Renewal Evangelism Ministry: ‘Reaching Athens’

Acts 17:23
“For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.’

Theological Background:

The evangelism ministry seeks to encourage the church and its people in becoming missional—“living out the gospel within its cultural context rather than perpetuating an institutional commitment apart from its cultural context” (Frost and Hirsch).

The Western church has been steadily diminishing in its relevance and influence in society and culture. This is largely due to the fact that cultural context has been ignored while institutional commitments have been perpetuated (Frost and Hirsch). In other words, church is ‘done’ a particularly way because ‘it has always been done that way.’ Years ago, a family would move into a neighborhood and look for a local church they could attend—hence the importance of big church signs with the pastor’s name and sermon title: those days are gone. Ironically, the signs are not—in fact, many churches still place a big emphasis on a big attractive sign.

What we see happening here in the United States, is a church culture and philosophy of ministry behind its times. Most of the ministry and ‘evangelism tools’ we see incorporated in churches today were created in the 1950’s (the Modern era). Therefore, these tools have largely become irrelevant because the church has failed to recognize a shift in culture (Postmodernism). Instead of answering the questions people are asking, the church finds itself preaching the ‘the Old Story’ but in old clothes. For example, if you were to present the 4 spiritual laws 50 years ago, the listener would understand that you were referring to the Judeo-Christian God when you stated, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you.” Today, the listener might ask, “Which god are you talking about...(Buddah, Allah)?”

Christ has called us to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ but we must understand that the way we approach this will depend on cultural context. Christ himself did ministry ‘incarnationally.’ He did not ignore culture but conveyed the Gospel message in the context of culture. We see this in the ministry of Paul as well, as quoted above. The “Going” of the Great Commission involves “Knowing” who you are going to: what they think, value, believe, trust in etc.

To quote Frost and Hirsch. “It is Christ who determines our purpose and mission in the world (discipleship), and then it is our mission that must drive our search for modes of being-in-the-world…Christology determines missiology, and missiology determines ecclesiology.” The way we ‘do’ church is grounded upon mission, not simply ‘because that’s the way it’s always been done’—and our mission comes directly from Christ. This understanding is crucial especially in a day and age where we cannot simply depend on people ‘looking for a church.’ In fact, the Kingdom of God has never been about, a ‘you come to us’ mentality. Christ humbled himself, and brought the message of his salvation to us, in our world, in our flesh.

Lastly, the Gospel is not only conveyed with respect to culture but it transforms it. We are not called to ignore culture, nor are we to necessarily adopt everything the culture surrounding us is about. Rather, the good that we do see in culture is a result of common grace, and that which is in discord with the Gospel we address by showing a ‘better way.’ The Gospel is initially conveyed through culture but then it radically transforms it so that what pervades the Church is not just ‘post-modernism’, ‘modernism’, ‘Americanism’ but Christ-likeness.

Vision Statement

The evangelism ministry exists to both encourage and equip church members to share the gospel in order that the church will be faithful to the Great Commission and grow mainly as a result of evangelism rather than transfer growth.

Purpose

• To help the church become more missional by developing a missional mindset in each member in light of an increasingly post-Christian society (depending less upon those who join because they are seeking a church)
• To practically equip church members to communicate the gospel in an authentic (personal and heartfelt), clear (easily understood and memorable) and relevant way (taking the post-modern mindset/issues into consideration).
• To strengthen and be a resource for other ministries in the church who are doing evangelistic ministry (small groups, City, Missions) and to connect new Christians with the Discipleship ministry.

Tangible Goals

1. Contextualized Worship Service
2. Members have at least 2 people they are praying for/influencing for Christ
3. Members are able to present the Gospel and answer the questions people are asking
4. An “Open Chair” mentality in every small group as well as 2 Groups specifically focused on seekers and new believers
5. 50% of New Membership is by Conversion Growth**

**Quantitative Measurement of the effectiveness of goals 1-4

Ministry Method

1. Help Design Worship Services that engage a non-believing attendee
1. Working in conjunction with pastors, worship/welcoming committee and praise teams
2. Help plan Easter and Christmas (High Visitor Volume Holidays)
3. Monthly Assessment of effectiveness and progress


2. Incorporate prayers and accountability for the lost (friends and strangers)
1. Within every small group—leaders will be instructed to incorporate a brief time of prayer within every group meeting for the spread of the Gospel among friends/family/co-workers. Leaders are also being trained to ask about evangelism in accountability settings.
2. Within Worship Services—an outward faced prayer during service at least once a month.
3. Within Wednesday/Church prayer meetings


3. Provide a class with 2 parts through Christian Education
1. Evangelism Part 1 (Theological Foundation):
2. Evangelism Part 2 (Practical Equipping in Gospel Presentation and Asking/Answering Relevant Questions)


4. Establish 2 Special Focus Small Groups
1. The first group would be purely investigative
2. The second group would be teaching fundamentals of the Faith
3. These groups would be accountable to the Small Groups Pastors


5. Provide Church organized mixer venues where members can invite friends with similar interests. These mixer venues will NOT include prayer, worship, or anything else overtly Christian in nature. They will exist to provide a venue for relationship development and building. Exposure to Christ will come by long-term friendship, not one-shot events. Some examples of such venues would be:
• Snowboarding Club
• Jazz/Concert Appreciation
• Art Appreciation
• Movie Club
• Sports Leagues

(September 23, 2007)