The dreaded "e-word"

I'm flying out tomorrow to our denomination's headquarters to give input about "evangelism". The denomination has been doing a 2-day seminar in its churches on evangelism for the past decade plus called "The School of Evangelism". They want input to re-design it for today.

My first response is I hate the word "school" and the word "evangelism". Neither one brings warm and fuzzy feelings to my life. I spent 20 years of my life in school--I've had enough of school for 2 lifetimes. And "evangelism"--I know it's a Biblical mandate (and I'm all for sharing the Good News with those far from God) but when I think of it I think PROGRAM or I think ASSIGNMENT. It's going through a canned outline, reasoning with people, and trying to get them to step across the line of faith. To do it well, I have to do a good sales job.

The problem with 99% of the evangelism programs I've seen in churches is they treat people as projects. I think the new paradigm for evangelism in churches will be radically different. I'll let you know how our meetings go.

For now, your thoughts on evangelism (and how we do it in today's world) are very welcome.