Findings

Following the data analysis with the aid of LifeWay Research, the findings of the study are presented in two phases.

Phase 1

Phase 1 consisted of quantitative data collected through use of the survey instrument. While the instrument covered six areas of emphasis of church revitalization—

discipleship, evangelism, leadership, missions, prayer, and primary worship gathering—

the analysis of these findings focuses on an emphasis on evangelism. Question 8 asked the respondents to rate each ministry emphasis as to the importance it played in the revitalization process (see table 3).

While it was surprising to me that the number of respondents who indicated

evangelism as “important” or “highly important” was ranked toward the bottom of the six

themes, 82.50 percent is still a high response and less than 10 percent off the leading theme

of “Primary Worship Gathering.” As noted in the research protocol, these responses

played an integral part in the selection criteria for the qualitative portion of the research.

Table 3. Phase 2 ministry emphasis rate of importance Highly

important Un-

important Un-

Slightly important Un-

Slightly

Important Important (1)

Highly Important

(HI)

Total HI and I responses Primary

Worship

Gathering 1.65% 0.83% 1.65% 4.13% 36.36% 55.37% 91.73%

Prayer 3.33% 0% 0.83% 6.67% 23.33% 65.83% 89.16%

Leadership 4.17% 0% 0.83% 8.33% 29.17% 57.5% 86.67%

Discipleship 4.13% 0.83% 2.48% 9.92% 33.88% 48.76% 82.64%

Evangelism 5% 0.83% 1.67% 10% 40.83% 41.67% 82.50%

Missions 2.48% 4.96% 4.96% 16.53% 36.36% 34.71% 71.07%

Further quantitative data was gathered concerning the connection of church revitalization with evangelistic fervor. Question 13 on the survey instrument read as follows: “Briefly describe the primary changes to the church’s evangelism ministry which, you perceive, have contributed significantly to the revitalization process.” Of the 105 pastors who responded to the question, 10 pastors confessed that no effort was made.

¹³

In a more encouraging trend, 92 percent of pastors who responded to question 13 reported intentional efforts to increase the participation in the evangelism ministry (see table 4).

Table 4. Changes in church’s evangelism ministry contributing to revitalization (question 13)

Contributors Frequency Percentage

Training 50 40.00%

Outreach 48 38.40%

Relational Evangelism 17 13.60%

No Effort 10 8.00%

Total Responses 125 100.00%

13 It should be noted here that the survey instrument did not require all questions to be answered.

Twenty-four participants did not respond to question 13, resulting in 10 responses. Some pastors gave multiple answers and this accounts for the 20 additional responses in the frequency column in table 4.

The three answers given were training, outreach, and relational evangelism.

¹⁴

In regard to training—which made up 40 percent of responses—one pastor wrote,

We focused on the message of the Gospel: what it is and what it does. We also went through some evangelism training so as to equip the people with tools for sharing their faith. Then, we try to put our evangelism into practice in the places where we are present in the community.

Outreach made up a slightly smaller percentage of the responses compared to trainings but still high at 38.40 percent. Another pastor surveyed gave the following example prioritizing outreach in discussing the primary changes to their evangelism ministry:

The church three years ago had no evangelism ministry. They were inward focused and had no desire to spread the Gospel. We started having outreach events and during those events we would have a team walking around and sharing Jesus. We started door knocking and walking around the community evangelizing. Several sermons were focused on the Great Commission and putting that into practice.

Concerning relational evangelism one pastor simply stated, “More personal evangelism through developing relationships.” The responses present a strong connection between making changes to a church’s evangelism ministry and a positive impact to the

revitalization process.

In question 14 respondents were asked about the church’s evangelism ministry during the revitalization process: (14a) There was a demonstrable increase in personal evangelism among active members of the church; (14b) The majority of active members could communicate the gospel in a personal evangelism encounter; (14c) The active members of the church regularly engaged in gospel conversations for the purpose of personal evangelism. In total, the pastors surveyed answered positively at 52.33 percent for a demonstrable increase in evangelism, 42.6 percent that their members could clearly communicate the gospel, and 27.1 percent that their members regularly engage in gospel conversations (see table 5).

14 While additional comments were made these answers generalized into the three categories listed all cases.

Table 5. Survey responses to level of agreement concerning the church’s evangelism ministry during the revitalization process (question 14)

Personal Evangelism Among Active Members Strongly

Disagree Disagree Slightly

Disagree Slightly

Agree Agree (A)

Strongly Agree

(SA)

Total (A & SA) Agreement 14a. Increase

demonstrated 0.93% 10.28% 7.48% 28.97% 39.25

% 13.08% 52.33%

14b. Could communicate

the gospel 0.93% 8.33% 9.26% 38.89% 37.04 % 5.56% 42.60%

14c. Regularly engaged in gospel

conversations

1.87% 12.15% 14.95% 43.93% 23.36 % 3.74% 27.10%

I understand that the term “slightly” can be read many ways, yet when any positive response is included an even more optimistic reading of the numbers presents the following: 81.30 percent for a demonstrable increase in evangelism, 81.49 percent that their members could clearly communicate the gospel, and 71.03 percent that their members regularly engage in gospel conversations. These findings present an encouraging

connection between churches experiencing revitalization and pastors leading to increased evangelistic fervor.

Question 15 dealt with the type and frequency of evangelism training currently offered in the churches surveyed. The type of training was asked in an open-ended response format, thus providing a litany of answers. While ‘3-Circles,’ ‘Sharing Jesus without Fear’

and ‘No Place Left’ were the only repeated responses, several others were mentioned, including Evangecube, Evangelism Explosion, The Difference Maker, and The Answer Track.

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These evangelism trainings often involve a mix of classroom time, role-play practice, and either door-to-door or sharing the gospel one-on-one in a public space.

15 Repeated responses for type of training tools were as follows: 3-Circles = 6; Sharing Jesus Without Fear = 3; No Place Left = 2.

Although 27 participants did not respond to this question, pastors who did overwhelmingly affirmed their church’s priority to train members for gospel conversations. Almost half of the pastors reported scheduling more than four evangelism trainings a year (46.08 percent) and a total of 84.31 percent planned a minimum of one evangelism training a year (see table 6). It should be further noted that these answers represent the 102 survey responses even among pastors who did not otherwise indicate high scores with evangelistic fervor among their church during the revitalization process.

Table 6. Frequency of evangelism training (question 15)

Times a Year Frequency Percentage

More than 4 47 46.08%

1-2 30 29.41%

None 16 15.69%

3-4 9 8.82%

Total Responses 102 100.00%

Much can be learned from the quantitative data reported through the survey instrument, but even more detail was provided in the qualitative phase of the study.

Phase 2

The interview portion of this research resulted in several consistent themes related to pastors leading their churches in evangelistic fervor. A coding process was used to “generate a description of categories or themes for analysis.”

¹⁶

By coding these themes based off percentages of frequency in the interviews, best practices could be derived from the raw information presented in each interview. Fifteen repeated topics and themes identified among pastors are outlined below (see table 7).

16 John W. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2009), 189.

Table 7. Themes noted among interviewed pastors

Recurring Themes Frequency of

Response Used church member testimonies to celebrate key wins 12/12

Planned evangelism training 12/12

Preached emphasis on gospel conversations 10/12

Communicated clear mission and vision of the church 9/12

Prioritized setting the example for evangelism 7/12

Maintained slow culture shift & awareness of on-going revitalization

progress 7/12

Motivated by Biblical truths 7/12

Focused upon prayer 7/12

Emphasized relational evangelism 6/12

Displayed an awareness of the Holy Spirit 6/12

Instituted intentional membership 5/12

Scheduled off-campus outreach events 4/12

Connected evangelism with discipleship 3/12

Changed worship style 3/12

Shaped a sending culture 2/12

Used church member testimonies to celebrate key wins. One hundred percent