Home Podcast Craig Springer: What You Need to Know About Millennials and Evangelism

Craig Springer: What You Need to Know About Millennials and Evangelism

Alpha USA

Craig Springer is the executive director of Alpha USA, an organization which helps churches invite non-Christians to explore questions of faith in a welcoming environment. Craig has a broad personal church background including non-denominational megachurches, Vineyard churches, evangelical Presbyterian churches, and international church planting. He currently serves at Cherry Hills Community Church in Denver. Craig and his wife, Sarah, have a son and a daughter.

Key Questions for Craig Springer

– What did you learn from the Reviving Evangelism study, specifically about the future of evangelism?

– What does Scripture tell us about how Jesus approached evangelism?

Key Quotes from Craig Springer

“47 percent of Millennial Christians believe it is wrong to share their faith.”

“94 percent of Millennial Christians believe that the best thing that could happen to anyone is that they would come to know Jesus…There’s not a decline in passion among Millennial Christians for their friends and family to know Jesus. ”

“Millennial Christians have more non-Christian friends than any other preceding generation.”

“Millennial Christians and Gen Z Christians are dealing with this far-more inflamed polarized tone in our culture. We have to do much more to disarm and to build trust and create spaces of belonging before we can even have a conversation.”

“The top priority that a non-Christian believes would help them consider faith with a conversation partner is someone who listens without judgment and the second top priority is someone who doesn’t force them to draw a conclusion.”

“Jesus asked 307 questions and he only directly answered eight questions…That’s his approach to bringing the Kingdom to bear in people’s lives, is listening, storytelling, creating space for conversation.”

“When we’re focused on helping people understand us or our doctrine, not giving them space to process out what they’re thinking, we’re not creating that sense of home, that sense of belonging before they believe.”

“We need to rethink our evangelism training. How much training are we giving Christians in the art of listening? If we were following Jesus’s methods of evangelism, we would be the best listeners on the planet.”

“82 percent of people who complete an Alpha Course from start to finish end up developing a relationship with Jesus somewhere along the way.”

“Nothing lights up your prayer life more than praying for someone to meet Jesus and then they do before your eyes.”

“With churches that are really thriving evangelistically, you’ll see that there’s a white-hot fire of prayer and worship beneath that.” If you want your evangelistic temperature to rise as a church, you won’t be able to carry the burden and opportunity of that if your prayer and worship temperature don’t rise with it.”

Mentioned in the Show:

AlphaUSA.org
Reviving Evangelism Study
Jesus Is the Question

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Jason serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at PastorServe, a ministry committed to strengthening the Church by serving pastors through personal coaching and church consulting. He also hosts FrontStage BackStage, a podcast and YouTube show, that helps pastors embrace healthy, well-balanced leadership as they develop a sustainable rhythm for life and ministry. Prior to joining the PastorServe team, Jason served as Vice President of Ministry Mobilization at Outreach, Inc., and as the Executive Director of the National Back to Church Sunday movement. Additionally, Jason served for nearly two decades in pastoral leadership, primarily as a lead pastor, in several contexts, including church plant re-launch, multisite church, multiethnic urban church, and an established suburban church. His experience as a lead pastor has provided numerous opportunities to coach and mentor pastors across the country. Jason and his beautiful wife, Monica, are the proud parents of six children and live on Anastasia Island, Florida. @jasondaye