Does mass evangelism really work?

[nephilimiyr]

I just thought that I better say this before anyone starts thinking that I believe myself to be holier than thou.

One of the main reasons why I have used this forum for so long is because I do have a problem with letting my light shine and putting into practise being the salt of the earth, being that perfect witness and always living the life. I am as guilty as anyone of squealching the Spirit that is within me. This forum, CF, has helped me immensely in becoming that perfect witness. of course I am not there yet, I am not perfect. I have my flaws, my wife would say I have many. The neat thing about an internet message board site is that I don't have to tell you about all my flaws, about the sins that I have strugled with. I am not perfect yet but I do believe I know what I'm talking about.

 

[JimB]

The way this thread has gone I wouldn't blame you for thinking that I was trying to insult you, but no, that wasn't what I was trying to do. If I want to insult anyone on this board I wouldn't have to try. Insulting others is far too easy.

As I said, "it seems to me", it is an honest observation of mine and it still seems to me that you are wanting to box us in on how we all should be witnesses and or how evangelism should be.

I do understand 100% what you are saying about being a witness; letting our lights shine and being the salt of the earth. I have written about this in CF quite often because, like you I suppose, feel as though this part of evangelism isn't being put into practised enough. However, it does seem as though you have totally written off the evangelistic crusades and I just simply believe that that is wrong and or not the right approach to take. I'm sure some crusades need to do it better and they have room to improve on what they're doing but the important thing is that they need to improve on it, not do away with it. Again, I'm not quite sure if that is what you're saying but it does seem as though that is what you are saying. I really would like to know exactly what you are saying about what should be done with these crusades but I would not agree with you if you say that they are doing no good and that we need to end them. Improve, yes; end the practise, no.

And above all, we are the salt of the earth and if we have lost our flavor then it's time to put the flavor back into the world, amen? We should all be praying that God helps us to crucify ourselves, our flesh, so that when people see us, they don't see us but the Christ that is within us, Christ in us is the hope of glory. It's not us nor is it about us but it is about the Spirit of Christ living in us. He brings hope to a hopeless generation and if we don't start doing things differently than what we have been as a Church concerning evangelism then we are going to lose this generation to the devil. We all have to do our part! Amen?

Sorry for misreading you earlier.

Neph, as convinced you are as to the value of mass evangelism I am just as convinced of their insignificance (the way they are being done). I did not fall off a watermelon truck yesterday and have had my share of dealing with the inner workings of citywide crusades (which are usually, humanly speaking, well-oiled) but I have also, as a pastor, had to deal with some of the residual collateral damage crusade evangelism does to those whose hopes are lifted then unfulfilled (usually from lack of adequate follow-up) and the overall ineffectiveness of crusades in actually bringing people into the kingdom, despite their appearance of doing otherwise. It is not my “theory”; it is my experience and that of others. It may not be your experience but it is mine.

I plan to write the Billy Graham Assoc. to see if they will share research facts and figures regarding their crusade conversion retention rate. If they respond I will let you know what they say and if I am wrong (which I do not think I am), I will apologize for this thread.

~Jim

Why do we prefer problems that are familiar to solutions that are not?​

 

[nephilimiyr]

Sorry for misreading you earlier.

Neph, as convinced you are as to the value of mass evangelism I am just as convinced of their insignificance (the way they are being done). I did not fall off a watermelon truck yesterday and have had my share of dealing with the inner workings of citywide crusades (which are usually, humanly speaking, well-oiled) but I have also, as a pastor, had to deal with some of the residual collateral damage crusade evangelism does to those whose hopes are lifted then unfulfilled (usually from lack of adequate follow-up) and the overall ineffectiveness of crusades in actually bringing people into the kingdom, despite their appearance of doing otherwise. It is not my “theory”; it is my experience and that of others. It may not be your experience but it is mine.

I plan to write the Billy Graham Assoc. to see if they will share research facts and figures regarding their crusade conversion retention rate. If they respond I will let you know what they say and if I am wrong (which I do not think I am), I will apologize for this thread.

~Jim

Why do we prefer problems that are familiar to solutions that are not?​

I respect the ground work that you have done and the experiences you have had that have helped form your opinion on this. To be perfectly honest with you I've never been involved with a crusade nor have had to deal with any residual effects from them. I know you know what you're talking about and I aplaude you for using your experiences as a motivation to bring about change. I'm just wondering if your experiences in this is the norm.

Either way, I think I'm talking more about the worldwide aspect of mass evangelism than you are? When I brought up the 10/40 window I really can't see any change happening there if we don't continue to do some sort of mass evangelism. For the large majority of those people living in Asia and Africa the crusade with millions attending will be their only opportunity to hear the Gospel. that is what I am concerned about.

Concerning America? I'll tell you what, people here have heard the Gospel. It's not so much that they haven't heard it but that they haven't seen it demonstrated. That is where us being examples and providing a witness by the way we live and act and communicate with the lost becomes so important. In this day and age we need strong christian men and women who aren't afraid to really love their neighbor, not in word but in action!

I believe Jesus Christ did do mass evangelism, he taught the people about the Kingdom of God but He also demonstrated it through power and authority. I believe we, the children of God, have this same power and authority but there are few who demonstrate it. People want this power and authority in their own lives too, they don't want just a message anymore. That doesn't work, this same power and authority that we have has got to be passed on to them and I don't think it is.

Whatever you find out through the Billy Graham Assoc. please don't apologize for making this thread. You are bringing up one of the most important topics we can possibly discuss in this forum. I'm sorry but the way the Church is doing it today is not working. Church attendance is down and continues to fall and the numbers are staggering. And we will be held accountable! There's no doubt in my mind about that.

This topic, this question that you have asked really has no right or wrong answers and IMO there is no reason to argue and none of us has reason to be dogmatic about whatever stance we take. We in the Body of Christ have better start considereing our ways because whatever we're doing simply is not working.

 

[JimB]

I respect the ground work that you have done and the experiences you have had that have helped form your opinion on this. To be perfectly honest with you I've never been involved with a crusade nor have had to deal with any residual effects from them. I know you know what you're talking about and I aplaude you for using your experiences as a motivation to bring about change. I'm just wondering if your experiences in this is the norm.

Either way, I think I'm talking more about the worldwide aspect of mass evangelism than you are? When I brought up the 10/40 window I really can't see any change happening there if we don't continue to do some sort of mass evangelism. For the large majority of those people living in Asia and Africa the crusade with millions attending will be their only opportunity to hear the Gospel. that is what I am concerned about.

Concerning America? I'll tell you what, people here have heard the Gospel. It's not so much that they haven't heard it but that they haven't seen it demonstrated. That is where us being examples and providing a witness by the way we live and act and communicate with the lost becomes so important. In this day and age we need strong christian men and women who aren't afraid to really love their neighbor, not in word but in action!

I believe Jesus Christ did do mass evangelism, he taught the people about the Kingdom of God but He also demonstrated it through power and authority. I believe we, the children of God, have this same power and authority but there are few who demonstrate it. People want this power and authority in their own lives too, they don't want just a message anymore. That doesn't work, this same power and authority that we have has got to be passed on to them and I don't think it is.

Whatever you find out through the Billy Graham Assoc. please don't apologize for making this thread. You are bringing up one of the most important topics we can possibly discuss in this forum. I'm sorry but the way the Church is doing it today is not working. Church attendance is down and continues to fall and the numbers are staggering. And we will be held accountable! There's no doubt in my mind about that.

This topic, this question that you have asked really has no right or wrong answers and IMO there is no reason to argue and none of us has reason to be dogmatic about whatever stance we take. We in the Body of Christ have better start considereing our ways because whatever we're doing simply is not working.

Thanx for your kind response.

Yes, I can see that we are talking apples and oranges. I am talking about mass crusades as they are carried out in the U.S., which IMO, leaves a lot to be desired and are more frustrating than they are helpful. My brother, though, has had lots of dealings with mass evangelism in Africa and is currently in charge of “Acts in Africa” project of the AOG on that continent. The objective of AIA (although I am unclear on the details) is to bring together churches …

“… in which a national church brings together all of its pastors (and possibly key lay leaders) for a time of teaching on the empowering role of the Holy Spirit in the evangelistic and missionary work of the church. A strong emphasis is placed on all participants receiving the biblical experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Leaders are also taught on how to minister in the power of the Spirit.” [from their website]
​

I know my brother is firmly committed to indigenous church planting as the best method of building the kingdom among Africans and his experience with crusades, as a missionary, has been less than enthusiastic. But I am not an expert on crusades outside the U.S.—nor am I an expert in anything—but I, personally, have plenty of experience with them in the States. I am also less than enthusiastic about their real value (as opposed to their perceived value). I also believe, that until the methods of crusade evangelism are seriously tweaked, especially in the area of follow-up retention of converts, they will continue to be largely ineffective in truly building the kingdom

I have written the Billy Graham Association the following message ….

To whom it may concern.

Over the years I have been involved in four BGEA crusades, dating back to the early 60’s, in the Houston Astrodome, soon after I became a Christian, through a “Time To Run” film crusade, a BGEA associate crusade with John Wesley White, both in the 1970s in Brenham TX, and a Billy Graham Crusade in Houston TX in the early 1980s.

What I am interested in is whatever compiled follow-up figures you may have as to the retention rate of converts/decisions in your crusades. What percentage of conversions actually become members of local churches and can are retained over a period of time (1 year, 2 yrs., etc.)? Is such information available online or can you send them to me.

Thank you. Your help will be deeply appreciated.

If I, in fact, do get a response, I will share it with you.

~Jim

 

[Always in His Presence]

If I, in fact, do get a response, I will share it with you.

~Jim

That, my friend is a GREAT idea - so I called:

The number is 704-401-2432

I spoke with Kamy in the Response Center.

She told me some interesting things.

• They do not have the manpower to tract the follow up on the millions of people who respond at the crusades, it just too labor intensive for the staff that they have.
• Their focus is to rely on the churches that get involved to take advantage of the resources and training they provide, and then go after the people to one on one evangelize them.
• She said while a number respond from emotional motivation, most are looking for that same intensity and drive for commitment, and that is brought by the local church teams.
• They rely on the local churches to catch the vision to go outside their four walls and do the follow up on people.

It sounds to me, like they rely on a combination of mass evangelism and then the one on one witnessing and discipling.

Again, we spent seven months of prayer, training and preparation for our teams, it was a major church effort.

Could that be the difference?

 

[millerrod]

UNITY of the Body= all members big and small working together as one.

 

[christianmomof3]

I am jumping in late here.
The success rate for advertising and apparantly for mass evangelism is about 1% to 3%.
I have heard that one of Billy Graham's regrests was that so many people came to the Lord through his work, but then were not cared for and helped to grow in the Lord. (those were not the exact words but I cannot remember what they were)

That is why we all - not just pastors or other trained church leaders, but all of us who are Christians should be sharing Christ with others, praying for others and shepherding others.

 

[JimB]

`

 

[probinson]

I am jumping in late here.
The success rate for advertising and apparantly for mass evangelism is about 1% to 3%.
I have heard that one of Billy Graham's regrests was that so many people came to the Lord through his work, but then were not cared for and helped to grow in the Lord. (those were not the exact words but I cannot remember what they were)

That is why we all - not just pastors or other trained church leaders, but all of us who are Christians should be sharing Christ with others, praying for others and shepherding others.

I agree that we should be sharing Christ with others, and living the life for all to see.

But the 1% to 3% success rate is probably a lot better than we do on our own. Consider for a moment how many people you will interact with one-on-one today. Then consider how many people will be born again, today, as a result of those interactions. It's pretty sobering when you look at it that way.

But when you look at it differently, consider how many seeds you have planted throughout the day, a much more unquantifiable number. The same seeds that we sow by living our daily lives for Christ are the same seeds that get planted from mass evangelism. There is no difference.

As Jesus said, the sower sows the Word. Some will fall by the wayside, some will fall on hard ground, some will grow up quickly and get choked by the weeds and the thorns, but some of it will fall on good ground, and it is when the seed falls into the good ground when we register the "successes", but we all too often forget about the seedtime.

As a youth minister, I had a youth group of about 15 kids max for a year. I did my best to sow the seed into them, and I saw NO results. But today, 7 years later, God is beginning to show me the seeds that I planted long ago as they sprout up in all kinds of places. Now, if we're going by immediate success stories and retention rates, most people would say I had nothing to do with it. But I sowed. And just like only 1-3% may stand up and respond right at that moment at a mass evangelism event, we have no measuring scale of the seeds that have been planted, that others will tend to and harvest as a result of those seeds sown.

 

[JimB]

That, my friend is a GREAT idea - so I called:

The number is 704-401-2432

I spoke with Kamy in the Response Center.

She told me some interesting things.

• They do not have the manpower to tract the follow up on the millions of people who respond at the crusades, it just too labor intensive for the staff that they have.
• Their focus is to rely on the churches that get involved to take advantage of the resources and training they provide, and then go after the people to one on one evangelize them.
• She said while a number respond from emotional motivation, most are looking for that same intensity and drive for commitment, and that is brought by the local church teams.
• They rely on the local churches to catch the vision to go outside their four walls and do the follow up on people.

It sounds to me, like they rely on a combination of mass evangelism and then the one on one witnessing and discipling.

Again, we spent seven months of prayer, training and preparation for our teams, it was a major church effort.

Could that be the difference?

Thank you, Balance. I hope to hear from them, too.

Obviously, IMO, we are not utilizing mass evangelism to its fullest potential. BGEA does have an amazing ability to attract large audiences. I am not so sure the follow-up instructions they provide are doing the job. I agree, BGEA is in the evangelism business and churches are in business of retention but churches lack experience in crusade evangelism and depend on organizations that do have the experience to give them guidance in how to do it.

For example, our last community evangelistic effort was a Casting Crowns concert a year or so ago at which an evangelistic “invitation” was extended and over a hundred people responded, filled out cards, received prayer, etc. The objective of the concert, from the POV of the interdenominational men’s group sponsored the concert was initially to simply host Casting Crowns on their tour date. The objective of the CC group was to win souls. So, the CC team sent a packet of instructions on how to handle everything from organizing “counselors” to compiling the responses and sending the results (names, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) to the churches. Only problem was, the sponsoring Band of Brothers did not have an up-to-date list of churches and when they were suddenly overwhelmed with the number of “decisions”, they only then discovered how inadequate their mailing list was.

Our church, which had recently moved to its present location, was almost two months in getting the names of the two people who listed our church as their preference when they responded to the CC invitation—a father and son. Both were Christians and the father responded only because his 8-year-old son wanted to go forward to receive prayer for a personal need. Both are Christians. Still, they were tallied as “decisions” though they were not conversions. Had they been conversions we would have been way too late in following up by the time we received their names.

This is typical of what I have experienced with crusade evangelism.

Do we blame the Band of Brothers, who had zero expertise in these sort of outreaches, or do we blame Casting Crowns for not providing the necessary expertise (if indeed they have any) in what is expected in following up decisions? I guess that is debatable but I am wondering how long we will continue to fumble the ball in mass evangelism before we return to the huddle to tweak our game plan? Until we do, I am choosing to avoid mass crusade evangelism altogether and simply train our members to “be the light of the world, the salt of the earth, water seed and be ready to give anyone who asks us a reason for the hope that is in us,” a plan that has been far more successful than the former ... for centuries.

~Jim

The difference between a luxury and a necessity depends on whether you have it or someone else.​

 

[Always in His Presence]

I guess that is debatable but I am wondering how long we will continue to fumble the ball in mass evangelism before we return to the huddle to tweak our game plan? Until we do, I am choosing to avoid mass crusade evangelism altogether and simply train our members to “be the light of the world, the salt of the earth, water seed and be ready to give anyone who asks us a reason for the hope that is in us,” a plan that has been far more successful than the former ... for centuries.

That's exactly what we did a number of years ago - we tweaked our game plan.

There was a conscious decision in leadership that whatever God lead us in, we would do it 100%. That meant every department of the church would be focused on one thing, it would be at the same level of importance as anything else on schedule.

So, our 'secret' was to hold "Big Sunday's" , which generally took six months of preparation.

Some, but not all of the preparation included:

• Constant reminders from the pulpit, pastor would often take the time to preach once a month about reaching out.
• Every ministry in the church would agree to get involve and say what specifically they would do to help. From babies to Golden Agers, from Praise team to Ushers - everyone had their part.
• Home fellowship groups would begin praying immediately and each group added something to the project.
  
• one month from the event we would begin praying three to six nights a week for the people who would come to Christ.
• one month before the event, we would cover the neighborhood with "teasers". Posters and flyer's that would peak peoples curiosity. One of our best was a plan from one of our teens called "It's coming" We started with Posters that said Watch out! It's coming! - for more info - ****

It progressed from there as time nearer. About three weeks before the event about 100 of us would go someplace where there was a lot of people - the mall, parks whatever all wearing these hideous fluorescent pink and black shirts that said It's Coming and the date on the front and the church website on the back.

Team members would wear them shopping, to the movies, to ball games. They never had to say a thing, natural curiosity got the best of people and they would ask - "What is it?". To which they would get a simple business card that said they were cordially invoted to a free breakfast and find out what "it" is all about on - - - -

The day we got the names from the event, our teams were set up and ready to go after what they had been praying over and training for.

Armed with breakfast invitations and a tray of home made cookies, we visited every person who was named.

The typical first visit was about 10min long, Hi, we're ---- from ---- we are rejoicing with you over your recent decision and thought we'd bless you with some cookies and an invitation to join us for a free breakfast and Sunday morning service------ is there anything we can pray with you for? Or do you have any questions before we go?

When people would come on the Sunday morning they would find every church member with a name tag. Everyone was a greeter. It is amazing!

Hope that better explains my point of view.

 

[JimB]

That's exactly what we did a number of years ago - we tweaked our game plan.

There was a conscious decision in leadership that whatever God lead us in, we would do it 100%. That meant every department of the church would be focused on one thing, it would be at the same level of importance as anything else on schedule.

So, our 'secret' was to hold "Big Sunday's" , which generally took six months of preparation.

Some, but not all of the preparation included:

• Constant reminders from the pulpit, pastor would often take the time to preach once a month about reaching out.
• Every ministry in the church would agree to get involve and say what specifically they would do to help. From babies to Golden Agers, from Praise team to Ushers - everyone had their part.
• Home fellowship groups would begin praying immediately and each group added something to the project.
• one month from the event we would begin praying three to six nights a week for the people who would come to Christ.
• one month before the event, we would cover the neighborhood with "teasers". Posters and flyer's that would peak peoples curiosity. One of our best was a plan from one of our teens called "It's coming" We started with Posters that said Watch out! It's coming! - for more info - ****

It progressed from there as time nearer. About three weeks before the event about 100 of us would go someplace where there was a lot of people - the mall, parks whatever all wearing these hideous fluorescent pink and black shirts that said It's Coming and the date on the front and the church website on the back.

Team members would wear them shopping, to the movies, to ball games. They never had to say a thing, natural curiosity got the best of people and they would ask - "What is it?". To which they would get a simple business card that said they were cordially invoted to a free breakfast and find out what "it" is all about on - - - -

The day we got the names from the event, our teams were set up and ready to go after what they had been praying over and training for.

Armed with breakfast invitations and a tray of home made cookies, we visited every person who was named.

The typical first visit was about 10min long, Hi, we're ---- from ---- we are rejoicing with you over your recent decision and thought we'd bless you with some cookies and an invitation to join us for a free breakfast and Sunday morning service------ is there anything we can pray with you for? Or do you have any questions before we go?

When people would come on the Sunday morning they would find every church member with a name tag. Everyone was a greeter. It is amazing!

Hope that better explains my point of view.

Yes, it does. I guess we are talking about two different things. How a church does evangelism is their own business and I am certainly not opposed to it. I say, whatever works for you.

What I have in mind, though, is mass campaigns organized by large evangelistic organizations like Billy/Franklin Graham, Luis Palau, Jay Strack, Benny Hinn, Freddy Gage, etc. that call upon inexperienced churches for promotion, staffing and follow-up. This is outside the scope of what the average church is accustomed to and they look to the evangelistic team to provide guidance. Maybe evangelistic organization feels they do that (apparently, from your report, BGEA feels they do) but when the final net results are tabulated (when and if they are) it seems we are falling far short in our misguided efforts to retain our gains. IMO, this causes harm to people who respond to invitations then are left to founder.

~Jim

The difference between a luxury and a necessity depends on whether you have it or someone else.​

 

[pdudgeon]

Jim there is another benefit to the evangelistic crusades that can't be measured, and that is a deeper committment on the part of those who are already Christians.
you mentioned the Casting Crowns concert...i went to one of those about 2 years ago now. our church did not sponsor the concert but the members of our home group went to see them, along with several of their teenagers and the teens friends. What those kids heard moved them, and several made deeper and lasting committments of their own lives. One teen, a very quiet young man, found his courage and made the decision to stand up for Jesus, give his testimony, and be baptized in front of the whole church and all his friends, which thrilled his father to death. I can't tell you how proud i was of him.
and several others committed to financially sponsor third world children with money they were earning from their jobs. they cared, they knew they could make a difference, they took the challenge and made that committment.

that kind of choice probably would not be counted as 'making a decision' for Christ on a card, but it certainly mattered to them. I'm so glad we all went that night.

 

[JimB]

Jim there is another benefit to the evangelistic crusades that can't be measured, and that is a deeper committment on the part of those who are already Christians.
you mentioned the Casting Crowns concert...i went to one of those about 2 years ago now. our church did not sponsor the concert but the members of our home group went to see them, along with several of their teenagers and the teens friends. What those kids heard moved them, and several made deeper and lasting committments of their own lives. One teen, a very quiet young man, found his courage and made the decision to stand up for Jesus, give his testimony, and be baptized in front of the whole church and all his friends, which thrilled his father to death. I can't tell you how proud i was of him.
and several others committed to financially sponsor third world children with money they were earning from their jobs. they cared, they knew they could make a difference, they took the challenge and made that committment.

that kind of choice probably would not be counted as 'making a decision' for Christ on a card, but it certainly mattered to them. I'm so glad we all went that night.

I agree. Mass concerts and mass gatherings of Christians work a tremendous good. I have serious doubts that the “evangelism” aspects of mass evangelistic crusades them are working as well.

~Jim

The difference between a luxury and a necessity depends on whether you have it or someone else.​