The Evangelism Lab
Building an innovation lab for the future of evangelism in North America, in partnership with Palau and leading ministries.
Hey friends,
Announcing The Evangelism Lab, a new initiative with Palau and other leading organizations to find, shape, and fund innovative ministries on the frontiers of evangelism in North America. Learn more at evangelismlab.org.
Tyler from Missional Labs
Why We Need Evangelism Innovation
The great evangelism movements of the past generation accomplished remarkable things. Crusades filled stadiums and reached millions. Seeker-sensitive churches met a genuine cultural moment. Relational and door-to-door outreach built bridges in communities where trust was still the default. These ministries were fruitful because they were designed for the world as it was.
But the world has been rewired — by algorithms, by institutional distrust, by the displacement of ambient Christianity from public life. The ways people encounter truth, form beliefs, and find community are being reimagined in real time. For most secular people today, Christianity is no longer an option to be seriously considered. Creating a credible, plausible encounter with Jesus is an enormous challenge.
And yet, windows are opening. The same young people disaffiliating from institutional religion are increasingly unsatisfied with secular alternatives. They’re hungry for meaning, transcendence, and community, and are creating new spaces of exploration on the edges of culture. Post-Christian and post-secular dynamics are colliding, creating mission contexts that demand fresh imagination.
This is both a missiological challenge and a generational opportunity.
It's also a structural one. We need new wineskins - new formation pathways for innovators, new ways to deploy the wisdom and reach of legacy institutions, and new vehicles for Gospel patrons willing to get behind high-potential ideas at the earliest stages. We need connective tissue that brings together churches, ministries, innovators, and funders to explore what's next together.
The stakes matter, because evangelistic vitality is the upstream indicator that will shape the next generation of our churches, denominations, and the culture at large.
The Lab Vision
In light of this, the Evangelism Lab is creating shared infrastructure for evangelistically-oriented organizations, innovators, churches, and funders. This will be a trusted space where emerging models meet institutional wisdom, where pioneers get mentoring and funding, and where established leaders connect with what’s emerging.
The Lab is anchored by Palau and Missional Labs, alongside 15+ other leading evangelism organizations and foundations. Palau brings sixty years at the forefront of evangelism innovation, from large-scale crusades across 80 nations to City Gospel Movements, plus a global network and convening credibility. Missional Labs brings deep experience building accelerator programs and innovation ecosystems for new ventures with theological and missiological depth. Together with our partners, we’re positioned to bridge the institutional and the emergent for the North American church.
The Lab emerged from months of listening together, across roundtables, funder conversations, and practitioner input, involving numerous evangelism organizations. The strategic priorities below came directly from those conversations, setting a shared agenda for what we need to invest in next, together.
Our Strategic Agenda
Through these conversations, we’ve consolidated six strategic priorities, which shape the agenda of the lab itself. We’re looking for projects advancing these priorities:
Reaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Young people are the most spiritually open generation in recent memory, and the least connected to the church.
Digital Media, Tools, and Storytelling. Spiritual searching increasingly happens online. We need ventures native to these spaces.
Everyday Relationships and Hospitality. Most people still come to faith through relationships. We need models that equip ordinary Christians to build real friendships where faith conversations emerge naturally.
Apologetics, Creativity, and Cultural Engagement. Fresh approaches that engage today’s objections and use beauty, art, and story to make the case that Christianity is true, good, and beautiful.
Equipping Local Churches. Practical tools that help congregations build sustainable cultures of witness.
Developing Young Evangelists. Identifying, training, and supporting the next generation of leaders.
How It Works
The Lab is a long term initiative, but its primary engine is a focused six-month innovation cohort. We'll cast a wide net to discover new grassroots models and ministries, then select 8–12 projects per cycle in alignment with lab priorities. We're looking for initiatives with a clear thesis about reaching people who don't know Jesus, an early-stage model ready to be developed, an approach bringing fresh imagination to the challenge, and potential to scale.
The program has three phases:
Kickoff – Portland, OR (April 2026). A three-day intensive where fellows meet mentors, engage in design sessions, and build peer relationships.
Virtual Calls (April–September). Bi-weekly engagement with faculty, mentors, and funders, refining theory of change, running pilots, and developing a compelling story.
Capstone – Washington, DC (October 2026). Fellows present refined models to a curated room of leaders who can open doors and provide resources.
Projects leave with a clear model, a compelling pitch, a growth roadmap, and a micro-grant, forming the core of an emerging innovation network for the future of evangelism in the West.
Get Involved
Apply. If you’re building an innovative approach to evangelism and you’re in the early stages of your work, apply by March 15 at evangelismlab.org.
Nominate. You probably know someone doing innovative work who deserves a bigger opportunity. Send them this post or send them our way.
Mentor. If you’re a seasoned practitioner in evangelism, ministry leadership, media, or funding, we’re building a world-class advisory and mentor network.
Fund. If you’re a donor interested in evangelism, this is a chance to invest upstream in emerging models and leaders that will shape what’s next.
Applications are open at evangelismlab.org until March 15.
Count me in as you know! Oregon is a short drive, DC is our east coast home — very glad it’s heading there.