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“How do we do effective evangelism? All our ‘outreach’ events are just another excuse for fellowship!” Our new associate pastor looked around at the outreach committee, but nobody answered him. He pressed his point. “I mean, how do we actually reach nonbelievers, not just believers?” Eventually a discussion got under way, and finally one idea stuck. Our town was known as a “jazz town,” with a couple of jazz venues that were always crowded. We hatched the idea of Jazz Night. We’d hire a name-brand jazz artist to play at the church, convert the sanctuary into a coffee shop atmosphere, put church brochures on the tables, be ready to greet people and then “let it rip.” What could go wrong?

In 1739, Benjamin Franklin went to hear itinerant evangelist George Whitefield preach in Philadelphia. Whitefield was quickly becoming the greatest celebrity in colonial America, drawing crowds in the tens of thousands, and Franklin wanted to know why. In Whitefield he discovered a brilliant innovator who blended drama with faith, blurring the lines between religion and entertainment.