Developing an Inclusive Evangelism Program for Knott Avenue Christian Church

This project is focused on providing a balanced evangelism program for Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim, California. The goal is to develop evangelism training and outreaches that will allow every member of the church to be involved in the Great Commission. The inclusive nature of this project is to encourage every person to be involved in evangelism based upon their God given evangelistic style, rather than being forced into one evangelistic mold. By recognizing and affirming the individual evangelism style of each church member, the amount of people participating in the Great Commission efforts of the church will increase. This study will help synthesize evangelistic styles into the phases of evangelism to determine what types of evangelism are most appropriate and effective in specific circumstances. Allowing each individual to discover their personal evangelistic path will guide them in know how to apply their respective evangelistic styles in each phase of evangelism. Programming to train people in various levels of evangelism and execute strategies in multiple ways will help Knott Avenue Christian Church be balanced and inclusive in reaching its community.

The procedures used to complete this project were made up of the following five elements. An analysis of past evangelism practices at Knott Avenue Christian church determined strengths and weakness. Biblical passages formed the foundation for Great Commission strategies. Current literature on the evangelism in the local church shaped the formation. Interviews with practitioners helped focused on specific details yet to be explored. A church wide evangelism style survey provided future direction in implementing people and programs that would support them.

The survey findings of Knott Avenue Christian Church reflected a church that has a desire for evangelism related to inviting people to experience what they have experienced. Knott Avenue's results were compared to Corinth Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was the only other church located that kept track of evangelism styles in their congregation. The Knott Avenue survey results revealed the necessity of providing a wider variety of evangelism opportunities if the congregation would be mobilized for Great Commission evangelism as a whole.