Rev. Dr. W.C. Champion, General Secretary,
Evangelism & Mission
dr@email.msn.com
1616 Illinois Avenue, Dallas, TX
75216
Bishop Edward Lynn Brown, Board Chairman
214-372-9505 FAX 214-374-3900
Evaluation Process for Examining the Adequacy of the Church's Evangelism Ministry
Evangelism is reaching out with the good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ and helping people respond to this good news by living as Christian disciples.
The Department of Evangelism & Mission has the responsibility of keeping before the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church its evangelistic concerns that express the mission of the Church. Evangelism is intertwined with the whole ministry of the church. It is the basic component of everything we say and do in the Church.
The aim of evangelism is to bring all persons
into living active fellowship with God through Jesus Christ as Divine Savior and through
the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit; to gather them into the fellowship of the
Church; to lead them to express their Christian discipleship in every area of human life
that the kingdom of God may be realized.
Suggested Guidelines for Evaluation of Local Church Evangelism Ministry
The following questions give the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church a list of factors to be examined as the church examines itself with regard to the Local Church Evangelism Ministry. This evaluation process is recommended for use by the church's Director of Evangelism. If there is not a Director of Evangelism it is suggested that the pastor assign this task to someone for completion.
The Congregation and Its Context
1. Does the church have a mission statement clarifying its
understanding of its mission? If so, is it used and is it widely known
among the leaders and/or membership?
2. What is the church's understanding of its parish area?
3. Who is this church trying to reach? How is this defined
geographically, racially, generationally?
4. What demographic information is available? What are the
socio-economic classes, racial groups, cultural groups and
other patterns in the parish area?
How does the church's congregation makeup match the context? Is there a
geographical pattern of homes (suburbs, downtown,
inner-city, etc.)?
5. What are the membership and attendance statistics for the last five
years (gains, losses, transfers, new members by
profession of faith)?
Facilities
6. Is the location of the facility a help or a hindrance to
reaching unchurched persons?
7. How does the building appear from the street?
8. Is there sufficient paved, off-street parking?
9. Is signage (to rest rooms, nursery, sanctuary, office) adequate?
10. Is the building clean?
11. Is the nursery attractive to mothers of pre-schoolers?
Visibility in the Community
12. Within the parish area defined by the congregation, how visible is the
church? What methods (advertising, location,
word of mouth) are used? Can a service
station in your city give directions to the church?
Worship
13. Who is the worship service designed to include? Is the culture
comfort of the congregation taken into consideration
when planning for music, pace of service, use of
media?
14. Is the bulletin and language of worship user-friendly?
15. What group of persons would have best connected with pastor's sermon?
Response to First-Time Visitor
16. What plans are in place for first-time visitor? Do these plans
work? What efforts are made to get the name, address
and/or telephone number of a visitor on Sunday
morning?
The Congregation Ministry of
Evangelism
17. What is the operative understanding of evangelism on the part of the
pastor? Of the laity involved in the ministry?
18. Is evangelism an integral part of the overall ministry or is it specialized?
Who is responsible for the ongoing task/
emphasis on evangelism? To whom do they report
and how are they held accountable for the effectiveness/
consistency of their efforts? What role does
the pastor play in evangelism?
19. Does the church have a systematic visitation program (in addition to crisis
situations) for the purpose of discipleship,
building community, outreach/evangelism? If so,
how is this structured, overseen and administered?
20. How are staff members and/or laity trained for evangelism? How are these
people motivated and inspired to
participate in faith sharing?
21. When people begin to attend regularly or join the church, how are they
assimilated into the local fellowship?
Is there a system of tracking retention? If so,
what is the retention rate?
22. According to the pastor, what are the most important elements of the evangelism
program?
23. To what extent is the emphasis on evangelism integrated into the social action
and social service components of
ministry in the local church?
24. How significant a role does Christian Education play in the life of the church?
How much time and energy is devoted
to adult education? If there is a conscious and
definable interrelationship between Christian Education and evangelism,
what is it?
25. Do revival meetings or other special events play a significant role in the
evangelism ministry?
26. What are the periodic and long-range numerical goals for visitation calls, new
members, etc.?
27. Is there a continuous prospect list? How is it compiled?
Maintainted? Monitored for effectiveness?
28. What is the role of the primary worship service in relation to evangelism?
29. What is the role of the music ministry in worship and evangelism?
30. What function does preaching serve in relation to evangelism? Does the
minister preach with the issue of conversion
and commitment in mind often, seldom, never? Is
an "altar call" or other form of invitation a regular or occasional
part of the liturgy?
Use this evaluation process as a tool for examining the adequacy of the church's evangelism ministry. Following the evaluation, use the results to enhance or establish the church's evangelism ministry.