Evangelism in the North American context has "lost it's luster" in many respects. Because faith is considered a "private" matter, many in our churches and parishioners have foresworn to simply let it be … no faith-sharing for them. And yet, this stands in complete contrast to Jesus' great commission to go and make disciples of all nations (people groups).
The Evangelism in Your Local Context course is not simply an online study about evangelism. Rather, it is a four week training course that will give you the tools to evaluate and articulate your own theology of evangelism and to exegete both your community's and your congregation's culture in order to design and lead effective evangelism efforts.
Objectives:
By the end of the course, the student will have the ability to:
- Articulate their personal understanding and motivation for evangelism;
- Articulate the North American cultural change from Christendom to post-Christendom;
- Exegete the community's culture and the local church's culture;
- Develop successful evangelism efforts in the local church;
- Model and lead successful evangelism efforts in the local church.
The course will include four lectures that will presented via a conference call, but will also be recorded and made available for those unable to attend (for download or online listening). In addition, an online discussion list will include additional content and reflection questions. Students will be expected to participate in this discussion each week. Students will need to purchase the required texts prior to the first lecture and to complete the prescribed readings before each of the additional lectures (a one-year subscription to Net Results magazine is included with registration). At the end of the course, the student will complete a one page reading report for each of the required texts. Additionally, the final Evangelism Strategy paper is due to the professor within thirty days of the end of the course.
