- Jul 12, 2004
- 26,337
- 1,595
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Heres an interesting article I just received from the Assemblies of God News Service. What do you think? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Evangelism in America in 2008 doesn't conjure up images of Billy
Sunday, or even Billy Graham. Like a lot of other popular forms of
mass communication < movie musicals, TV Westerns and competing city
newspapers, to name a few < crusade evangelists aren't as prevalent
or widely known as before.
The era when a crusade could pack a city stadium with tens of
thousands of people eager to hear an evangelist preach and a robed
choir sing seems almost nostalgic. It's not due to any lack of
worthy successors to Billy Graham. Rather, societal expectations,
schedules and priorities have changed.
With more urban commuters and a plethora of interactive
technological alternatives contending for free time, fewer Americans
appear willing to soak in biblical wisdom for a couple of hours
three or four evenings a week.
But savvy evangelists who have survived the culture shift are
tailoring their outreaches for a new generation. While sticking to
scriptural truths, they have reinvented their methodology. Instead
of being a general revivalist, many are specializing in a certain
area, such as baptism in the Holy Spirit or youth ministry. Others
are cooperating with compassion ministries or other parachurch
organizations in conducting outreaches as a way to broaden their
appeal.
Additional adjustments are noticeable. Rather than crisscross the
entire country, evangelists are likelier to focus on geographic
regions. And many are serving as husband-and-wife teams.
"Our Fellowship was founded on revival and crusades," says Marshall
Windsor, national evangelists representative for the Assemblies of
God in Springfield, Missouri. "But we're on different turf today. We
have to adapt with meaningful venues."
Changing Demographics
The Assemblies of God and other fellowships saw their numbers of
evangelists decline over the past two decades.
Because mainstream society has grown more pluralistic and cynical,
itinerant evangelists are finding fewer opportunities to minister in
public venues such as a city park or high school auditorium.
Many local congregations have changed as well. Fewer churches are
holding Sunday evening services, which has curtailed the typical
four-night consecutive evening revival meetings of the past.
Likewise, Sunday morning services typically are shorter than a
generation ago, leaving less time for evangelists to make a
presentation.
"Gone are the days when a church camp meeting was a big event in
town," says Windsor, 46.
Still, evangelists fill vital complementary and supplementary roles
in meeting the spiritual needs of a local church, according to Randy
Hurst, Assemblies of God commissioner on evangelism.
"An evangelist supplements by providing a particular specialty that
may not be the local pastor's strength, such as teaching on Spirit
baptism," Hurst says. "The evangelist complements by teaching the
people from a second voice that confirms what the pastor has been
sharing with them."
Staff Evangelists
On the other hand, the position of "staff evangelist" is growing
among AG churches. The role allows an ordained evangelist to
occasionally teach and train those in the local congregation while
still focusing on reaching those outside the church. Usually staff
evangelists receive an office, health insurance and small stipend in
conjunction with the church affiliation.
Greg and Robyn Hubbard have been staff evangelists at Glad Tidings
AG in Reading, Pennsylvania, since 1999. One week a month they
preach services, spearhead outreaches and do evangelism training at
the church. The rest of the time they are on the road < including
leading church teams on overseas missions trips.
"After 22 years of ministry as an evangelist that has included
church revivals, over 130 youth camps and ministry around the world,
the passion of our hearts continues to be reaching the lost, seeing
believers baptized in the Holy Spirit and to see each church ignited
with a fresh vision," says Greg, 49. "Staying current with the
culture is key."
Gayle A. Brostowski, 44, has been staff evangelist at Green Ridge AG
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, since 1994. While she is scheduled for
revival crusades or Sunday services in the Northeast or mid-Atlantic
states for 47 weeks of the year, Brostowski is grateful to have a
local church link.
"It provides a covering and accountability," says Brostowski, who is
single. "It also allows me to function in a pastoral role through
hospital visitation or occasionally teaching a Wednesday evening
Bible study when I'm home."
Specialized Ministries
Tim and Rochelle Enloe, based in Wichita, Kansas, have traveled
throughout the nation and to 30 foreign countries with their
teaching and music ministry. For 15 years, for 50 weeks annually,
the Enloes have focused on connecting listeners with the Holy
Spirit's power.
"Today's culture is so unchristianized in its desires," says Tim,
37. "Postmoderns are looking for experience and wanting something
that will have a long-term impact in their life. The message of
Spirit baptism fills those needs."
As with many evangelists' wives, Rochelle Enloe acts as a crucial
ministry partner. She is the administrator, and shares in speaking,
authoring books, and music and prayer ministry.
Some evangelists still find favor at tax-supported institutions.
Wayne Northup conducts high-energy choices-based assemblies in high
schools. After much good-natured humor, Northup in the final few
minutes talks about the rebellion of his teenage years that included
abusing illegal drugs. Although not allowed to speak about Jesus
during the daytime presentations, Northup wraps up his appearance
with a quick pitch for students to return in the evening to hear
about how his personal faith helps him in life. About 40 percent
customarily return for the evening session. Last year he addressed
100,000 students across the nation.
"We hit the pain in the schools," says the 33-year-old Northup, who
is assisted by his wife, Kristi. "I've had students come up to me
weeping about being diagnosed with cancer. They have written me
gut-wrenching letters talking about the family cycle of alcoholism."
Technology Tools
Northup has embraced technology through his ministry Web site,
MySpace account and photo-laden blog as a way to connect with the
youth he's trying to reach.
The Enloes jumped on the modern technology bandwagon early, opening
their ministry Internet site in 1996.
People from around the world have accessed the free ministry
materials available on the site. In fact, many biblically based
house groups in countries where church buildings are scarce or
forbidden burn a compact disc of sermons from the site. The groups
play the materials in a DVD player as a teaching aid during the
church service because they don't have a pastor.
"The Web is a great tool," Enloe says.
Windsor's national office provides a Web site
(http://evangelists.ag.org) to help educate, mentor and connect
evangelists. The site's main feature is a searchable directory of AG
evangelists. Windsor is exploring the option of overseeing one-week
schools for evangelists, offering mentoring and internships in
conjunction with AG colleges and Bible schools.
"Evangelists can have a tremendous place in teaching, training and
equipping the church," Windsor says. "They can take the fear out of
sharing faith and being the witness the Lord wants us to be."
Youth specialist Northup, who also conducts summer camps, weekend
conventions and a Mardi Gras outreach, has started a school for
evangelists at the church where he serves as missionary evangelist,
Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas. Graduates of Bible colleges or
Master's Commission ministries attend the school in an effort to
find their evangelism niche.
"The model is changing and we're living in a specialty world,"
Northup says. "We're shifting away from the old way of simply
calling up pastors in the district and seeing if they have a time
for you to speak."
Still, Windsor notes that a recent survey conducted by his office of
more than 5,000 pastors shows that local ministers are largely
supportive of the role of evangelists. The study shows that 37
percent of AG pastors invite an evangelist to their church annually
while another 32 percent have an evangelist come twice or more per
year. Only 7 percent of AG pastors never have evangelists hold
meetings.
"There still is a demand for old-time Pentecostal revivalists to
help round out a church's ministry," Windsor says. "God is still
calling men and women into a ministry where He alone guides and
provides."
Hurst says evangelists provide teaching and exhortation that
motivates churchgoers in areas such as helping them mature in Christ
and being motivated for personal evangelism < which all Christians
are called to do.
"The most critical issue in evangelism today is the credibility of
the messenger," Hurst says. "If people in our churches are not
living godly lives, blameless before the world, the credibility of
their message suffers."
--John W. Kennedy, Today's Pentecostal Evangel
~Jim
Evangelists, with Numbers Dwindling,
Stick to Scripture While Adapting to New Methodologies
Stick to Scripture While Adapting to New Methodologies
Evangelism in America in 2008 doesn't conjure up images of Billy
Sunday, or even Billy Graham. Like a lot of other popular forms of
mass communication < movie musicals, TV Westerns and competing city
newspapers, to name a few < crusade evangelists aren't as prevalent
or widely known as before.
The era when a crusade could pack a city stadium with tens of
thousands of people eager to hear an evangelist preach and a robed
choir sing seems almost nostalgic. It's not due to any lack of
worthy successors to Billy Graham. Rather, societal expectations,
schedules and priorities have changed.
With more urban commuters and a plethora of interactive
technological alternatives contending for free time, fewer Americans
appear willing to soak in biblical wisdom for a couple of hours
three or four evenings a week.
But savvy evangelists who have survived the culture shift are
tailoring their outreaches for a new generation. While sticking to
scriptural truths, they have reinvented their methodology. Instead
of being a general revivalist, many are specializing in a certain
area, such as baptism in the Holy Spirit or youth ministry. Others
are cooperating with compassion ministries or other parachurch
organizations in conducting outreaches as a way to broaden their
appeal.
Additional adjustments are noticeable. Rather than crisscross the
entire country, evangelists are likelier to focus on geographic
regions. And many are serving as husband-and-wife teams.
"Our Fellowship was founded on revival and crusades," says Marshall
Windsor, national evangelists representative for the Assemblies of
God in Springfield, Missouri. "But we're on different turf today. We
have to adapt with meaningful venues."
Changing Demographics
The Assemblies of God and other fellowships saw their numbers of
evangelists decline over the past two decades.
Because mainstream society has grown more pluralistic and cynical,
itinerant evangelists are finding fewer opportunities to minister in
public venues such as a city park or high school auditorium.
Many local congregations have changed as well. Fewer churches are
holding Sunday evening services, which has curtailed the typical
four-night consecutive evening revival meetings of the past.
Likewise, Sunday morning services typically are shorter than a
generation ago, leaving less time for evangelists to make a
presentation.
"Gone are the days when a church camp meeting was a big event in
town," says Windsor, 46.
Still, evangelists fill vital complementary and supplementary roles
in meeting the spiritual needs of a local church, according to Randy
Hurst, Assemblies of God commissioner on evangelism.
"An evangelist supplements by providing a particular specialty that
may not be the local pastor's strength, such as teaching on Spirit
baptism," Hurst says. "The evangelist complements by teaching the
people from a second voice that confirms what the pastor has been
sharing with them."
Staff Evangelists
On the other hand, the position of "staff evangelist" is growing
among AG churches. The role allows an ordained evangelist to
occasionally teach and train those in the local congregation while
still focusing on reaching those outside the church. Usually staff
evangelists receive an office, health insurance and small stipend in
conjunction with the church affiliation.
Greg and Robyn Hubbard have been staff evangelists at Glad Tidings
AG in Reading, Pennsylvania, since 1999. One week a month they
preach services, spearhead outreaches and do evangelism training at
the church. The rest of the time they are on the road < including
leading church teams on overseas missions trips.
"After 22 years of ministry as an evangelist that has included
church revivals, over 130 youth camps and ministry around the world,
the passion of our hearts continues to be reaching the lost, seeing
believers baptized in the Holy Spirit and to see each church ignited
with a fresh vision," says Greg, 49. "Staying current with the
culture is key."
Gayle A. Brostowski, 44, has been staff evangelist at Green Ridge AG
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, since 1994. While she is scheduled for
revival crusades or Sunday services in the Northeast or mid-Atlantic
states for 47 weeks of the year, Brostowski is grateful to have a
local church link.
"It provides a covering and accountability," says Brostowski, who is
single. "It also allows me to function in a pastoral role through
hospital visitation or occasionally teaching a Wednesday evening
Bible study when I'm home."
Specialized Ministries
Tim and Rochelle Enloe, based in Wichita, Kansas, have traveled
throughout the nation and to 30 foreign countries with their
teaching and music ministry. For 15 years, for 50 weeks annually,
the Enloes have focused on connecting listeners with the Holy
Spirit's power.
"Today's culture is so unchristianized in its desires," says Tim,
37. "Postmoderns are looking for experience and wanting something
that will have a long-term impact in their life. The message of
Spirit baptism fills those needs."
As with many evangelists' wives, Rochelle Enloe acts as a crucial
ministry partner. She is the administrator, and shares in speaking,
authoring books, and music and prayer ministry.
Some evangelists still find favor at tax-supported institutions.
Wayne Northup conducts high-energy choices-based assemblies in high
schools. After much good-natured humor, Northup in the final few
minutes talks about the rebellion of his teenage years that included
abusing illegal drugs. Although not allowed to speak about Jesus
during the daytime presentations, Northup wraps up his appearance
with a quick pitch for students to return in the evening to hear
about how his personal faith helps him in life. About 40 percent
customarily return for the evening session. Last year he addressed
100,000 students across the nation.
"We hit the pain in the schools," says the 33-year-old Northup, who
is assisted by his wife, Kristi. "I've had students come up to me
weeping about being diagnosed with cancer. They have written me
gut-wrenching letters talking about the family cycle of alcoholism."
Technology Tools
Northup has embraced technology through his ministry Web site,
MySpace account and photo-laden blog as a way to connect with the
youth he's trying to reach.
The Enloes jumped on the modern technology bandwagon early, opening
their ministry Internet site in 1996.
People from around the world have accessed the free ministry
materials available on the site. In fact, many biblically based
house groups in countries where church buildings are scarce or
forbidden burn a compact disc of sermons from the site. The groups
play the materials in a DVD player as a teaching aid during the
church service because they don't have a pastor.
"The Web is a great tool," Enloe says.
Windsor's national office provides a Web site
(http://evangelists.ag.org) to help educate, mentor and connect
evangelists. The site's main feature is a searchable directory of AG
evangelists. Windsor is exploring the option of overseeing one-week
schools for evangelists, offering mentoring and internships in
conjunction with AG colleges and Bible schools.
"Evangelists can have a tremendous place in teaching, training and
equipping the church," Windsor says. "They can take the fear out of
sharing faith and being the witness the Lord wants us to be."
Youth specialist Northup, who also conducts summer camps, weekend
conventions and a Mardi Gras outreach, has started a school for
evangelists at the church where he serves as missionary evangelist,
Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas. Graduates of Bible colleges or
Master's Commission ministries attend the school in an effort to
find their evangelism niche.
"The model is changing and we're living in a specialty world,"
Northup says. "We're shifting away from the old way of simply
calling up pastors in the district and seeing if they have a time
for you to speak."
Still, Windsor notes that a recent survey conducted by his office of
more than 5,000 pastors shows that local ministers are largely
supportive of the role of evangelists. The study shows that 37
percent of AG pastors invite an evangelist to their church annually
while another 32 percent have an evangelist come twice or more per
year. Only 7 percent of AG pastors never have evangelists hold
meetings.
"There still is a demand for old-time Pentecostal revivalists to
help round out a church's ministry," Windsor says. "God is still
calling men and women into a ministry where He alone guides and
provides."
Hurst says evangelists provide teaching and exhortation that
motivates churchgoers in areas such as helping them mature in Christ
and being motivated for personal evangelism < which all Christians
are called to do.
"The most critical issue in evangelism today is the credibility of
the messenger," Hurst says. "If people in our churches are not
living godly lives, blameless before the world, the credibility of
their message suffers."
--John W. Kennedy, Today's Pentecostal Evangel
If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong.
~C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
~C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
But I do reserve the right in this forum to say something about my views should the health and wealth doctrine be inserted into a thread. Its only fair.
The article talks about specialized "evangelists" who focus on one area, such as Spirit baptism...
