When to Stop Teaching Evangelism Classes
I received this disheartening message on Facebook from a couple of discouraged evangelists. My answer follows after the video.
We’ve been teaching Way of the Master classes for almost 5 years at our church and sometimes in our home, too. The last class we taught at church only had 4 people. The church leaders think we’ve reached “saturation” and want us to wait until fall to offer another class which is what we plan to do. My question is, have you encountered dwindling numbers of participants with the evangelism classes you lead? How often do you offer classes and do you get much of a response?
Here’s my answer: I, too, have been teaching the class for 5 years. Over a thousand people have attended at least one session. (There is usually a large drop out rate; find out why here.) In my Spring class, no one signed up for the first three weeks. I, too, was told that we’d reached the saturation point—and this was from one of my leaders!
I refused to believe it. So, this is what I did….
The 50% Rule for Evangelism Classes (and how to break it!)
(This is an occasional series on conducting Evangelism Classes. Click here for part 1.)
I have a theory: When you take a theology class, at the end, there won’t be much required of you unless you are asked a very difficult question on doctrine; but in the end, you will certainly be a little smarter.
If you take a course on prayer, by the time you graduate, you will know how to pray. And you aren’t necessarily required to pray out loud or in public. Most will
do their duty alone.
But when you enroll in an evangelism training course, you will be required to share your faith at the end of the class. That’s too much to ask for many Christians. They’d rather let those who have “the gift” of evangelism do that.
Hence, a 50% drop out rate!
But you don’t have to settle for that. Create an incentive that appeals to the lazy, the fearful, the type A and type Z person. Make it a competition where the individuals can win—and win big!
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