Evangelist LeRoy Jones

I received the following statement in a newsletter from LeRoy Jones, a Methodist evangelist from Chatham, Virginia. I met LeRoy and his wife Peg at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism several years ago. LeRoy writes:

“God is still blessing the little churches. Most of the churches where Peg and I are called to minister are small churches. Sometimes it is a single evangelistic service, sometimes it is a revival, at other times we are asked to do a missions program. Still at other times we are asked to do special occasion services or programs, such as Homecomings, Christmas and senior citizens events. We have learned to adapt to whatever the need is for that special occasion. We are grateful for the churches that still enjoy and desire the “old time” revival service. Many of us were converted in revival services. I believe the church was much healthier when we advertised, prayed for, and invited the Evangelist in for the annual, or semi-annual revival or evangelistic emphasis.”

As LeRoy is telling us here, the church still needs the ministry of the evangelist. As the Scripture says, “And he [Jesus] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Ephesians 4:11, 12, KJV. The ministry of the evangelist is much needed today to keep the church on task and on target.