I have been interested in life-giving ways for ELCA Lutherans to share their stories about Jesus’ transformative love and grace for a long time. So much of this new resource from the ELCA is basic but also essential! I suspect it will address many of your fears and queasiness around the very word evangelism, but it will also point to skills and tools you already possess.
“Welcome to the community of everyday evangelists. That might sound more intimidating than it actually is. To be an evangelist is simply to be one who shares with others the good news that God, our Creator, loves all of us with the tenderness, persistence, patience and fierceness of a mother, of a father, or of a grandparent—and that God has shown us this love concretely through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are an evangelist if you have ever shared the love of God with others through your stories, through your testimony or simply by bearing witness through your life. The word “evangelist” comes from the Greek word euangelion (in Latin, evangelium), which means good news and is translated into English as “gospel.” (See appendix 1 for a discussion on the relationship between the gospel, justice, evangelism and evangelicalism.)”