Evangelism Explosion International
The information on this page was last updated 5/3/2026. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Evangelism Explosion is a ministry that trains people how to share their faith in Christ and how to bring people from unbelief to belief. It utilizes a variety of components including prayer, actual on-the-job training where the experienced lead the inexperienced, and the principle of spiritual multiplication.
"Multiplication" is the key component-not just winning people to the Lord one-by-one (addition). But training those won to the Lord to win, and then train, others. In the Book of Acts we read that the disciples "multiplied" and "multiplied exceedingly." This shift from addition to spiritual multiplication offers the one real hope of sharing the Gospel with a world population that is, itself, continually multiplying.
On-the-job training is another vital ingredient. By actually going out with experienced trainers in real life witnessing situations, people learn how to share their faith. Much like learning to fly an airplane would be impossible without actually getting in the cockpit, evangelism is difficult without leaving the confines of a classroom.
By learning small parts of the Gospel each week, including Bible verses and illustrations, people incrementally grasp a Gospel tool that becomes a lifelong mission.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Evangelism Explosion International
PO Box 753
Arden, NC 28704
Website: evangelismexplosion.org
Phone: (954) 491-6100
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 237068456
CEO/President: Dr. John B. Sorensen
Chairman: Dr. David Self
Board size: 12
Founder: Dr. D. James Kennedy
Ruling year: 1970
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 06/30
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1980
Purpose
EE's purpose is to glorify God by: Equipping believers to multiply in and through local churches worldwide.
EE's vision is: Every nation equipping every people group and every age group to witness to every person.
Mission statement
Evangelism Explosion International's Mission Statement is:
Glorify God by equipping local churches worldwide to multiply through friendship, evangelism, discipleship, and healthy growth!
Statement of faith
Evangelism Explosion International's Statement of Faith is:
1. The Bible is the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
2. There is one God, eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man in one Person. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, and vicariously atoned for sin through His shed blood and death. He was bodily resurrected from the dead, He ascended to the right hand of God the Father, and He will personally return in power and glory.
4. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for the salvation of lost and sinful man.
5. Eternal life is received by faith--that is, trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
6. The Holy Spirit indwells all true believers and enables them to live a godly life.
7. Both the saved and the lost will be resurrected from the dead--they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
8. There is spiritual unity of all true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. The local church is the primary God-established base of operation for evangelistic activity in the world.
10. Every true believer is commissioned of Christ to "preach the Gospel to every creature" and to "make disciples of all nations.
11. We believe that God created man and woman in His image as unique biological persons made to complete each other. We believe God's plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage. God ordained and instituted monogamous marriage between a male and a female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female. Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9.
Donor confidence score
This organization does not file a Form 990.
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Transparency grade
D
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Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Evangelism Support
This ministry has not been rated.
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Financial ratios
Financial ratios for this ministry have not been calculated.
Financials
Financials for this ministry have not been collected.
Compensation
Compensation data for this ministry has not been collected.
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 5/3/2026. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
EE started in 1962 by Dr. D. James Kennedy. As a young pastor, Jim watched all his attempts to grow his first congregation go down the tubes. His church attendance dipped. Recalling those difficult times, he said, "Extrapolation made it clear that I had two-and-a-half months of ministry left before I was preaching to only my wife-and she was threatening to go to the Baptist Church down the street!"
Jim called this time the lowest point in his ministry. It was then that friend, and pastor, Kennedy Smartt, invited Jim to assist him in, of all things, a series of evangelistic services in Scottdale, Georgia, "I who had decimated one church was being asked to ship my technique across state lines. Have plague will travel!" quipped Jim.
During those 10 days of meetings, Jim simply went out with his friend and watched him engage people spiritually. By the end of the meetings, 54 people made professions of faith in Christ. Jim returned to Fort Lauderdale with the seeds that eventually became Evangelism Explosion. His church began to grow, and grow. In a brief 12-year period, church membership increased from 17 to 2,000.
Realizing that he couldn't do this alone, he made witness-training a bedrock of his ministry, utilizing on-the-job training. In 1967, his Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was singled out as the most rapidly expanding church in America. In 1972, EE was incorporated with its own staff and Board of Directors. As it spread to other countries, EE materials were translated into other languages. By 1984 more training clinics were held overseas than were held in the US.
In early 1996 EE was planted in all nations of the world. Materials have been translated into more than 70 different languages and clinics have been held in many nations. But there is still much work yet to be done developing national leadership and establishing strong, indigenous ministries in every nation.
The International Office provides an administrative base and raises financial support for the international operations of this ministry. It also oversees the material sales and training clinics for the United States. EE is a multi-denominational, non-profit missions organization whose operations are dependent upon our Lord's grace and the gifts of His people.