Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Elvis Díaz

Second Advisor

Ricardo Norton

Third Advisor

Ronald Rojas

Abstract

Problem

An investigation conducted along with the church board revealed that the congregation has not had an evangelistic training program in the last 5 years. Consequently, only 5 of the 347 members are involved in the evangelistic work of the local community. An evangelistic training program has the potential to involve members fully equipped to evangelize the people in their community.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to develop an evangelistic training program to involve more church members in the evangelization of the community and to involve church members in holistic growth.

Methodology

This investigation belongs to the discipline of applied theology. The objective is to develop and implement an intentional training program to promote the involvement of the members of Poughkeepsie Hispanic SDA Church in the evangelization of their community. The efficacy of the seminar was determined by evaluating the participants' opinions on the integration of church members in evangelistic work. To conduct the investigation, biblical and theological literature pertaining to training, evangelism and church growth was examined. Likewise, the topic of training and evangelism was studied in the context of contemporary literature. The Poughkeepsie Hispanic SDA Church facilitated the project, allowing the implementation of the seminar in which the knowledge obtained from the investigation was applied.

Results

In the training program that was presented, the participants acquired essential tools for evangelization. They also received the necessary instructions to use these tools in an effective manner. As an outcome of the instructional program, numerous participants unearthed their spiritual gifts, fostering an amplified engagement in evangelistic efforts. This project initiated with a mere five individuals partaking in the church's evangelistic endeavors. Upon its completion, the figure had escalated to thirty-five, indicating a seven-fold increase in active involvement in the church's evangelistic work. This substantial upsurge facilitated an expansion in the quantity of Bible studies, an augmentation in the count of recently baptized members, and a boost in the number of attendees at church services. Furthermore, the need to create an evangelism strategy that would allow the church to be prominent in the community was identified. This resulted in the opening of a community outreach center that assists some 300 families on a weekly basis. Simultaneously, the church made its facilities available to allow the Mexican Consulate to provide consular services to the community on a bimonthly basis. As a result, the church is now a reference point in the Poughkeepsie community. Additionally, there was able to register an increase in local offerings from $110,000.00 in 2018 to $199,000.00 in 2019. In 2020, local offerings decreased slightly due to the Coronavirus, which paralyzed the entire state of New York for more than a year. Nevertheless, the offerings amounted to $136,800.00. However, in 2021, despite labor constraints, the offerings increased to $158,600.00. A need to address issues related to evangelism in the Poughkeepsie Hispanic SDA Church was proven. The importance of addressing them in public was confirmed, as the participants were very receptive to the presentations and discussed the issues openly. The program was greatly appreciated and well regarded by the participants, as revealed in the evaluation questionnaire that was distributed at the end of the seminar.

Conclusion

The analysis of biblical and contemporary literature related to training and evangelism demonstrated the importance of creating an intentional training program that promotes a missionary spirit within the congregation. Hence, when a church is properly trained for evangelism, the number of people involved in evangelism increases as does the church's membership.

Subject Area

Laity--Seventh-day Adventists--Training of; Evangelistic work--New York--Poughkeepsie; Seventh-day Adventists--New York--Poughkeepsie; Poughkeepsie Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)

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