I have just begun my ministry training with my pastor. I feel called to evangelize. I have heard so many times that the church is running out of evangelists. I went and preached for an elderly Pastor a few months ago, and he said, "there are hardly any evangelist today that know how to preach to sinners". I know when I was a child we used to have an evangelist come and have one and two month revivals. We would have church six days a week, and somebody would receive the Holy Ghost every night. I can't remember the last time I've seen or heard of a church that has had a revival with an evangelist for such an amount time. What changed? Why do we not see that anymore?
The reasons for this are fairly obvious. Though the reasons stated below may weigh on the matter; this does not mean that they are all together valid reasons or pleasing to God. However, they do affect the evangelist. Also times have changed and these changes in culture affect the church as well.
Busy families…In many cases both spouses work and with the load of family and other responsibilities people do not have the time, or energy, to maintain long revivals.
Interest…For many of us who grew up many years ago the church was a huge part of our daily lives. We did not have cars and money that affords people today with the opportunity to make frequent road trips. We did not have access to the many technological gadgets that take a lot of time and interest. Sad but true; many people’s lives are too crowded and complicated to include more demands on their time. It is also true that Americans, including apostolics, have a much shorter attention span than we did years ago.
Money…Revivals are expensive. It takes quit a bit of money to pay travel expenses, food, lodging and pay of the evangelist. Every pastor feels the need to pay an evangelist adequately
Value…Many pastors feel that just to have a preacher come preach does not add much value to the church, considering the demands of time and money on the church. A pastor is not normally looking for a orator as much as a man who can operate in the Spirit, build faith, inspire visitors and pray through to the Holy Ghost. Do not expect to eat big meals, play golf etc. and not make your time in the church a productive effort for the church.
Having said those things we know that the evangelist is a God called ministry. On top of that these things are not fault of the evangelist and pastors need to step up to the plate and support this vital and much needed ministry.
The pastor can offset these things by: a) making sure that he has seasoned evangelists come to his church annually b) raise funds, are do whatever is necessary, in order to properly support the evangelist c) have beginning evangelist come (they need the experience and you may can pay them less than an experienced, seasoned evangelist…especially if they live close by and have less expenses) d) use part-time evangelist (they may have other means of income and preach for less.