Are Evangelists On The Wane ?

[Apocrypha]

I think the mistake is in thinking that the apostolic title of "evangelist" is reserved for guys who travel from town to town reaping the low hanging fruit that the home bible study teachers cultivate.

i think a home bible study teacher who wins 10-20 folks a year deserves the title more.

[ReformedDave]

Originally Posted by StMark

Why do you say ??

Every rookie seems to start out as an 'evangelist' until they can get a full time gig.

[ReformedDave]

Originally Posted by erikwebster

I think the mistake is in thinking that the apostolic title of "evangelist" is reserved for guys who travel from town to town reaping the low hanging fruit that the home bible study teachers cultivate.

i think a home bible study teacher who wins 10-20 folks a year deserves the title more.

I'm inclined to agree.

[Whole Hearted]

Originally Posted by Rev

"hardly anyone would show up."

Shows the condition of the church!

Doesn't it now.

[Sherri]

Whatever happened to all the women evangelists? I remember as a kid that there were a LOT of women evangelists traveling around. Our church had revivals with several single women. And in the 20-30 years before that, I have heard that there were even more. Also, lots more single women missionaries. Is this becoming a rare thing?

[Neck]

Originally Posted by Ron

Mark, I told you that you should start a thread on what used to be preached that isn't preached anymore.

How about that Jesus is coming soon!

We used to hear that every service when I was a kid.

Now you hardly ever hear that phrase.

[Neck]

Originally Posted by erikwebster

I think the mistake is in thinking that the apostolic title of "evangelist" is reserved for guys who travel from town to town reaping the low hanging fruit that the home bible study teachers cultivate.

i think a home bible study teacher who wins 10-20 folks a year deserves the title more.

Try going 52 weeks hearing the same minister preach. No matter who they are no one can endure that...

Most Evangelist get burned after traveling and seeing that many churches are the same size year after year....

[Apocrypha]

Originally Posted by Neckstadt

Try going 52 weeks hearing the same minister preach. No matter who they are no one can endure that...

Most Evangelist get burned after traveling and seeing that many churches are the same size year after year....

Theres a solution for that. Most (95%) of our preachers are topical preachers. They select a topic and then wrap it in verses (or occasionally use just one to dive off into what they wanted to talk about anyhow).

Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement teaches that every topical speaker runs dry after a few months and they run out of gas. I believe it, most UPC sermons i hear are rehashes of rehashes and the illustrations run stale (woman with issue of blood, esther, blah blah i can tell their closing point after 3 minutes of preaching usually). The secret to keeping them is to either go to a textual/expository format where you start on a book and preach until its done (many of our preachers can't do this due to low skill level as teachers).

The second method is to have 3-6 week sermon series and to have a definate beginning and end. This is more of the purpose driven method.

But topical preaching is what keeps alot of our churches small. The people are afraid to invite their friends because they dont know what the pastor is going to talk about and if its going to be a "safe" service to invite their friends.

[OneAccord]

I wrote an article for a certain Apostolic publication several years ago entitled "The Vanishing Evangelsit". Then, as now, the ministry of the Evangelist seems to be a vanishing act. The causes of this are varied. There is one "certain" Apostolic group that has an Evangelists Department, but theres only 4 or 5 evangelists listed. As I said, there are a variety of reasons why the ministry is one the decline, some of which are:

The Evangelists themselves. Many evangelists do harm to their own ministry by developing a competitive spirit. Many are novices, and know little, if anything, about respecting the Pastors responsibility of caring for the sheep. To "make a name for themselves", some enter churches and say and do things they think God has led them to do, only to leave a shambles for the pastor to clean up.

The evangelistic field is not a place to practice preaching. Its a rough life, and many use the field to develop their ministry, rather than developing their ministry under the tutelege of a pastor or seasoned evangelist. Once on the field, they aren't prepared for the situations they face. And the situations they face are many.

Money. The love of which is the root of all evil. But the evangelistic ministry takes money, sometimes, lots of it. And money is often in short supply "on the sawdust trail". This can be "offset" somewhat by softening the message to gain broader appeal, but, the road of compromise usually has no end. Some evangelists are lured by the "easy" money pastors make and find a church to pastor.

Pastors "guard" their sheep from the unknown evangelist. And, rightfully so. But, this presents a problem for the unknown evangelist. How is he to be come "known" if no one gives him a chance? True, this is a little easier if the evangelist is affliated with an Apostolic group.... but theres not many Apostolic groups that can sustain very many itinerant preachers. Which leads to another situation-

And evangelist joins, say, the ALJC. That dooms his chances of operating within the UPC group. He joins the UPC, the ALJC churches are reluctant to use him. I don't think it should be that way, but, unfortunately, thats the way it is.

Pastors sometimes blocks the evangelists by "swapping pulpits" with other pastors. Pastor Joe preaches a revival for Pastor Jim, and vica versa. Lets admit it... some pastors just aren't evangelists. And evangelists aren't pastors. The two callings are unique unto themselves.

I served as an evangelist for over 12 years. During that time, I never "charged" for my services, and never asked for a dime. We lived by faith. Money was a challenge at times, but, God never failed us. He supplied our every need. The problems listed above are from personal experience. I could elaborate more, but this is about the gist of it. Prior to entering the full-time field, I went away for a period of time to fast and pray. During that time, the Lord taught my ministry to me. This is one thing he showed me:

2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

I knew I was CALLED to preach. I started preaching at the age of 15. But, I sat under a pastor and was taught for several years before I entered the full time ministry. During that time, while I knew I was called to preach, I didn't know my ELECTION. What area of ministry God had ELECTED or chosen me for? Pastor? (Could have pastored a church at age 17, but declined, due to my young age? Teacher? No, didn't have the education. God taught me the evangelistic ministry. That was what He had elected me for. To do the work of an evangelist. Ministers, its not enough for us to be CALLED to preach. we need to know the office the Lord has ELECTED for us. Once we know that, we need to abide in our calling. When we make our callings and elections sure, we will never fail.

[Apocrypha]

Or the apostolic model of the ministry of evangelist could easily be someone working in the local church and we have made it into something it really shouldnt be for the most part