Bob Young Resources

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54321 Evangelism: An Organizational Model

Introduction to the Model
During my years of ministry, I developed an organizational model to organize and facilitate evangelism efforts--both my own personal efforts and those of the church. In summary, the model categorizes contacts by level of interest, using a 5-4-3-2-1 scale to reflect current interest, activity, and involvement. The model reflects the truth that evangelism is a process, and not a one-time event. The primary advantage of the model is the effort to identify where a person is in the evangelism process. The model also helps the church know and understand the process of becoming a disciple of Jesus.

The model is simple enough that it requires no special tools or forms. It can be used with a set of 3x5 or 4x6 cards, although I prefer a loose-leaf notebook that allows me to record information for each individual on an 8x11 page and then to move the sheet to the appropriate section in the notebook. The larger sheet of paper gives more space to record information and notes. It may be helpful to develop a template and make copies, thus providing a "form" with designated spaces to record the desired information.

A brief description of the model
The first step in evangelism is to find people who are interested. Although Jesus said the fields are white to harvest, our church buildings are not overflowing and a smaller and smaller percentage of the U.S. population are practicing Christians. If people are not interested, what is needed is interest. The model is based on evaluating interest level and guiding prospects through a sequence designed to increase interest. If the role of interest is not honored, evangelism efforts may end up "converting" people who are not really interested and thus they fall away quickly. The model seeks to honor the process of faith development as a person moves from observing faith, to experiencing faith, to seeking personal faith, to owned faith.

I believe every minister (and every Christian) should maintain a list of possible prospects--those most likely to be interested when opportunities come for initiating spiritual conversations. The development of this list is the first step in the model. Most Christians could easily list dozens of acquaintances who are or might be interested in spiritual matters. The advantages of having a list is that it reminds one to seek contact with those people and to attempt to steer conversation toward shared spiritual concerns, thus testing and developing interest. This is a constantly changing list, and the subject of much prayer.

Some people like to make a separate sheet for each prospect so identified and to put them in the system immediately, but I found it easier to maintain a single list of names, and perhaps to carry in my pocket a list of my "Top Ten Prospects" as reminders for prayer and seeking contacts and connections through correspondence, phone calls, etc.

That interest is important explains why some evangelism training tools begin with instruction in "developing interest." A person outside of Christ or not involved in the church must be helped toward interest or re-interest. This occurs according to personal felt needs or wants. Interest may come through relationships, curiosity, knowledge, fear, and many other motivators. As Christians take the gospel to the world, seeking to make disciples, the world is the field and the fields are white to harvest, but not all the field is ready for harvest. In contemporary evangelism efforts, this speaks to the need to develop interest. When one seeks to develop interest, and the person responds positively, the organizational process begins. The person is placed "in the system" as described in this article.

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[You can access the entire article with a description of each the five levels of interest at the following link: 54321 Evangelism.]