Empowering the Community 
to Share their Faith
 

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Churches can empower people of vibrant faith and active engagement (Scenario 1) in the church community—individuals, small groups, and the whole faith community—to share their faith with those who not involved in the church community or spiritually committed. By developing programs, processes, and resources to equip the faith community share its faith, the church develops another means for reaching people in the other three scenarios – an approach “everyday evangelism.” Everyday evangelism can be described in this way: “evangelism is anything you say or do to help another person move into closer relationship with God, or into Christian community” (George Hunter III); “the heart of evangelism is having an alive relationship with God, being part of a church you love, and caring that people outside the church find what you’ve discovered” (Martha Grace Reese); and “evangelism is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and others to bring one person one step closer to Christ” (Lisa Orris). 

For strategies and ideas for "Empowering the Community" read the section from Chapter 4 of Faith Formation 2020, pages 211-213. 

Resources


Unbinding the Gospel Project
  • Reese, Martha Grace. Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism. Saint Louis: Chalice, 2006. 
  • Reese, Martha Grace. Unbinding Your Heart: Forty Days of Prayer and Faith Sharing. Saint Louis: Chalice, 2008. 
  • Reese, Martha Grace. Unbinding Your Church. Saint Louis: Chalice, 2008. 
  • Reese, Martha Grace. Unbinding Your Soul: Your Experiment in Prayer and Community. Saint Louis: Chalice, 2009. 

GraceNet: www.gracenet.info

"What's Your One Step" Project

Evangelical Covenant Church: www.covchurch.org/evangelism/wyos