Help! I need your thoughts on the future of evangelicalism so I can impress Roger Olson

So I’m pretty excited because on Monday, March 11, I’ll be
partnering with Roger Olson and George Fox Seminary for what promises to be a
fascinating conversation about the future of evangelicalism. 

From the George Fox Web site:  In a time when “evangelical”
has more of a political connotation than a convictional connotation, we need
bright voices that can help sort through the noise and imagine a way forward
for those who call themselves evangelical Roger
E. Olson is
professor of theology at Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. Rachel Held Evans is
a blogger, speaker, and author of Evolving in Monkey Town and A Year of Biblical Womanhood. Together
they will discuss whether there is a future for evangelicalism and, if so, what
the future might entail.

Sounds interesting, right?

If only I knew what I was going to say!

I’m counting on my friend Roger to bring his historical and
theological insight to the conversation, which means I’ll be sharing a bit more
from a personal perspective, incorporating my own story with some of your
stories  to make some
general observations about what I think is happening in evangelicalism and why
some of it makes me excited and some of it causes concern. I confess this isn’t
as easy task, as debating my evangelical status has become something of a sport
among Reformed bloggers, and a big part of me is just ready to toss the label
and stick with something simple, like Christ follower….or maybe “it’s
complicated.”

I wrote a post about the future of evangelicalism two years
ago, and not much has changed….except that now I see a more defined stream of
young, post-evangelical Christians finding their home in the Anabaptist
tradition, which I think is exciting. I think of folks like Shane Claiborne and
organizations like Red Letter Christians leading the way in this, not to
mention the possibility of Greg Boyd and Woodland Hill's  joining either the Mennonite Church
USA or the Brethren in Christ, which speaks volumes. I too am drawn to the Anabaptist tradition and believe it has something really special to offer Christians who are tired of the
culture wars, as well as something important to say about how a post-Christian
culture in the U.S. might actually be good for the Church.  If there was a progressive Mennonite
congregation in our community, I’d probably be a part of it. (I've tried to convince my friend Kurt Willems to plant his church here instead of the West coast..because Dayton, Tennessee and Seattle, Washington are pretty much the same.) 

Anyway, I’d like to spend the weekend getting together my
thoughts on this, and since a large percentage of you are smarter than I am, I
figured I’d get your input. Know that I may quote you directly in my
presentation, with attribution of course.

So here are my questions for you. Feel free to take a stab
at one or all of them…or to go off on your own tangent. It’s a free country.

1.    
Do you identify yourself as an evangelical? Why
or why not? How do you feel about religious labels in general?2.    
How would you define evangelicalism?3.    
What are some of your greatest concerns for
evangelicalism? And what are some of your biggest hopes?4.    
Do you know what Roger Olson’s favorite candy
is? Because I think I’m going to owe him one for compensating for my lack of
expertise on this. :-)

Note: You can register for the event at George Fox here. It's open to the public