New York pizza connoisseurs look away. Chicago deep-dish pizza–with about an inch of toppings–needs to be eaten with a fork. The photo is from famous Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in the elegant Oak Park section of Chicago.

For FamilyLife, we attended The Changing Face of Evangelism conducted by Cru | City in Chicago. The intent of this training is to mobilize church members to do a conversational form of one-to-one relational sharing. They use the broad concept of well-being from Isaiah 48:17-19 as a form of commonly felt need.

Cru | City started with a compelling perspective on the need for new methods of effective evangelism. 86% of millennials are post-Christian. America has the fourth largest non-Christian population in the world after Russia, India, and China. Cru | City’s technique involves asking questions and listening without judgement then talking about Jesus from a position of understanding. The training challenged practitioners to consider themselves as cojourners on a spiritual journey and thereby avoid barriers to the message.

Kit and I still prefer pursuing the more narrowly focused felt need of relationships. But if your church or group would like an innovative approach to outreach, please check Cru | City’s website at https://churchmovements.com

Drew