The Faith-Sharing Congregation
by Dean Feldmeyer, pastor, Faith United Methodist Church, Winchester, Ohio

Thirty-five years ago . . .

It's 1964, and I'm thirteen years old. My dad, who is into "learning experiences," decides that my brother and I should see a real, old fashioned, tent revival. So we head to downtown Indianapolis, on the bank of the White River to see Brother Gene Ewing's World Gospel Crusade. One side of Brother Ewing's truck, which is parked at the site, says: "Evangelist."

We get there early and eat hamburgers in the park across the street. We go in when the music starts.

Brother Ewing screams; he cries, he rants, he raves. He passes the plate four times. He claims to heal dozens of sick people. He claims to deliver hundreds from enslavement to tobacco and alcohol. He claims to raise a woman from the dead "by popular demand." This particular "dead" woman had been walking around the parking lot an hour earlier while we ate our hamburgers.

A few weeks later, my dad points out in the Indianapolis Star that our favorite evangelist has been arrested for embezzlement, fraud, income tax evasion, interstate flight, and about a hundred other things.

At thirteen,I am already deciding that I want to be a pastor. I do not want to be an evangelist. This notion persists for thirty years.

One day, Ned Dewire calls from Methesco and asks if I will teach a class in the Ohio Valley Course of Study School.

What class?

Well, the evangelism class, of course.

Okay, Lord, I get it. I say, "yes, of course I'll teach the class," and I head for the bookstore.

In the five years that I have been teaching this class, I have read more than fifty books and more than one hundred articles on evangelism and church growth. Three of those books are on my required reading list. The one at the top of the list is: The Faith-Sharing Congregation by Roger K. Swanson and Shirley F. Clement (Discipleship Resources).

What a relief! It turns out that real evangelism has nothing to do with what Brother Ewing was doing back in Indianapolis. What a delight to find a safe, nonthreatening way to do real evangelism! What a joy to learn that the entire task of evangelism doesn't rest with me, the pastor! Actually, there are four "evangelists" in every church: the pastor(s); the laypeople; the congregation; and families.

And there are some very simple, concrete ways that each of these "evangelists" spreads the good news of Jesus Christ: hospitality, personal relationships, storytelling, family rituals, welcoming ministries, ministries of belonging, and discipling ministries. Swanson and Clement begin with the simplest -- hospitality -- and progress through the more difficult.

Probably the most important chapter in The Faith-Sharing Congregation is the one that deals with personal relationships and stories. In that chapter, we learn how to share the good news of Jesus with our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and relatives in a nonthreatening way by simply waiting until an appropriate time and then sharing our own story. The chapter also tells us how to develop and prepare our story by asking others and ourselves simple questions such as, "Why is the church important in your life?" "What is your current experience of the Christian faith?"

Simply put -- Swanson and Clement take the mystery and fear out of evangelism.

I heartily recommend The Faith-Sharing Congregation. Combine it with The Faith-Sharing Video Kit (Discipleship Resources) for an exciting, effective evangelism-training program in your church.