Lord convicted me that I had a nodding acquaintance with only one neighbor and didn’t know the names of any of my neighbors.

I also knew that in my section of the nation there was about a 97 percent chance that each of my neighbors were unchurched. I decided it was well past time to do something.

And so I started praying for opportunities to meet them and I began to make appearances at timely intervals in order to meet those who lived around me.

He goes on to discuss how he connected with one of his neighbors.

(Note: Join us for some practical faith sharing ideas at our upcoming free Webinar with Bill Tenny-Brittian March 26.  Bill’s book Hitchhiker’s Guide To Evangelism is full of more practical relationship building ideas.)

Getting to know my neighbors

From my own life, we began praying for all the families on our cul-de-sac during the 5 years we lived in one subdivision.

By the time we moved, we had made friendships with nearly every couple there

• Opening our house for Bring your own side dish – grilling events.
• Parties around the Superbowl, Christmas, Memorial and Labor Day.
• Talking with the neighbors while doing exterior work around the property (mowing the yard, raking leaves, etc).

Eventually, those kinds of friendships opened up to more personal discussions on life and eventually spiritual matters.

At the end of 5 years, no one had come to faith directly as a result of our efforts.

However, within 2 years after we had moved, 3 of the households found faith and started attending church somewhere.

We attribute that to the hours of prayer, hours of relationship building, and hours of deep conversation that occurred while pausing our leaf raking. . .

Getting to know my new neighbors

Now we live in a condo tower.

30 condos.

We have lived here for over 18 months.

The turnover in rentals in the building keeps changing the make up of the residents.

Over the past 6 months, we have gotten to know the family we share a floor with.

We’ve been praying for them, for their needs, and doing life with them.  Going to the beach as families, celebrating birthdays, kids playing together.    Simply doing life together.

The friendship is deep now, and the struggles of life are beginning to be shared.  We have liberty to share what God is doing in our life, how we are aware of God’s presence in our midst, and how God is providing for our needs.

While we have not prayed with them for their needs, we certainly are praying for them.  With each passing week, more relational bonds are built between our families.

Our faith has been on display: praying for our kids during birthday celebrations, grace at meals, inviting our neighbors to church, our small group.  Their son occasionally comes with us, and even attended a vacation Bible school with our kids.

He talks with my son about who is the Lord and why are we living where we do.

The curiosity of our family practices begins to raise questions and provide opportunity to talk about the relevance of our faith to our daily life.

• Why do we invest our time in church?
• What does the Bible say about parenting?
• What does “Honor thy father and mother” look like?
• How to we still have peace in our heart when life hurts?
• Why do your kids have such a servant’s heart that my kids don’t?

These are natural conversations that are occurring and give us ample opportunity to demonstrate the relevance of our faith to life.

Our neighbors are on a journey towards Christ.   We walk this path with them because we took the time to get to know them.

Coaching Corner

With whom do you live?

Not just your immediate family members, but consider your neighbors.

Who might the Lord be calling you to be praying for and get to know better?

Take 5 minutes today and in quiet prayer, simply ask the Lord to underline someone for you.

What next steps will you take?

(HT: Image pslim)

“I have no non-Christian relationships” confessed one of my evangelism coaching clients (shared with permission).

“I was taking an inventory of my personal relationships and discovered that I had surrounded myself entirely with Christians.”

In the Christian Cocoon

This is a common description of many Christians who have been walking with the Lord for many years.

I once asked a church where I was preaching: Where are the new believers? They realized they didn’t have any non-Christian relationships.

I recently did a evangelism workshop on personal evangelism with nearly 80 people in attendance and all had known the Lord for at least 15 or more years.

In my experience, I could easily guess that many of these, if not all, would confess the same lack of relationships with people who do not walk with the Lord.

A Christian without an unchurched friend is like a dash of salt in the ocean: it doesn’t do anyone any good and, frankly, no one even knows it’s there. — Bill Tenny-Brittian, Hitchhiker’s Guide To Evangelism

Practical Exercise

Let’s take a moment to look at your significant relationships.   Think of people you choose to spend time with on somewhat of a regular basis.

Make a list of friends who immediately come to mind.  Try to name as many as possible in the next 60 seconds.

Write those names down.

Now look over the list.

1. Who goes to church with you? Cross them off this list.
2. Who attends another church regularly? Cross them off.
3. Who shows evidence of a relationship with Christ? Cross them off.
4. Who is left?
5. Do you have anyone left on the list?

What now?

Where you surprised by the results quick little exercise?

What will you do about it?

If you have  plenty of non-Christian and unchurched friends, what do you do to maintain those relationships?

If you have few such relationships, what will you do this week that can start to change that?

Share your responses in the comments below.

Do you need advice to take your evangelism passion, hospitality, or  outreach strategy to the next level?

Leading your church or small group is challenging.  Brainstorming about evangelism ideas or strategies seems to have you stuck in a rut.  You need fresh answers and ideas, and you can’t wait for it.

Sometimes you just want to talk to somebody who knows.

Speak to Chris and get the answers you need right now.

One-hour coaching call – Direct, Friendly Advice

I provide your ministry with the advice and answers you need via telephone or Skype.

Examples of coaching calls you might need:

Potential Outreach Review — Consulting your outreach plans, ways to make it more effective and connect with the community.  Discussion of Follow-up plans.

Church Website Review – Consulting on your website’s impact and design and how it better serve your outreach plans.

Visitor Follow-up Review — Discuss your plans for first time visitor follow-up and suggest ways to improve your hospitality from where your church currently is.

Networking for evangelists and pastors — Discuss plans to help you maximize your time networking to launch a church.

Fruitless to Fruitful — breaking through frustrations in evangelism effectiveness.  Take one issue and coach through it.  Discover what is holding you back.  Drill down and break through it.

??? – Whatever you need, ask your burning questions in an informal, friendly chat – you are in the driving seat!

After the call you will know where you need to make improvements and will have the answers you need to increase your passion for evangelism and re-energize the outreach.

“Chris was great in helping me discover
I wasn’t focused on right thing.
He helped me refocus
and I found myself re-energized.”
— D. Watson, Church Planter.

“Chris knows this stuff inside out,
and yet is very personable.
He’s passionate about
helping you share your faith.  ”
— Joe Schlosser, Excellence Coaching Group

“You had excellent ideas
I’m really jazzed about what you shared.
I feel re-energized with new ideas”
T. Watson, Small Church Pastor

Don’t struggle on your own, talk it through with me and together we can get you making progress.

Calls are available from 10am to 8pm Eastern US time.

Get Started Now

Pay just $45 for the first call and supporting emails or PDF resources.   Following calls are charged at the reduced rate of $30 an hour. Longer term contracts are also available.

Next step? …

I look forward to speaking with you!  I’ll send you an invoice after we are done.

Chris Walker’s coaching ability is wonderful.  He’s a clear thinker with a way of cutting through the clutter and confusion surrounding a problem.

He focuses on the most practical path to a resolution and effectively communicates how to reach the intended goal.

He then went on to talk about his experience of the book:

How To Welcome Church Visitors is a well-written, thought-provoking resource that is going to be a blessing to anyone who reads and applies it’s content to their church needs.

This book is especially important to me, as I serve on my church evangelism board and recently volunteered to manage our greeter program.

I measure the worth of a book by the number of ideas I’m able to apply to real needs. I found no fewer than 25 great ideas that I can apply immediately!

I recommend this book without reservation.

Les Dahlstedt
St. Matthew Lutheran Church,
Rocklan CA
Evangelism Board

Order your copy of How To Welcome Church Visitors and claim your free coaching hour.

Today, I had coffee with a friend of mine who said, “I don’t believe that it is my responsibility to share the gospel.” He just wanted to live his life in such a way that people would be attracted to that example and hopefully come to Christ.

I reminded him that for a Christian, the Bible teaches that sharing the gospel is not optional. Jesus commanded us to tell others about his death, burial and resurrection.

Who is to say that your life well lived will look any different than that example of a good atheist, Buddhist, Muslim or any other religion?

St. Francis of Assisi quote:

“Preach the gospel at all times and
when necessary use words.”
St. Francis of Assisi quote
(attributed to him, I’ve not seen documentation if it really was him).

But I’ve often wondered if Francis of Assisi got it right, or if we have so misused his words to justify our lack of communicating the gospel with words.

St. Francis of Assisi may be wrong

In the comments at the original post, I wrote:

One of the things I like to say is that St. Francis got it wrong.

In our culture today, meaning is determined by the meaning maker. In other words, meaning is implied in how I interpret your actions, unless you interpret your actions for me.

If none is given (just being silent), what separates one’s actions from that of a moral kind and loving atheist?

I think of art in a museum.

I look at it but apparently I’m supposed to figure out what it means.

I wish someone would tell me what those splotchs of seemingly random color smears are supposed to mean.

I wrote about this idea at “Is your outreach the same as evangelism?”

Does your behavior stand out?

If your actions are no different than another morally upright and well behaved person, what really makes you stand out?

Of course, we are the salt the the earth, and to let our light shine.

God will make our righteousness shine like the dawn, etc.

There is something to be said about our righteousness that is attractive.

That righteousness is revealed when we are under pressure — where people face the temptation to give in and fail — our righteousness shines like the dawn.  Our kindness is evident when the world has treated someone wrong and its unexpected.

But in our day to day life — is our moral behavior any different from the person in the next cubicle?  Does that alone make us stand out?

This is where I think St. Francis’ quote is misused.  Perhaps in his day, his extreme actions spoke louder than the culture which raised the curiosity factor into Saint Francis of Assisi’s life.

Clear Communication is Necessary

One of the clearest points I got out of Becoming a Contagious Christian, was the importance of clear communication.

Without an explanation of the resurrection of Christ and it’s application to you, what are people to believe?  That one can simply be good?

Ray Comfort’s Way of the Master approach is all based on Clear Communication.  (They even have highly defined teaching on false converts if you get the wrong message communicated to you.  By their standards I’m still a false convert because it wasn’t their presentation of Law / Gospel that led me to faith in Christ.)

It is our obedience to share our faith in Christ.

It is our duty and calling to speak of our relationship with Jesus.  The gospel is important and we want people to believe in the gospel as revealed in Scripture.  We don’t need to let people guess for themselves.

Servant evangelism offers a card with their actions that explain that they are doing their service as an active demonstration of the love of Jesus Christ.  The cards given usually don’t explain the gospel, but give an invitation to the church, and provide a contextual moment for a gospel conversation to occur if the Holy spirit is opening the door.

Coaching Corner

When has a non-Christian asked you why your behavior is different?

How did you answer that question?

What can you do to make sure your life is interpreted in light of the gospel?