DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to equip church leaders to develop effective evangelistic strategies for their church's distinctive ministry context. The course focuses on evangelism as a process of building relationships through which the local church seeks to impact its context with a holistic gospel. Therefore, the class will provide a theological basis for evangelism and for the communication of the gospel in contemporary Hispanic culture. It will provide students with tools to develop evangelistic strategies in order to plan personal, small group, and church-wide evangelism activities appropriate to their own context.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: After completing this course the student will (1) gain a biblical, theological, and missiological understanding of evangelism in contemporary society; (2) appreciate the importance of a "culture of evangelism" in the local church; (3) have tools for evaluating contemporary evangelistic programs; (4) be motivated to engage in evangelism and be able to analyze and apply the most suitable evangelistic tactics for effective church outreach; (5) develop and implement a strategic plan of evangelism that is culturally relevant to the student's church or ministry situation.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: The main objective of this course is to help students learn how to do evangelism in a culturally relevant way, with a biblical, theological, and missiological foundation. The course is designed for church leaders and/or lay people who understand their responsibility and have the passion for developing effective, culturally relevant evangelistic strategies in the local church.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet weekly for three-hour sessions for ten weeks. Students will learn via presentations (professor- and student-led), class discussions, video and multimedia presentations, and small group exercises.

REQUIRED READING (1500 pages):

Burke, John. No se Admiten Personas Perfectas. Miami: Editorial Vida, 2006.

Mittelberg, Mark. Edifique una Iglesia Contagiosa. Miami: Editorial Vida, 2005.

Course Reader containing the following books:

Steuernagel, Valdir, ed. Al Servicio del Reino en América Latina. San José, Costa Rica: Visión Mundial, 1991.

Steuernagel, Valdir, ed. La Misión de la Iglesia. San José, Costa Rica: Visión Mundial, 1992.

Grellert, M., Myers, B., y McAlpine, T. Al Servicio del Reino. San José: Visión Mundial, 1992.

Hybels, Bill, y Mark Mittelberg. Conviértase en un Cristiano Contagioso. Miami: Editorial Vida, 2003.

Escobar, Samuel. Tiempo de Misión. Ediciones CLARA, 1999.

Ferreira, Danny. Evangelización Total. El Paso, TX: Editorial Mundo Hispano, 1996.

Green, Michael. La Iglesia Local, Agente de Evangelización. Nueva Creación, 1996.

Southerland, Dan. Transiciones: Dirija su Iglesia a Través del Cambio. Editorial Vida, 1999.

Van Engen, Charles E. El Pueblo Misionero de Dios. Libros Desafío, 2004.