Types of Evangelism
Types of Evangelism
There are many different types of evangelism including mass evangelism, personal evangelism, evangelistic preaching, literature evangelism, church evangelistic crusades, evangelistic counseling, radio and television programs, entertainment, Sunday school evangelism, and evangelistic bible study. By mass evangelism is meant the preaching of the message in open-air meetings or in very large gatherings. The first mass meetings are described in the New Testament as occurring spontaneously. Since the time of the Reformation open-air meetings have been used to reach large numbers of people. Mass evangelism reaches large numbers of people at a time when there has been extensive prior preparation, as occurred in the New Testament among the Jews and later following periods of dead orthodoxy. The next type of evangelism is personal evangelism. In this type of evangelism individual Christians are directly involved in presenting the message to those who have not heard it. God chooses those who will be evangelist as Ephesians 4: 11 says “ And He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” This occurred in the New Testament following persecution in Jerusalem. The disciples, except for the apostles, were scattered and evangelized everywhere throughout the land. In recent times, many have been encouraged to go out individually to “win souls,” and a number of churches have concentrated on personal evangelism in connection with visitation, contacting and talking to people in their homes. Personal evangelism has the advantage of being direct and personal, with the potential of meeting the individual needs of the person who hears the message, and it reaches out to those who would never go to a meeting to hear it. The disadvantage is that the preparation of individual Christians is often limited and the message is not made clear in the time available. Thirdly, is evangelistic preaching. Evangelistic preaching applies the Word of God to those whose background causes them to attend church services. In Reformation times, when people were required to attend church services, there was an opportunity to reach large numbers of people in this way. But as people became hardened to preaching this became less effective. To overcome this,
the Puritans preached on matters affecting the conscience. Later, effort was directed toward concentrated evangelistic crusades. Next is the use of literature evangelism. Books directing people’s attention to the truth of
The message has been published since the times of the Puritans, who were the inventors of evangelistic literature. With encouragement, people will read and consider things that they would otherwise disregard. The impersonal character of literature is of value in these cases. In addition, it is of value where there is a lack of trained witnesses or in conjunction with other efforts. The possibility of a full explanation of the message through literature opens up another avenue for those who will read it. Church Evangelistic Crusades is the fifth type of evangelism. By holding a series of evangelistic meetings within a short period of time, the impact and content of Gospel preaching can be concentrated and have its effect. Crusades in which this is done have become tradition. An evangelist from outside the church and great amounts of preparation and publicity are involved. This type of evangelism is effective when there has been considerable preparation through the instruction of the church, but where the people have become hardened to the preaching or else the Gospel has not been preached clearly. The next type is evangelistic counseling. For those who have come under conviction during evangelistic preaching in a mass meeting, or during an evangelistic crusade, further encouragement by a Christian through a personal witness and counseling has often brought individuals to the place of response. This is not to be confused with personal evangelism. Its limitation is that it is always an assistant to other types of evangelism. Yet the personal character of evangelistic counseling complements in a helpful way the less direct nature of preaching. Next is the use of radio and television programs for evangelistic purposes. Radio and television potentially reaches a large number of people where there has been a barrier or defect in other methods. Generally, however, there must be considerable background for the listener to understand the message or be sympathetic enough to listen. Entertainment can also be used as a form of evangelism. Motion pictures