A Personal Analysis of the Evangelism Survey's Findings

As part of my recent Theology assignment I had to analyse the findings of the evangelism survey reported in the Jun-July QB News. As a reader of QB News you may have looked at the survey findings and left it at that. But you have just as much right as I do to think things through and come up with ideas of what might help move us forward as soul winners. So to spur you on, here are my ideas.

Though people in the main are willing to be involved in evangelism there is a lack of either awareness or commitment to the reality that evangelism is most effective when it is a matter of our personal responsibility and personal initiative, rather than waiting on the Minister's vision. There is thus also a need to realise that evangelism does not always have to be a group activity.

We therefore need to correct misconceptions and to build people's confidence. So we might firstly aim to dispel the mythology of what it means to be involved in evangelism, for instance, having to go in cold, having to have all the answers, having to build friendships first, not being persuasive or seeking a response. We might then give practical assistance by helping clarifying people's testimony of how they came to faith and giving them practice in telling it to others, or we could train them in using a simple tool (such as the bridge illustration) to help someone wishing to become a Christian to take that step in a meaningful way. We can also encourage the learning of helpful Bible verses that clearly proclaim parts of the gospel message. But at some stage head knowledge has to be experienced in real life, and the novice may need someone alongside to help in that, so it will be necessary to arrange activities where they can get that experience.

However, the survey highlights that to boost the confidence of some folk will require more than simply training in evangelism. Most of us appear to feel uncomfortable about communicating with certain age groups. Now this is quite natural, but it may be possible to get some ideas from people who enjoy conversing with an age range we struggle with. This might then allow us to feel more liberty in starting conversations with those we would otherwise ignore. A number may also need to learn how to feel more positively about themselves or how they can be more open to relating to others.

There is also a recognisable hurdle to do with broaching religion, so much so that the majority are unwilling to contemplate inviting close contacts to good events. We have to learn how to bring the gospel into everyday conversations both from the point of view of aptness and relevance, and from the aspect of sensitivity mingled with boldness.

The response to events to date shows that we are far from reaching our potential number of contacts. And those who commented on the use of events as primarily a means of supporting, or capitalising on personal evangelism have probably got a valid point. Whilst some regular events such as Carol Services stand on their own, others can only succeed where interest has been generated by previous personal contact, and so they should only be triggered by the existence of personal contacts.

Every special service or event should have a clear focus, and where this is evangelism we must examine how we can make it relevant and simple to understand. This will most likely be best done by asking the opinion of members as a first step. To boost confidence in such events the leaders must show that they want to improve, to correct failings, and to show that they are committed to not making the same mistake twice. Feedback in some form or another should therefore be encouraged following every event.

Finally, people need confidence in the quality of church life to encourage them to invite people to join the church. As we bring people to Christ we look on the church and think, 'and this is the result?' Sometimes the result seems little different than worldliness, with strife and power struggles. The church community has a significant impact on our motivation to win souls. Maybe all we need to do here is to challenge the church to stop being a hindrance to the gospel and to begin living worthy of it.

So what do you think? The deacons are still considering practical responses so now is a good time to pray and share with them how you would like to be involved in evangelism.

Pete Vanlint

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