Keeping the Faith : Evangelist Group Seeking Recruits Among Young

The teachers who work at the Child Evangelism Fellowship know they can’t steer all children into God’s flock, but Lord knows, they try.

Whether spreading the word through Bible study classes or holding birthday parties for Jesus, the small band of “born-again” believers travels the South Bay in search of young evangelism enlistees.

Working out of a nondescript office on Pacific Coast Highway in south Redondo Beach, the group tries to get the Gospel out to the growing number of people not affiliated with any organized religion or church.

“We just try to reach all those children who don’t have any place else to turn,” said Carol Bury, director of the South Bay chapter of CEF Inc., a self-styled evangelistic missionary program based in Warrenton, Mo. “We’re looking for those not already attending churches and we don’t try to con parents about what we do. But we’re not just another club. We’re teaching people about Jesus and training future Christian ministers.”

With a paid staff of three and with only about two dozen volunteers, including teachers, it is no small task. CEF has 32 chapters in Southern California, and the South Bay branch, which stretches to the Long Beach border, is among the smallest. But the way the group sees it, Goliath didn’t fare so well, so is size all that important?

They are fueled by some statistics that suggest Americans are placing more faith in religion as a means of solving their problems than ever before. Furthermore, nearly 90% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, even though most of them do not attend church regularly. It partly explains why the number of evangelicals has risen to more than 40 million during the last decade.

Groups like the little-known Christian Evangelism Fellowship call it as a good opportunity to increase their market share.

“We see it as a big missionary opportunity,” said Ed Zegan, CEF’s state missionary director. “We believe we have the expertise in teaching the Gospel to children. And even if they decide to go somewhere else, that’s fine. That’s the Christian way.”

At CEF’s small South Bay headquarters, Bury and about seven other specially trained teachers go to neighborhoods and offer their services as Bible teachers. CEF calls its study groups Good News Clubs, and it uses simple charts, songs and other means to teach biblical verse to children.

At a recent training session, Bury showed would-be teachers (whose only requirement is that they be “born-again” Christians) how to tell a story using Velcro figures of ancient holy men on a large easel.

Such simple techniques are common among evangelical groups, but CEF, which boasts chapters in all 50 states and more than 80 other countries, focuses almost solely on teaching children and young adults.

Although other religious groups that use aggressive outreach programs have been accused of proselytizing, Bury said her group only works with parental consent and does not go door to door to peddle religious offerings. She said CEF is nondenominational, although the group does try to guide children to evangelical churches.

Still, she admits, other churches have occasionally taken exception to CEF, and asked it basically to stay away from their flocks.

The Rev. Thomas Rausch, a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University, said evangelical groups like CEF that work in the mainstream and recognize Catholics, Lutherans and other religious groups as Christians, rarely trigger problems.

“Evangelicals are not the same as fundamentalists, and as long as they are respectful of different beliefs, there aren’t many problems,” he said. “Where there is conflict is when you run into certain groups and sects that say we’re right and everybody else is wrong.”

Bury said CEF has had a presence in the South Bay for nearly 40 years, although they have only had an outside office for six. The group teaches about 25 Bible study clubs each year, with the enrollment ranging from 245 in 1988 to 709 last year.

The small size reflects one of the group’s problems, said William Panell, associate professor of evangelism and preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

“The fact that some of our people at this (evangelical) seminary have never heard of them suggests that they have perhaps restricted themselves to a small audience,” he said. “They’ve just stayed with their mission and they’re very tightly focused.”

Bury said that with all of the societal problems families must face, from gangs to drugs to economic woes, the need for groups like CEF increases.

“There’s a lot of concern and a lot of depression in families,” she said. “Society is such that a lot of children just need someone to turn to and that’s where we fit in. We try and give them an opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I mean, we can’t see into a person’s heart. But we can at least give them a chance to make a decision.”