Week 2: Reviving What Matters – Why Evangelism Still Works in a Distracted World
In an age of streaming sermons, viral TikTok testimonies, and AI-generated devotionals, it might seem like evangelism has never had more reach. And yet, according to recent research, evangelism in the local church is on life support. Carey Nieuwhof’s 2025 Church Trends report reveals a sobering statistic: only 1% of pastors believe their church is very effective at reaching unchurched people. That’s not a typo— 99% of churches aren’t seeing much fruit when it comes to introducing people to Jesus. Even churches on national “fastest-growing” lists are often growing through transfer growth —not conversion growth . People are switching churches, not finding faith. And in some denominations, nearly half of churches report zero baptisms in a full calendar year. Let’s pause and let that sink in: a growing number of churches in America are not leading a single person to Christ each year. For Small Churches, This Can Feel Defeating If you’re leading a small church, these trends can sound...