Rethinking the "E" Word

As I write this, I am in Richmond, Virginia, preparing for a conference on evangelism at Union Seminary. 

As with all things about the church in the 21st Century, even this essential area is undergoing a rethinking. Most of us—if the median age of 62 for the PC(USA) holds true—came to the church at the tail end of the last great wave of mainline church-building. The idea was fairly simple—as new suburbs sprang up around urban areas, part of the new construction had to be a church or churches as the Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, et. al. planted the flag for American Protestantism in the midst a spanking new communities full of the people who made up the mainstream of public existence. It worked…for a long while. Folks came to church as a sign of having entered their maturity, settling down, raising families, delving deeply into careers, and so on. Church was a place to network, establish your community credentials, and, yes, to pray. The church need only build it, and folks would come. No more. The church’s stamp of approval is no longer necessary to prove one is an able member of the community. Thousands of folks find a lot of other things to do on a Sunday morning. So how do we get them back? That is the questions. Every church from our largest to our tiniest expresses the same main need—more people. So, we have to figure out how to get them.

Perhaps the first place to start is with the first question to ask.

That question is no longer, “What can we do attract people?” Instead, it is, “Does anyone in the community really need us?” We need them, but do they need us? 

Answering that question is only going to come as we develop what I would call a “wall-less” church. There are two implications of such a church. First, the barriers to belonging need to be completely abandoned. The only churches getting anywhere are those that welcome everyone inside. No judgmental preconditions; no qualifications; and no exceptions—if someone arrives for church, then they are welcomed and place found for them at the table. The second implication is that since folks are no longer coming to church, the church needs to go to them. A wall-less church is visible in the community in service, interaction, and engagement, be it through a food ministry, a health ministry, homebuilding, or whatever they see as their mission. That includes meeting at a local pub for theology talks over a beer. That includes a fellowship bouncing from living room to living room. 

We engage in these works not just build up numbers, but to transform lives. A mission center rising from the ashes of a closing church finds its future secured when its first wave of clients become the servants tending the needs of others seeking help. In turn, there comes the expectation that each new wave of clients will become part of the ongoing work, ensuring its vitality and continuance. That is transformation through Christ.

That is evangelism.