The Setting: A Mission on the Boardwalk
This summer, a group of twenty-six adults and young people—led by Andy and Trish Gruswitz from the Grand Rapids HRC—embarked on a one-week trip to the Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, NJ, for instruction and practice in evangelism.
The Boardwalk Chapel, a mission of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, just celebrated its 80th year of being present in the vacation community of the south Jersey shoreline. It is a small chapel that opens up onto the three-mile boardwalk along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
Our group consisted of all ages and several churches. For a week we were immersed in instruction in evangelism, and a hands-on experience in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The training was a consolidated version of what the chapel provides to teens and young adults that participate during their summer-long program.
Grounded in Prayer
We started by looking at the Lord’s Prayer. Honoring God and His glory is the only motivation for evangelism. It is not our kingdom come, but God’s kingdom come. We will never see a mighty movement of evangelism unless we see a mighty movement of prayer. We next looked at the gospel: the needs it addresses and the work of each member of the Trinity in providing God’s solution to our sin and death.
Each morning, we met for instruction in the chapel. These sessions provided both biblical foundations and practical preparation. A garage door at the back of the chapel, facing the boardwalk, was open and people strolling by would poke their heads in. Some would stay for a short while and listen along with us.
During the afternoon, the chapel instructed the regular student in a more formal, lengthy course that repeats annually. Those of us who still had capacity for study could stay for this more technical, apologetics training. Others took this time to work, study, play games, or enjoy the waves. The weather while we were there ranged from the low to high 70s, so it was a beautiful week to be at the New Jersey shore.
Cold vs. Relationship Evangelism
One of the lessons divided evangelism into two categories: Cold Evangelism and Relationship Evangelism. Cold Evangelism is where there is no relationship to be leveraged. This is street evangelism, or a door-to-door ministry, or jail work. Relationship Evangelism is when you have a relationship with people and use that to witness to them. Both types of evangelism are used in scripture. Consequently, we should be practicing both. One of the benefits of Cold Evangelism is that failures carry low consequences.. We simply review how we could improve our witness and move on to the next person. This provides a training for the more consequential Relationship Evangelism, where we are witnessing to our co-workers, our unchurched families, or others we have a relationship with. By practicing our Cold Evangelism, we gain confidence we can use in Relationship Evangelism in handling the challenges and responses without being overwhelmed.
Learning by Doing
But it wasn’t just about classroom learning. Each evening, we turned theory into action. We divided into teams and put into practice what we learned. Evangelism, from the human side, is very much an experience game. All the technical learning is only helpful to a point. Evangelism needs to be practiced to gain confidence and to smooth the edges. Those who may have tried evangelism know that perfection is not the goal. There is always room for improvement, for tweaking our opening, our hook, or our closing. These things are developed through practice.
Ultimately, however, it is not what we say that matters. Although each of us is an agent God uses to share His Word, and we are called to use the means to do our best, the battle is the Lord’s. It is His work. It is “thy kingdom come”. It is God’s desire to tell the nations. It is His charge to make disciples. Each night when we broke into teams, one team stayed back at the chapel and was the prayer team for the evening. While the others were out witnessing, the prayer team was praying for God’s blessing on our words, praying for people to stop and engage in discussion, praying for wisdom for those speaking to them, praying for an opening, praying for conviction of sin, praying for the Holy Spirit to use our means to do His revealed will (Ezekiel 33:11). As we met people, someone in our group would text the prayer team so they knew the names and situations that needed direct intercession. Except the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain.
Tools of the Trade: The “Free Test”
The Boardwalk Chapel started in 1944 and has been involved in evangelism for many years. The staff was very knowledgeable about various evangelistic techniques and trends. For this shorter class, they taught us to use both a sign and gospel tracts as conversation starter. I found the sign to be most effective. It simply read, “Are you going to Heaven? Free Test.” This piqued people’s interest and set the tone for a conversation about God. People who stopped knew what they were getting into and expected a discussion about Heaven and Hell. This worked well to engage people in deeper conversations.
The test was simple: only two questions. We asked them to rate their expectation of getting to Heaven on a scale of 1 to 10. Next, we asked them what they would answer if they were to die and stand before God, and He asked them, “Why should I let you into my Kingdom?” Their answers to these two questions revealed where they were at in terms of their relationship with Jesus Christ and provided an opportunity for a gospel presentation tailored to them.
It was amazing to see God bringing people in to “take the test.” Sometimes it would be a couple walking together, or a mom with her children, or several friends out for a stroll. Often the test was seen as a joke, and friends dared each other to take it. But the hook was the fact that all people know there is a God. God has His witness stamped on their hearts (Romans 1). The conversation would often begin in a lighthearted mood: “Oh, I’m going to Heaven because I’ve not done anything too bad.” But we were able to use the training to lead them to our natural, three-fold problem. As drawn from Ezek. 36:25–27, we have a serpent heart, an unclean past, and a toxic life, but God has a three-fold solution for our three-fold problem. Many would be called away before we could finish the discussion, but others stayed for thirty minutes or more. God works. This is His mission field. It is His glory to save, and many people listened. People who were just going about their day gave us time to talk and present the gospel, even if it was just a portion of it. Cold Evangelism, we were taught, is often only one waypoint on the journey God is patiently leading a sinner on. Only Heaven will tell the fruits. What an encouragement for the oxen treading out the grain, when we could see times when God was tugging at a heart.
God’s Power in Weak Means
No matter where you are at in evangelism, there is always space for learning and practicing. The Chapel divided the people into teams based on experience, and it was an excellent opportunity for all to learn from others and to grow and practice for themselves.
As one participant told me, “If you ever desired to be a witness for the Lord, but didn’t know how to begin, this opportunity to lower your fear factor while enjoying a week of Christian fellowship is for you.” Another participant told me that it is humbling work watching people pass by and seeing that we have no power in ourselves to persuade them. The people telling us they were certainly not going to Heaven was also very solemn. That is the sad reality, to be a witness to the many dry bones that have no care for their souls. Young people, wandering the boardwalk, thinking only of who is noticing them, dressed to attract the wrong kind of attention and never giving a thought to their Creator. We also encountered many morally “good” sinners, leading “pretty good” lives, and thinking God will negotiate, or that their good will outweigh their bad. There were even religious sinners trusting in some works righteousness, or past experience, or their church attendance and giving no thought to needing a righteousness outside of themselves.
As we saw the mass of the dry bones before us, it was a glorious work to see God using the little chance encounters. We were able to be used as instruments in His hands, like He used the little maid in Namaan’s life, to point sinners to Jesus Christ. To say, “If only you knew my God.” And when Jesus says “live,” nothing can resist His power.
Looking Ahead: Join Us in 2026
The HRC church in Grand Rapids has reserved the first week of August in the summer of 2026. This is not another week of the “School of Evangelism”, but a “youth group week”, which is the way the chapel runs most of the summer. The main differences are that the training is somewhat condensed, the evangelistic programs in the chapel run every weekday night, and the day’s schedule starts and ends later in the day. If you are interested, please sign up before the chapel space fills up: https://heritagereformedgr.org/bwc-2026/
Also, if you are in your upper teens or young twenties and are looking for a summer learning and practicing evangelism (or serving in another team, such as domestics, drama, music, or AVL), the staff program at the Boardwalk Chapel might also be a good fit for you to live there for a few weeks, or the entire summer. For more information on staff positions, visit: https://boardwalkchapel.org/serve/staff/