Evangelism Committee Meeting – 02/16/12

Present were: Fr. John Kline, Kay Wynn, Vibert LaMaison, Charly Clark, Adrienne Leonard, Marnie Tao and Jon Browne.

Fr. Kline had Mathew 26: 16-21 read. This passage includes the Great Commission, an important responsibility of all Christians. He then opened the meeting with prayer.

Fr. Kline and Kay Wynn reported on the Evangelism Conference held at Incarnation on December 3, 2011. The speaker was Rebecca Manley Pippert, a highly regarded speaker and author. Key points noted include:

• Evangelism is a primary duty of each Christian.
• Our weakness (re: Evangelism) is God’s strength. God uses the weak to accomplish his purpose.
• Jesus had a “go to them,” rather than a “come to me” approach. He was welcoming, yet got under people’s skin in a good way.
• We should build relationships with non-Christians, not to treat them as “projects,” but rather to plant seeds of faith in a loving way. God harvests the seeds we plant
• We should look for areas of agreement and focus on these. We should not be in a hurry.
• We should learn to disagree without being disagreeable.
• We must care about the non-Christian. Listening is critical.
• Encourage the good you see in them.
• Discern needs they are really feeling
• We don’t need more self-confidence, we need more God confidence.
• We don’t convert, God does.
• Fear of rejection is universal. The right fear to have is fear of God.
• We should expose he Gospel rather than impose it.

Most of the material presented is in the speaker’s book : Out of the Salt Shaker and into the World. We were all encouraged to read this book.

Marnie Tao suggested that we consider role playing to sharpen our evangelism skills. Adrienne Leonard suggested we consider putting on a course on Evangelism for members of the Parish. Both suggestions will be further considered at the next meeting, which will be Thursday, March 15.

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