D.G. Hart, a first-rate scholar, frequent controversialist, and sometime provocateur has argued that Evangelicalism does not exist (Deconstructing Evangelicalism). In his latest book, David Wells does not go that far but does come pretty close to saying that evangelicalism no longer exists.  
In his The Courage To Be Protestant Wells questions whether “the term has outlived its usefulness.”  The problem is that evangelicalism as a movement is so fractured and evangelicalism as a description is so devoid of meaning that the word cannot say much, at least not much that matters. As he casts about for something to do service for what “evangelical” once, but no longer means, he is frustrated, for he can only use a series of descriptive terms, each of them with its problems. He is a “biblical,” “historic” Christian “of a Reformational kind.”This is not a review of Wells’ new book, but I have been informed and influenced by and have borrowed from book. He sees three groups of evangelicals, each so different from the others, that they cannot sit together under umbrella of “evangelicalism.” The umbrella breaks if the attempt is made to stretch it big enough to cover all three.For my purposes, I have taken Wells’ three groups and added a fourth (#2) below, which I think is necessary to cover what is still called (imprecisely, if not falsely) evangelicalism – at least in my experience of it.  Presbyterians are part of the “evangelical tradition.” What does that mean? The word “evangelical” comes from the Greek word that means “the gospel” or “the good news.” Historically evangelical churches proclaim the good news of salvation by grace through faith in the righteous life and sacrificial death of Christ. Evangelical Christians are those who believe that gospel.  In this historic sense “Evangelical” and “Protestant” are interchangeable terms. After the Reformation, in the western world one found two types of Christianity: Evangelicalism/ Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. (Just for clarification, the word “evangelism” refers to the spread of the gospel in various ways. We “do evangelism” by sending out preachers and planting churches. The word “evangelistic” means inclined to or for the purpose of spreading the gospel. We describe some persons or churches or activities as “evangelistic.”) Now these Evangelicals themselves could be categorized in various ways: for instance, Calvinistic evangelicals, or Wesleyan evangelicals, or Charismatic evangelicals, but all held sufficiently to the gospel of “grace-faith-Christ” to be called evangelical. However, Protestantism did not remain solely evangelical. Protestantism eventually fell more or less into two groups: Modernists or Liberals and Evangelicals. The Modernist-Liberal group no longer accepted the Bible as God-inspired revelation, was uncomfortable with the thought of the atonement as the sacrifice of Christ to satisfy divine justice, and saw salvation primarily as social and this-worldly. Evangelicals continued to believe in the Bible as the unique word of God, in the atonement as the basis of forgiveness and reconciliation, and in salvation as having to do primarily with an individual’s standing with regard to God and sin, now, and ultimately in the world to come. In the recent past (mid-20th century) “Evangelical” has come to mean the conservative part of Protestantism or historic Protestantism. However, recent developments among those identified as evangelicals has resulted in “evangelicalism” no longer being equal to “conservative-Bible believing-gospel believing” Protestantism.  If you have read this far, you may be wondering: “What’s the use of talking about all this? It may interest scholars and a few egghead pastors, but what does it have to do with the rest of us?  We’re just Christians and pastors trying to get the gospel out, trying to live the Christian life, trying to get our churches to be bigger and stronger. What difference does any of this make for us?” The difference it makes is that you need to understand what’s going on in the church. Why? For the same sorts of reasons that you care about the politics and elections, about education and the economy. What people do is affected by things they assume, the principles by which they operate, and the goals that they pursue. For instance: if you want national health care, why? If you don’t, why?  If you understand the “evangelical geography,” it can make a difference in where you go to church and what you want for the church where you are. It can help you to understand why churches are different. It can help you to make sense of the things you experience when you travel and attend a Presbyterian church, or a church of another denomination, or of no denomination. It can help you to comprehend what’s going on with your kids and grandkids and their church life.There are four kinds of evangelical churches you are likely to come across: First, there are “doctrine directed” evangelical churches. These hold to the doctrinal emphases of the Reformation. They are evangelicals in the historic sense. They believe in objective and timeless truth. They believe that “ideas have consequences” – that what you believe determines what you do and who you are.  For them truth comes first and then experience. They are “traditional.” Preaching is explanation of the Bible. They usually sing the more substantive hymns and often will intentionally include Psalms. They appreciate creeds and confessions, the visible church, prayers and preaching, and, yes, sometimes, even ministers as servants of the Word and sacrament. Second, some are “experience emphasizing” evangelical churches. To the extent these churches are concerned about doctrine, they may hold more or less to the historic evangelical faith, but usually of an Arminian or Wesleyan bent rather than Calvinist.  They tend to believe experience has priority over doctrine. Historically these churches are influenced by the First but especially the Second Great Awakening. The goal of preaching and of worship is to “move a person to do something” – to get converted or to get consecrated or to get rededicated. They want a “simple gospel” without the complications of doctrine. They like “old-timey hymns” by which they usually mean the gospel songs of the 19th and 20th centuries. Needless to say, there are lots of churches that fit this description.  However, these first two incarnations of evangelicalism churches are being challenged. They now have two competitors, especially in urban and suburban settings, and among younger and more sophisticated people.  I will try to describe these briefly.  Third, there are “marketing methodology” evangelical churches. These churches want to reach as many people as possible, and they look to the world of business for guidance. What does marketing teach us? It teaches us such things as: “Find out what the customer wants and give it to him.” “Find your market niche” – the kind of customers you are trying to attract. “Take into account market diversity” – the more choices you offer to your market niche the more customers of your niche you likely will draw. These churches will often, when pressed, affirm traditional evangelical doctrines, at least of the “simple gospel” variety, but they know people are more interested in “practical help for living” than in timeless truth. This kind of evangelicalism appeals mostly to baby boomers. A lot of boomers find “traditional worship” boring. A conscious effort is made to make everything in the church as seamless as possible with the culture in which the market niche lives and, of course, always non-threatening. This is the “pop and soft rock” generation. Out with confessions, long Scripture readings, “academic” sermons, and substantial prayers. In with technology and the newest media, praise songs, and “how to messages.”  These are also sometimes called “seeker sensitive” churches. They can stretch the evangelical umbrella to the point of breaking, because (whether they realize it or not) the method and medium do affect the message. Fourth, there are “emergent embracing” evangelical churches. These are the “generation X, Y, and Zers.” These folks live in a post-modern world. They are turned off by the commercialism and shallowness of the market model of church. They are big on experience, but they find the worship of the old “experience emphasizing” evangelicals “hokey” and “old-timey.” The older “doctrine directed” evangelicalism does not appeal because it is too rational, too absolute, and too intellectual. Doctrinal formulations don’t work because truth is not as discoverable and universal as people used to think. Emergents are on a “journey” to find God and themselves, but it is a never-ending journey. Often a desire “to make some positive difference in the world” leads to the acceptance of the old “social gospel” of liberalism (whether consciously and intentionally or not) – showing mercy to all the disadvantaged, promoting peace and justice, improving communities and society. When it comes to gatherings of people (“worship”), they should be unstructured and informal, and maybe a little mysterious. They include anything that is meaningful to the participants – incense, candles, images, silence, hugging, etc. What used to be called preaching is now telling a story that people can relate to at their particular point in the journey. This “emergent embracing” evangelicalism stretches the umbrella the most. Unlike those following the model market, who will sometimes defend their evangelical credentials, these emergents challenge traditional evangelical ways of reading the Bible and formulations of doctrine. They don’t want to fit a label.  “Openness” is their operative word. Such is the geography of the evangelical world – at least from where I sit. I don’t much like it, but, as the saying goes, “it is what it is.”  It’s the geography we’ve got to deal with. Those whose geography is doctrine-directed are especially likely to feel uneasy as they see the characteristics of the other types within their own denominations. However, knowing “what it’s like out there” is the first step to doing anything about it.    ____________TE William H. Smith is pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Miss.