Thanks for sharing this bit of your life that we never knew.

I'm not religious...but I have had several close friends who are rooted in their Christian faith for several decades of their life, but have not pressed their faith on me.

A church that size, to my uneducated eye on things religious, seems evangelical.

I guess I have such mixed feelings about evangelical oriented churches.

A few years ago, I visited my good Mennonite friend (she wears a white cap on her hair bun and always dresses to her knee, etc.) whom I've known for past 2 decades. It is in Mennonite-Amish area outside of Kitchener-Waterloo where I grew up in the city. She is a wonderful person who loved to travel when she was single and also now with her also Mennonite hubby.

She was driving me around during one of my visits and occasionally we got out of the car to walk in the country. What really stunned me was the number of sects that were hidden out in the rural area. And they were sects that even my good friend had no clue about. I am aware there are over 10 different Mennonite and Amish sects. But there are other church gtoups in these semi-rural areas, which are neither.

Dancer, how awesome of him to serve God in this way.
I liked the church site, too!

Orchid, out of curiosity, what do you consider evangelical?
Just to clarify... any and all Christian churches (if they are doing their jobs) should be evangelical.
Also, in another post (I'm not on that page, so can't look to see who posted it) did someone suggest Catholics aren't Christian? Anyone who accepts and professes the death and resurrection of Jesus (Christ) is Christian... the subdivisions of Christianity being Catholic, Protestant, Mormon....

Interesting that you ask, one guy I know, he is Lutheran but wears his faith gently in public, to the world. He is a legal aid lawyer and genuinely integrates his faith belief in his actions...as a professional on the job. It is this integration of Christian faith that I am more impressed by, because it's action, no judgement of others who are not even religious. He said he used to belong to an "evangelical" group.

Could I explain without offending anyone here, since it appears the majority of regular posters here are avowed believers..

I guess I associate evangelical, as probably alot of other non-Christians, as overly overbearing and constantly prosetilitzing (I gotta to check dictionary, sigh...), judging others who are not of the same faith or even believing in any God.

As I mentioned earlier, I have positive close friendships long-term with believers. Whereas there are people, as you know, who absolutely don't want to associate with people who profess to be Christian. I guess they feel "threatened" or whatever.

On the other hand, I guess I know of 2 very negative experiences other people I've known who ..quite honestly, got into a some sort of church-cult group which basically asked for a huge chunk of their money savings (my partner's brother) or who were forbidden to see their family once they joined the group (a friend's brother who had to be deprogrammed by a psychiatrist. Her brother was significantly mentally destabilized. Was delusional, etc. The whole case hit the local papers. I was around 19 yrs. old and didn't know the man described in paper was a good friends' brother..until 2 months later. )

By the way, it took years for my partner's brother to extricate himself from his church group and ot feel financially obligated. He had 2 sons to look after. It was led by 1 man.

When I hear the word proselytize, I think more of religion than Christianity (two different things, IMO)... proselytizers are people with a 'cause' (i.e. getting church numbers up) vs. an evangelical drive to win souls.

The lawyer you speak of is a true evangelical. He will plant more seed through actions, than your proverbial Bible thumper. By integrating his faith with his work, he will no doubt touch lives in a most positive way. But, did you learn of his Christian background by witnessing his way of living, or did he profess his Christianity to you? Obviously you have spoken with him (last sentence of your first par.). So, Christians pretty much have to evangelize, speak out. Too bad that over the generations the true purpose has been marred by those who proselytize, instead... this comes from a past Bible thumper. I was a Christian prude, expecting others to become like me. No telling how many I turned off. I realize now that I was trained to be the way I was.

About the kid who joined the group... he was fruit ready to be picked. Somewhere his family failed him, IMO. And, groups like the one he joined aren't Christian, even if they fly the Christian flag.

Not at all, meredith, not at all. "Evangelical" has its roots in Christianity, thus the connection... Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are considered the first four evangelists - preachers of the gospel. The word may be used in other ways now, but in my mind, it still has gospel implications.

I don't think there would be a non-Christian equivalent. Such people 'live' their witness, not preach of their beliefs.
'Evangelize' means to preach the gospel; to convert another to Christianity... a verbal affair, instead of and more so than a manner of conduct. However, a Christian who understands and practices the teachings of Jesus (Christ) will also live by example as part of their personal witness and as testament to their evangelical practices.

Truthfully, if I've heard the term used outside a 'Christian' dialogue, I've not taken note. It's not a term I hear on the street much. The reason behind my question to orchid was the fact that the term has acquired a negative property over the past 10-20 years ... we can give credit to the downfall of evangelical preachers such as Baker and Swaggart, along with [some] TV evangelicals. I may be wrong, but I drew a hint of the negative from her post. I'm not saying that I found that wrong. My curiosity was peaked.

I hear the term used in a negative way, a lot...