Does the Church need to downsize its evangelistic efforts? Todd Hunter thinks so. He has organized a new, non-profit organization aimed at helping pastors and lay leaders reach a generation that often feels disenfranchised from organized religion.

This effort is noteworthy because Hunter doesn't come from the perspective of some wild-eyed radical, but as former national director of the Vineyard Churches and national director at Alpha USA.

The latter oversees the popular Alpha courses, a basic introduction to Christianity that has spread worldwide. I recently worked on the testimony of a man from England who sought Christ because of the spiritual stirrings he felt after attending an Alpha course at a church near his home.

Conversational evangelism

Hunter's Society for Kingdom Living is promoting "Three is Enough Groups," also known as conversational evangelism.

These groups are designed to show people how to undo un-Christian faith by showing them that heaven is not Christianity's goal, but its destination. In Hunter's eyes, the goal is being servants to others while we're here.

"Keeping the groups small and focused insures that evangelism can happen anywhere, in the midst of people's busy lives," Hunter says.

"Meeting in their most natural places of community—the workplace, school, or at the local coffee shop—'Three is Enough Groups' will go on the journey inward of spiritual transformation and the journey outward of serving others."

Most interesting is Hunter's belief that Christianity in America has a massive image problem that stymies most attempts at evangelism. This is where his idea of downsizing evangelism comes in—not reducing efforts to spread the gospel, but forsaking mass crusades for smaller, more intimate conversations.

Lining up with trends

I find the idea intriguing because of other stories I've worked in recent times that constantly bring up the point that younger people are interested in smaller groups where they can develop authentic relationships. On this point, "Three is Enough" appears to line up with future trends.

Hunter will be reviewing the concept in more detail at a workshop during a Conversational Evangelism Conference Sept. 12-13 in Phoenix. A description on the web site says TiE "rescues evangelism out of the program category and relocates it back in the natural context of spiritual formation."

There are several other workshops or main sessions that sound quite interesting:

• A session on seeker small groups that will be led by Garry Poole, evangelism leader at Willow Creek Community Church for the past 16 years. Poole is currently spearheading a neighborhood ministry initiative and has trained numerous leaders to launch seeker small groups.
• David Kinnaman, co-author of "unChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity and Why it Matters," will discuss mass evangelism and how it rarely produces a massive number of disciples. He will discuss how "thinking small" can help apply a biblical approach to relationships.
• Evangelist Randy Siever will discuss the myths of pre-evangelism, a term commonly used to describe efforts to find an "opening" for verbal presentations of the gospel.

Idea worth exploring

The national conference isn't the only opportunity to learn about these small groups; various churches have hosted events. Bestselling author and California Pastor John Ortberg said a conference at his church stoked members' "evangelism fire."

In an era of rapid, often confusing change, no one method is guaranteed to produce results. Still, this is one idea that merits closer examination by the Church.