A MODEL FOR TRAINING EVANGELISTIC SPEAKERS

John P. Bowen

This thesis considers how Christian ministers and other Christian workers may be trained to communicate the Christian message through public speaking, in a way that is Biblically sound, culturally appropriate and pedagogically informed.

The data base for the thesis is a group of staff and students of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Canada who attended a training conference in evangelism in November 1995. Twenty-two of the delegates to this conference who opted to receive training in the evangelistic speaking returned a questionnaire on their understanding and practice of evangelistic speaking.

The results of this questionnaire were considered from four perspectives: Biblical material on evangelism and evangelistic speaking; current missiological considerations; contemporary church trends, particularly the growth of postmodernism; and recent writings in the area of pedagogy.

The conclusion proposes a model for training evangelistic speakers in light of this material, a model which may be applied in parachurch and seminary settings.