Faith Formation: Spiritual Gifts for Evangelism Outreach

This thesis project addresses the gap in the literature concerning spiritual gifts for evangelism. This Doctor of Ministry action research project at Prevailing Word Ministries hypothesizes that if Prevailing Word Ministries fulfills the spiritual gifts for evangelism Bible study and training course, the Bible study participants will grow in faith and attendance. This was achieved through eight Bible study teaching and training sessions with questionnaires, journalling, a survey, and a focus group interview; assessments were made from answers given by the fourteen participants upon completing the eight online Zoom Bible study sessions. These assessments measured how successfully the intervention project aided participants in growth in faith and evangelism for the increase in Bible study attendance using their spiritual gifts. The method to address the problem at Prevailing Word Ministries included instruction on the biblical precedents of the spiritual gifts using the Seminole book Spiritual Gifts in the Local Church to explain the spiritual gifts within three categories. This enabled the participants to identify spiritual gifts and their giftings to use them in evangelism outreach. These three categories of spiritual gifts are the manifestation of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:8-10), ministries of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:28, Eph 4:8-14), and gifts of grace (Rom 12:3-8). The project’s results indicate the fourteen participants grew in their faith by exercising their spiritual gifts for evangelism outreach; 86 percent of the participants grew in faith using their spiritual gifts for evangelism outreach, yielding five additional attendees in the ministries’ Bible study attendance, a 25 percent increase.