Answer
The role of the pastor who specializes in evangelism and/or outreach varies widely from church to church. The person who engages in evangelism and outreach should first be gifted by the Holy Spirit in these areas and that gifting should be clear to both the pastor and those he serves. Ephesians 4:7-8 and 11-13 state, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,…And gave gifts to men.’ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Whatever the role and duties of the evangelism/outreach pastor, his primary goal should be to equip others for service within the body of Christ.
A pastor who specializes in evangelism may go out into the community himself, perhaps in a door-to-door ministry, sharing the gospel of Christ with all he meets and inviting them to church. He may conduct regular evangelistic crusades or meetings in other areas for the goal of spreading the gospel and calling others to Christ. The evangelism pastor uses the biblical method of evangelism, sharing both the bad news of sin and judgment and the good news of salvation from sin through the shed blood of Christ at Calvary.
Outreach is another function of the evangelism/outreach pastor that can have many facets. The outreach pastor may be in charge of reaching out in a practical sense to those in the church with special needs, such as widows who need help with home maintenance and repair, single mothers who need childcare help, the unemployed, the homeless, etc. The outreach pastor may have a staff of volunteers he can call upon to help identify and meet those needs. Outreach can also be another word for discipleship. Some outreach pastors meet regularly with young people in the church to help them grow to spiritual maturity. He may conduct formal Bible studies or simply meet over a meal to come alongside and encourage them.
Again, whatever the individual duties of the evangelism/outreach pastor, his primary role is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).
