Methodists Attempt to Reclaim the 'E-Word'

The Rev. Mark Teasdale says his seminary students speak with dread about the “E-word” — the evangelism they are required to study if they are pursuing United Methodist ordination.

“The reason they call it the ‘E-word’ and they don’t want to get too close to it is that there have been unethical people who have self-identified as evangelists who have hurt them,” Teasdale said. He is the E. Stanley Jones associate professor of evangelism at United Methodist Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary near Chicago.