Permission Evangelism

What is 'permission evangelism'? It doesn't mean we can only evangelize those who want to be evangelized! Instead, it demonstrates how to connect with non-Christians, and use an approach which aims to lead them into giving us permission to offer progressively more information about the Gospel in an appropriate way. So says the strategic book from Michael L Simpson:

Permission Evangelism
- When to Talk, When to Walk
Michael L Simpson
NexGen Books (Cook Communications, Colorado Springs)
ISBN 0-7814-3908-6
The first chapter is online.

Simpson's strategies are sanctified common-sense, and vital for evangelism in today’s postmodern world.

I believe that these insights also relate clearly to web evangelism. By offering gentle and tentative step-by-step pages, rather than dumping a heavy lump of preachy concrete on readers' heads, we are employing permission evangelism techniques. To paraphrase Willowcreek's ethos, an evangelistic website should be "a safe place for a dangerous message", and should "create space for non-believers to come and investigate the radical claims of Christ at their own pace."

Such an approach is show-cased in a number of effective outreach sites - see our case-study about Women Today Magazine - and other sites which use the Bridge Strategy. It is biblical, and accords with effective communication, adult learning principles and the path which people take on their spiritual journeys described by the Gray Matrix.

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Top
Free evangelistic screen saver - a low-key 'conversation starter' for workplace or home
The X Spectrum - defining the target audience of any Christian website or other communication medium.
Free page for your site - add an introductory page about Web Evangelism to your site. Also available as 1300-word article for print media.
Christian blogging - how to use blogs for outreach
Internet Evangelism Day – the exciting new focus day for YOUR church

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