Friendship Evangelism
The 5 Thresholds toward Faith
Since 2008, we have been helping thousands of friends explore the process of faith together. Many people think Jesus is cool, but faith seems abstract and unreachable. We will break this process down into 5 understandable stages, and give you practical advice for how to help your friends move through each "threshold." We call this friendship evangelism.
What are the 5 Thresholds?
Follow along with our video series as we break friendship evangelism down into 5 simple stages, with practical advice for how to move through each one.
Watch the Video Series
5 Thresholds Foundations
Understand the journey toward faith for your friends.
2+ Prayer Card
This Prayer Card PDF will help you identify some friends and start to pray for them.
Download PDF Example Prayers (Coming Soon)
5 Thresholds Advanced
Fuel the journey toward faith in others.
(Note: these resources are in development. Please give us feedback as you use them)
Asking Good Questions
Learn how to ask two types of questions (safe and brave) and how to engage in direct and indirect conversations. This 45 minute self-guided course will teach you how to ask good questions, which fuel the process of evangelism.
Telling Great Stories
Learn the art of telling a great story, which can create spiritual openness and curiosity. This 45 minute course will help you workshop your stories to use in spiritual conversations.
5 Thresholds Training Materials
Help your community grow in friendship evangelism.
Training PPT
Use this one hour training presentation to train your chapter, leaders, church, or staff team in the 5 Thresholds.
Coaching Pro Tips
This Pro Tips PDF will show you common barriers and obstacles to helping someone progress in the thresholds. Use it to get unstuck and keep moving your friend along.
Exploratory Bible Studies
This 5 week Bible study series will help your friends encounter God. Each study has artistic interpretations of the passage, as well as a few practical discussion questions.
FAQs on Contextualization
We have found that the 5 Thresholds work in a variety of contexts. They have been translated in nearly 10 languages, and are being utilized in various countries around the world. Here are some pro-tips to serve different contexts:
Nominal Christians
Nominal or Cultural Christians have not yet made the decision to make Jesus the center of their entire life. We recommend that you focus on the 4th Threshold, focusing their quest.
International Student Ministry
We have found the following questions to be the most helpful as international students move through the 5 Thresholds:
- What’s your spiritual background?
- What has surprised you the most about Christians?
- What are some challenges or barriers that might keep you from following Jesus?
- How is learning from Jesus challenging your personal values and relationships?
Check out our International Student Ministry toolkit (link coming soon).
Graduate Students & Faculty
We have also found the 5 Thresholds to be very helpful for graduate students and faculty. Hear from Melody, an expert at Graduate students and Faculty Ministry:
“The beauty of the Five Thresholds is that it helps grad students and faculty see that having the right answer is not nearly as important as being a trust-worthy friend. I like to remind students and faculty that we can actually build trust by exploring answers together with our friends and NOT giving them immediate answers. Grad students and faculty are often very good at asking questions, so another strength with the Thresholds is focus on asking good questions to help folks on their spiritual journey. Lastly, GFM folks have been responding positively when given a chance to follow Jesus for themselves.” - (Melodie Marske, GFM Regional Director)
Check out our Graduate Student and Faculty Toolkit (staff only).
Other Religions
The 5 Thresholds are very helpful with people of other faiths. Here are some of our best practices:
- Go to their faith event and read their religious texts in order to build trust and reciprocity.
- Be curious about what they believe. Ask good questions about their experience and convictions.
- Tell them honest stories about your needs and how you bring your issues to Jesus in prayer. Ask if you can pray for them in the name of Jesus. You can say, It is fine if you do not believe in Jesus. I need to pray in the name of Jesus because it’s the only way I know how to access his power.
- Invite them to look at the bible with you. Try these exploratory bible studies.