Where Have All the Evangelism Conferences Gone?

I was recently in California for a conference called “Organic Outreach.”

Kevin Harney is doing a great job and I was glad to be small part as a speaker. Kevin has written a series of helpful books in this theme. He’s helping people to focus on evangelism again.

But, my article here is to point out that evangelism has fallen on hard times— and conferences have as well. Yes, some denominations still have them, but they seem to be shrinking in attendance and enthusiasm among many who do have such conferences.

That was not always so. A few decades ago, such conferences were booming. Stadiums were often full. Evangelism training in churches was well attended.

Now, I don’t think more evangelism conferences are always the answer, but the lack of many is a symptom of a larger problem.

Let me explain.

Evangelism Tools

Over the years, evangelism was generally defined by its tools. For example, the best known might be the Evangelism Explosion and its famous question, “If you were to die today, do you know if you’d go to heaven or hell?”

Or, maybe the bridge illustration.

Or, the Roman Road.

Or, bracelets.

Yet, and there is the point, most people I know are more likely to roll their eyes at the tools, rather than use them. But, they don’t have an evangelistic alternative— all they have is an evangelistic angst. And, angst does not help. The tools may seem outdated, unhelpful, or cheesy to you, but the Roman Road is probably more effective than rolling your eyes.

And, before you make assumptions, be sure to take a look at what Evangelism Explosion has done recently.

Conferences

So, back to the conferences. Since tools were ready-made for conferences, we had many conferences. But, now tools are less appreciated and conferences are less common. Now, I am a believer in tools used well. I’ve even written a bit on them.

But, as tools lost their favor, the goal lost its means. In other words, tools (and conferences) helped us do evangelism, which was the goal. The goal was sharing the gospel.

Now, people roll their eyes at tools and don’t go to training conferences, and the end result is a lot of angst about evangelism but not a lot of, well, evangelism.

It reminds me of that famous statement of D.L. Moody, “Well, I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it!”

Good Stuff is Happening

In a partnership role through LifeWay Research, I am privileged to be the Senior Fellow of The Billy Graham Center for Evangelism (BGCE) at Wheaton College. In that role, I work alongside a number of gifted people who want to use the talents and energies the Lord has given them to show and share the love of Jesus with others.

How can we help the body of Christ get on mission and share the gospel like we once did?

To elevate the focus of evangelism, we are now launching a partnership with Outreach magazine. Outreach has always been about, well, outreach, but this will help us elevate evangelism in a fresh new way.

Just this past month, two of my friends at the BGCE published articles as part of that partnership. Here is a peek at just two of the great minds working to spur others on to share their faith.

Jerry Root wrote an article called, “What Can We Learn From Early Church Evangelism?” Here is an excerpt:

There has been no perfect period in church history. The First Century church must not be over-idealized. According to theologian Walter Elwell, in the New Testament epistles alone, the church had to be corrected some 150 times. We must always be careful to avoid projections and over-idealizations of any time or place …

Does the early church contribute anything to today’s church relative to its mission in the world?

What are the ways Christians in the past shared their faith in Christ, and can that positively affect the ways Christians share Christ with others today?

Ed Stetzer
Ed Stetzerhttps://edstetzer.com/

Ed Stetzer is the editor-in-chief of Outreach magazine, host of the Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast, and a professor and dean at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches, trained pastors and church planters on six continents, and has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He currently serves as teaching pastor at Mariners Church in Irvine, California.

He is also regional director for Lausanne North America, and is frequently cited in, interviewed by and writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. He is the founding editor of The Gospel Project, and his national radio show, Ed Stetzer Live, airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates.

 

Keep Calm and Minister

Can you pass the "Timothy Test?"

4 Ways God’s Spirit Leads His People

We don't always have the full picture, but discerning how God is leading you is not unclear.

Fit for the Kingdom

The Lord prompted Reardon to think about combining Christian fellowship with fitness in order to create a new small group for men.