Evangelism
Welcome to the ELCA’s home page for evangelism! This is a central place for you to get started exploring the practice of sharing your faith with others. Here you will find helpful resources to make you feel equipped for and excited about telling the world about the good and gracious God we meet in Jesus and the love that Christ offers to all people.
Unleashed: Evangelism in the Digital Mission Field
The video above is a preview. Please click here to sign up for the full video and its discussion guide. These will be your entrées to a growing movement of leaders yearning for new ways to share the good news of Christ’s love.
Sign-up for the Evangelism Network
Did you know that when Martin Luther began the Reformation, he and his allies referred to themselves as “evangelicals”? That word has taken on many other meanings in our time, yet the word actually means “those with good news.” Eventually, opponents of those early reforms began to call Luther’s allies “Lutherans,” not to honor their work but to identify them as enemies of the church who followed a man, not God.
While the name “Lutheran” may have stuck, we are still committed to being “those with good news.” The God we meet in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus offers unconditional love and life, and invites people, through faith, to trust in that love and join in Christ’s work in the world today. We celebrate that love as a gift of grace. We continue the ministry of Jesus as a calling that shapes our lives.
Evangelism is the simple act of sharing the good news of God’s love in Jesus and inviting others to trust in this love and join in God’s work.
God doesn’t love people more for believing, but God does rejoice each time a person trusts in God’s love and joins with Jesus as an ally in the work. Our role is to inform and invite people. God’s Holy Spirit brings the gift of faith to each person’s life.
This page is a simple landing page to get you started. It will be updated with new links and resources regularly, so stop back often.
Recommended Evangelism Resources
- John Bowen, Evangelism for “Normal” People: Good News for Those Looking for a Fresh Approach (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002)
- David Daubert, The Invitational Christian (Day 8 Strategies, 2017)
- Michael Frost, Surprise the World: The Five Habits of Highly Missional People (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2016)
- Michael Frost, Keep Christianity Weird: Embracing the Discipline of Being Different (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2018)
- Kelly A. Fryer, ed., A Story Worth Sharing: Engaging Evangelism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2004)
- Kelly A. Fryer, Reclaiming the “C” Word: Daring to Be Church Again (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006)
- Harold “Jake” Jacobson, Holy Talk: An Introduction to Scripture for the Occasionally Biblically Embarrassed (Lulu Publishing Services, 2019). The author is director of evangelical mission for the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod.
- Harold “Jake” Jacobson, Rockin’ the Front Porch: Sharing the Faith in the New Normal (Lulu Publishing Services, 2020)
- Patrick Keifert, Welcoming the Stranger: A Public Theology of Worship and Evangelism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1992)
- Thom S. Rainer, Becoming a Welcoming Church (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2018)
- Martha Grace Reese, Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2008)
- Robert Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Revised and Updated (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2018)
- Robert Schnase, Just Say Yes!: Unleashing People for Ministry (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015)
- Dwight J. Zschile, The Agile Church: Spirit-led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (New York: Morehouse, 2014)
- Jeff Vanderstelt, Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus Into the Everyday Stuff of Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2017). Good points, but decidedly conservative in theology.
- Jeff Vanderstelt and Ben Connelly, Gospel Fluency Handbook: A Practical Guide to Speaking the Truths of Jesus Into the Everyday Stuff of Life (Bellevue, Washington: Saturate Publishing, 2017)
- Unleashed: Evangelism in the Digital Mission Field
Unleashed: Evangelism in the Digital Mission Field is a look into how the pandemic has inherently changed the ways that communities of Jesus reach out to new people. Join a panel of pastors and church leaders to hear about how God is unleashing the Spirit in new and exciting ways.
View video
- The Episcopal Church: Evangelism Toolkit
Every baptized Episcopalian has vowed to proclaim with our words and our lives the loving, liberating, and life-giving good news of Jesus Christ. Through the spiritual practice of evangelism, we seek, name and celebrate Jesus’ loving presence in the stories of all people – then invite everyone to more. The Evangelism Toolkit helps us to live into that call.
View Toolkit
- Building a Culture of Evangelism | View Document
- Disciples to Apostles | View Document
- Evangelical Leaders | View Document
- Faith Stories - Creating Opportunities to Share Your Faith | View Document
- Finding Your Voice | View Document
- Hospitality Matters | View Document
- Making Advent and Christmas Evangelistic | View Document
- Welcome the Children | View Document