Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2014 Issue | Page 11

Gentle, Steady, Easy: Approaching Evangelism
The Rev. David T. Gortner, Ph.D,

But even before we offer a story
of God’s goodness from our own lives,
we begin the spiritual practice of
evangelism by listening. Each person we
encounter has already experienced God
at work in her life, whether or not she
would describe it in those words. We
have promised in our baptism to seek
and serve Christ in each person. God’s
good news has already begun to unfold,
long before we arrive on the scene – and
we have the opportunity to name the
holy in each person’s life.

Students in my evangelism class
at Virginia Theological Seminary learn
to become comfortable once again
with free conversation with people
they do not know, and to enter these
conversations attuned to the ways in
which God may be moving in people’s
lives. Often, these seminarians discover
that other people are freer than they are
in talking about what is meaningful in
their lives – whether Baptist or Buddhist
or New Age or searching. Over time,
they redevelop their “muscles” for free
speech about their experiences of faith
and God-given meaning in their lives.

It would be comforting to say that
evangelism can happen simply through
good deeds done. But evangelism
actually does require words as well as
actions. To say that our good deeds and
ministries of outreach and community
service identify us as Christians is to sell
the Gospel short and to insult people
of other faiths. What makes our actions
different from those of the good
Buddhist, agnostic, pagan or seeker
who cares for others or works for
justice? It is not the actions themselves
that differ much.

It is the story of why we do what
we do that makes us different. Just as it
is their story that makes them different.
We do a disservice to others if we do not

share our own faith-rooted reasons for
what we do – and if we also do not invite
them to share the deeper reasons for
their acts of mercy and justice.

Evangelism is not the same as
conversion. Conversion happens in the
hearts of those who receive something
– it is God’s work within each of us.
Evangelism is simply the sharing of good
news, the offering of our own stories
of God’s goodness, the hearing and
naming of God’s presence in the life of
another. It is gentle. But it is steady. It is
what can become very natural speech,
if we let go of our fears and anxieties
and artificial propriety. Evangelism, like
prayer, takes practice. But we all know
something of how to do it, and we
simply need to begin.

One of the most natural places
to begin is in our own churches and
households, sharing stories with
each other of how we have found
joy, wonder, delight, transformation
and a sense of God working in our
lives. In every church and diocese and
seminary in which I have invited people
to begin this kind of conversation with
each other, people have said, “This is
wonderful – and wonderfully easy. Why
don’t we do this more?”

Indeed. Why not?

Evangelism and Proclamation

Evangelism. There, I said it.

How strange that some
Episcopalians have some kind of allergic
reaction to the word “evangelism” – or
at least think that they are supposed
to have an allergic reaction. I wonder
where this got started. Is it the image
of the big-haired televangelist? Is it the
sing-song preaching and artificial smiles
of some types of Christians? Is it the
shouting tract-handler on the street
corner? Is it the Mormon pair arriving at
the front door?

Or is it that we are really
embarrassed enough by our own
faith that we do not wish to speak of
it, aloud? Is it that we have absorbed
lessons about propriety that ban
matters of religion and the life of the
Spirit from our speech?

Frankly, not all Episcopalians have
this reaction to the word “evangelism.”
Many of us see evangelism as a natural
result of our experience of God’s
goodness and love. It is what we hope
becomes our natural speech and action.

Evangelism has at its root the Greek
word, evangel: good news. When one
discovers good news or experiences
something good, one wants to share it.
Good news wants to be communicated.

So, evangelism is simply the act
– in word and in deed – of offering,
proclaiming and bearing witness to the
good news of God’s continuous love
for all humanity and all creation. That
continuous love of God is the ultimate
good news. And each one of us has
grasped small glimpses of this love, in
the blessings and turning points in our
own lives, in the lives of others, in the
life of the Christian community and in
the great story of God’s redeeming love
in Jesus. These are the stories we can
share, if we are only willing, if we are
only attentive to those around us.

The Rev. David T.
Gortner, Ph.D., is
director of the Doctor of
Ministry program and
professor of Evangelism
and Congregational
Leadership at Virginia
Theological Seminary.
He is