Below are links to two articles and a blog post that shed light on the important but sometimes misunderstood topic of evangelism—our participation in what Jesus is doing, through the Spirit, to draw people to trust him and then follow him as one of his disciples.
Early Church Evangelism
How did Christians in the past share their faith in Christ, and can their experience positively affect the ways we go about sharing our faith today? For some helpful insights, see the Outreach Magazine article at http://www.outreachmagazine.com/features/14296-early-church-evangelism.html.
Re-engaging the dechurched
A team from the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism (BGCE) journeyed to the Burning Man conference a few months back to learn more about this community, to research the dechurched, and to share God’s love. Many of the 70,000 people who attended did so to express their creativity, find community and seek spiritual encounters. Ninety percent of the people the BGCE team interviewed were from mainline Protestant and Catholic backgrounds. They are, at this point, very dechurched. Most attended church in high school and earlier, but did not stay. They are not hostile, just disinterested. They have an interest in spirituality in general, but not in any particular religion. To learn more, see the Outreach Magazine article at http://www.outreachmagazine.com/features/14283-14283.html.
For more about dechurched people, see the blog post about “once-churched people” at http://johnpavlovitz.com/2015/08/16/what-church-people-really-need-to-know-about-once-churched-people/.
