// An Evangelism Crisis and Why Equipping the Church to Share the Gospel Matters 

According to an Alpha Canada report in 2021, only 9% of churches said that the practice of evangelism was a high priority. Sadly, only 4% said it was an essential priority. Christians know they should share the Gospel, yet they rarely do.  There exists a cultural norm (usually through lack of modelling) within the Canadian Church in which individual believers have viewed their participation in the Great Commission as optional. This has resulted in a decline in both church attendance and church planting. According to that same Alpha report, 55% of Canadian congregations do not equip for evangelism. This is why we must equip the church in evangelism.

Furthermore, without believers (or entire churches) sharing their faith, we fail to adequately represent the missional impulse present in the heart of God. Consequently, many people are not hearing of the mercy of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to save. Therefore, many will be separated from God eternally in hell.

Jesus called the Church to fulfill His Great Commission, and therefore, there is a heavenly expectation from the Lord to share the Gospel with others. Most, if not all, Christians understand they need to share their faith and make disciples according to Matthew 28:18-20. Sadly, most rarely do. Why? Most often, believers have a firm conviction and an honest desire to share their faith but feel they don’t know how. So, they remain inactive.

We know that you, as a believer, leader or pastor, want to change this.

So do we. 

When Christians are equipped with simple tools, Kingdom culture (modelled by identity training and worship) and understand the power of the Holy Spirit, once inactive faith-sharing believers begin to share regularly and courageously. The team and ministry of Disciple a City work to see local churches, organizations, teams, and events step into bold evangelism and the discipling of new believers.

We have found this true: simple evangelism and discipleship training, placed in a worshipping community, accompanied by the Holy Spirit’s gifts, produce disciples who know how to share the Gospel and regularly do. Equipping believers in these ways has helped produce missional obedience. This has empowered individuals and revitalized churches as the lost are saved, baptized and discipled.

We would be honoured to work with you to see those you lead mobilized to share the Gospel with those they know and love.

// A Biblical Example to Equip and Send the Saints 

“He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Luke 10:2

The command from Jesus to pray in Luke 10:2 gives clear insight into two things. One, Heaven’s perspective on people is that they are ready to hear and respond to the goodness of God found in the Gospel. Secondly, if we are failing to see a harvest, it is due to a lack of prayer and workers. In this verse, we discover the heart of God to send more workers into a plentiful harvest. This proposes two questions. One is, “who are the workers?” and secondly, “How do we send more?” The next two videos from the Every Disciple Sent Series will explain.

// Whose Responsibility is it to Share the Gospel?

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  – Ephesians 4:11-

According to Paul in Ephesians 4:11-13, it is the role of the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers to equip the church for the work of service. Said simply, Jesus gives evangelists to help equip the saints to evangelize. Therefore, every disciple of Jesus is called to evangelism. Evangelism is not just the responsibility of evangelists but every Christian.

This is why Disciple a City and other synergistic ministries exist. Disciple a City supports churches, organizations, individuals and teams to share the Gospel and disciple new believers. Through events, worship culture, schools and church-specific training, we provide tools, models and strategies to mobilize believers to fulfill the Great Commission.

Listen below to how simple training helped mobilize a church in Ontario to share Jesus!

// The History and Mission of Disciple a City

In 2016, a small group of believers in Peterborough hosted a weekend event where they helped train 100+ of their friends to share the Gospel. Those who were trained saw 13 people come to Jesus that weekend. More than that, they discovered that reliance on the Spirit of God, simple tools and living in unity could transform their city.

Since that event, almost every local church in Peterborough has been trained with simple tools to share the Gospel and hundreds more people have come to Jesus.

The Disciple a City team has founded a hub of missional activity where churches, organizations, and disciples connect to be activated to fulfill the Great Commission in Canada.