The Commission on Evangelism is changing the format of its popular School of Outreach program to offer a more flexible program and more opportunities for follow-through.

For more than 20 years, the Commission on Evangelism has been offering these regional three-day workshops across the country to teach attendees—both called workers and lay-members—about the fundamentals of an evangelism program and to help congregations develop an outreach strategy. But the extensive time commitment was making it difficult for congregational leaders to be able to attend. "We also noticed that the intensive weekend gets to be an overload," says Mike Hintz, evangelism director. "It can be too much to take in and implement." Follow-through was also difficult and inconsistent.

In the new School of Outreach, the program training will be spread out over a longer period of time—a one-day workshop in the fall and another in winter. Trained advisors from the area—pastors who are gifted in the area of outreach—will be assigned to local congregations to help develop outreach strategies at the workshops and then answer questions and provide support for up to a year after. "It's going to be more personal, more practical, and it's going to give greater flexibility in meeting the needs of the individual congregation," says Donn Dobberstein, pastor at Our Savior's, Port Orange, Fla., and chairman of the Commission on Evangelism.

The program will be piloted in three districts—South Atlantic, Michigan, and Pacific Northwest—this fall.

According to Dobberstein, this approach of having district advisors will allow the workshops and the follow-through to focus on the unique outreach blessings and challenges in the districts. "We had some opportunity to adapt resources in our training and our encouraging to meet the needs of the changing world in which our synod churches are trying to share Christ," he says. "Who better to serve alongside our congregations than people within their own districts."

Even with 156 School of Outreach workshops completed over the past 20 years, Hintz says the need for examining and reconsidering outreach strategies is still necessary. "This is a program that's built on the premise of what can we do in the area where God has planted us to reach more people with the gospel now," he says.

Dobberstein appreciates how the workshops reenergize attendees to spread the Word. He says, "They come away with a greater connection with Christ's calling and a greater passion to share his love."

To learn more about the School of Outreach, contact your district evangelism coordinator or the Commission on Evangelism, 414-256-3287.