The Vision Behind Emerging Evangelists

Ever since Emerging Evangelists first started, the vision and heart has remained the same.  To revitalize the spiritual practice of evangelism and the Scriptural calling of the evangelist to be all that Christ has called it to be.  It really is rooted in a story about a Modesto Manifesto that Billy Graham and his young team made over a half century ago ...

"A campaign in Modesto, California, in 1949 was an early turning point for the fledgling Team of Graham, Barrows, Shea and Wilson.  Billy instructed all of us, "Boys, let's go to our rooms and write down all of the criticisms of mass evangelism.  Don't hold anything back.  Then let's meet for evaluation and prayer this afternoon.  All of us agreed that our number-one pet peeve was the handling of finances.  We also listed sensationalism, over-emotionalism, becoming controversial, and the image of being anti-intellectual and anti-church.  And there was the matter of virtually no follow-up.  That very day we determined not to be guilty of those charges, and the Team set out to make necessary changes and adjustments .. We had determined at our Modesto prayer meeting to "abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22).  Through careful planning and perspiration, under the leadership of the Spirit, we set out to live down the stereotypes of mass evangelism." (Excerpt from Count it All Joy by Grady Wilson [one of the closest associates of Billy Graham], pp. 46, 50)

We live in a day and age when - Ted Haggard, Pastor of a mega-church in Colorado was caught in sin, and suddenly the secular media began referring to him as an evangelist.  Simply because they associated scandals with evangelists.  We live in a day and age when - a Bible college professor and former Pastor had his students write in their Church theology IV notes "evangelists are not very smart," based on his personal encounters with evangelists.  A person only has to go as far as the Scriptures to realize that this is not what God has defined and called evangelists and evangelism to be.

This is a vivid picture of the vision behind Emerging Evangelists.  Emerging Evangelists is NOT associated in any way with the Emergent church movement.  That movement seems to be dissipating from public talk.  Neither does it necessarily refer to "young" men and women called to be evangelists.  It has to do only with the simple idea of compiling every complaint against evangelism and the evangelist in OUR day and committing to "live down the stereotypes" and EMERGE into a more ancient, Biblical model in these increasingly urgent, last days.  Read more of the vision here.