I grew up in an evangelical church and spent 47 years as a practicing, enthusiastic, highly-involved member.
There are many different Protestant denominations included in evangelicalism. I would suggest checking out the National Association of Evangelicals to find the current list of members. There are also many different parachurch organizations that would be considered evangelical; e.g., Campus Crusade for Christ, Youth For Christ, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Jews for Jesus, etc.
My denomination was Conference Baptist, and I attended a stellar church, one that has produced many world-famous missionaries, authors, and speakers.
There is an actual denomination called “The Evangelical Church,” so I urge the OP to be careful about using this term. It could be confusing. It is more correct to simply say, “evangelicals” or “evangelical churches.”
Evangelicals vary from extremely conservative in their practices (women wear veils in church, no drinking of alcohol, no movies, etc.) to more liberal practices (makeup is fine, drinking alcohol is fine, churches meet in restaurants and bars, not only do they attend movies, they MAKE movies, etc.)
But they all pretty much share the same theological beliefs, namely that in order to “be saved,” we must accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and follow Him.
Catholics believe that, right? (Not in those words, but we believe that we must believe in and follow Jesus and be His disciples).
What makes evangelicals different from “mainline” Protestants (Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc.–mostly older denominations) is the teaching that we must obey the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 18-20 and constantly be involved in evangelism–sharing the Good News about Jesus Christ and His love for us. Our purpose on this earth is to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, baptize people, and teach them to do all the Christ commanded.
Again, Catholics believe that, right?
To this end, evangelicals seek to find ways to obey the Great Commission. Some simply witness to Christ’s Gospel in their daily lives through their actions, but they are always conscious that they are ambassodors for Christ and that others are watching.
Some get involved in street witnessing or door-to-door witnessing.
Some preach, either in church or in tents, stadiums, down by the river, on the street corner, on television, through media, or anywhere that people will listen.
Some create art, music, theater, etc. that attracts people to the Lord
Some get involved with need-based ministries, seeking to help others with their practical needs (e.g., World Vision is an evangelical organization that tries to help the poor all around the world).
Some get involved in politics and make sure that God’s point of view is held up in government.
But in everything an evangelical does, they attempt to share Christ with non-believers.
Catholics do that, right?
Evangelical churches do NOT believe in Sacraments. (Mainline Protestants DO believe in Sacraments.)
Instead, evangelicals teach “ordinances” of the church, which are practices that Jesus Christ Himself taught in the New Testament. (Evangelicals do not include any kind of tradition or “sacred tradition” in their teachings. They believe in sola Scriptura, that the Bible is the sole authority for the Christian.)
The two ordinances in the evangelical churches are baptism and communion.
Both of these are symbolic.
Baptism is “outer evidence of an inner change.”
There are some mainline churches that are considered evangelical, and they still practice infant baptism. These churches actually teach that babies are brought “into the covenant” by their baptism.
But most evangelical churches teach “believer’s baptism,” which means that a person who has accepted Jesus Christ into their heart as personal Savior is baptized to witness to the world that they believe in Jesus. You see, even the baptism is an evangelical act (telling the Good News to others) in evangelical churches.
As for communion, evangelicals teach that the ordinance is purely symbolic. They do NOT teach or believe in any kind of “Presence” of Jesus in the grape juice or bread/crackers. To an evangelical, Jesus is physically present ONLY in other believers; all Christians have Jesus in their heart and are His Hands, His Feet, His Voice, here on this earth. There is no corporal Presence of Jesus on earth at this time in Church history.
I hope this information is helpful. I suggest again looking at the National Association of Evangelicals for more information.
