Principles of Evangelism

EM324 / EM524

A Core Unit which ensures that students can give a clear and theologically robust presentation of the gospel, answer key apologetic questions within a range of worldview frameworks and understand the four-way dynamic of evangelism.

Workload: One semester, 4 credit points, 32 contact hours plus field work (see below)
Status: Ridley Core
Who: Rev. Dr. Tim Foster

Purpose
This course is designed to give you an overview of the ministry of evangelism.

The key aims are to:

  • equip you to communicate and defend the gospel in personal evangelism.
  • model an approach to training others for evangelism that you can use
  • address key theological and practical issues in evangelism

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit you will:

  • be able to articulate a gospel outline that engages contemporary Australians
  • answer common objections to Christianity
  • understand how evangelism fits into the life of the church and the believer
  • be able to give an evangelistic talk or sermon
  • have engaged in evangelism
  • be able to equip others in evangelism

Assessment
Exam
Duration: 2 hours
Weight: 60%
Written, oral and worldview exam will be held during class in week 7 (15 Sept).

Assignment
Word length: 1,500 word (BMin/BTh), 2,000 word (GradDipDiv/MDiv)
Weight: 40%
Due: 27 Oct

 Write a critical essay on one of the following questions:

  1. Is evangelism the responsibility of every believer?
  2. Outline faith development theory and discuss its implications for evangelising children
  3. What is the fate of those who have not heard the gospel?

Field Work Component
The syllabus for this unit requires field work. The ACT manual stipulates:

  • Personal involvement (with supervision) in not less than 20 hours in specifically evangelistic programmes, including at least 5 hours of direct evangelism by the student. These hours exclude preparation and writing-up time.

There are two options available for you in fulfilment of this obligation.

Both options involve the submission of a diary and report which will be assessed on a pass/fail basis, and will not contribute to your final mark. However, you must pass this section of the unit to complete the unit.

Option 1: Personal Evangelism
Throughout this unit you will be set weekly tasks and feedback relating to personal evangelism. Those taking this option will need to have a non-Christian in mind who they are prepared to engage with in a fairly open way. 

This engagement may be initiated by telling the person that you need to engage with someone with another worldview for a subject you are taking at college. Otherwise you can initiate the conversations more naturally. You will also engage your Christian network in praying for your and supporting you in this.

In addition to regularly praying for this person, the type of tasks you will undertake over several weeks include asking them if they know you are a Christian, asking them what they think a Christian is, what there experience of Christians has been like, what they think of Jesus. You will also set up and host a social event for your network.

Option 2: Mission to Melbourne
This involves participating in Ridley’s Mission to Melbourne which is held each evening over 23-28 August inclusive. Mission to Melbourne is a ‘crusade’ style event with Don Carson to be held at the Storey Hall, RMIT.  

Those taking this option are required to attend every night, engaging in prayer, welcoming and other tasks, follow up with enquirers as required.

Homework
Memory Work
One key aspect of this unit is memorising the gospel outline, along with its illustrations. You will need to do this each week for weeks 1 to 7.  In addition you will have to know how to answer tough questions. This will constitute much of the preparation required for the test.

Reading
Each week there is set reading of 5-35 pages (average 15 pages). You will have to provide topical summary of 25-50 words for each reading. The longer readings are usually only required for the last five weeks of the unit when there Is no ‘memory work’.

This homework can be expected to take an average of 2 hours per week.