Keys to Becoming Local Church Centered in Missions, Part IV

In previous blogs in this series, we focused on asking questions and defining key terms. We've become aware of the need for change and something about the dynamics of change. An important thought echoing in our minds is, "Don't be in a hurry."

The church should move together in unity as you go forward to become a local church centered in missions." So, beginning with the church leaders and including the missions committee or team, you move forward by teaching the whole congregation about the biblical terms and roles of the local church as the center, source, and goal of missions. You can find examples of this teaching in the audio and transcriptions of Missions on Point podcasts. The biblical argument for the central role of the local church is presented in the "Missions on Point" book and Study Guide. Your church can also receive coaching and consultancy through MissioSERVE by contacting us with this link.

Suppose you've been following along with us and are beginning to implement key concepts from this series. In that case, you may be ready to consider a strategic focus for your local church's future missions ministry. It's time to sit around the table with a few key leaders and examine your past missions relationships, and commitments, along with your present potential direction and focus.

1. Obtain a world map, either physical or digital, and mark the places and people your church has supported.
2. Make a chart of the missionaries and missions ministries you support with columns for the annual amount of support funds sent by the church for each missionary or ministry row, their relationship to the church (if any), local or foreign, primary goal of that ministry (e.g., students, evangelism, church planting, pastoral training, medical, humanitarian, relief, general education, self-sufficiency, etc.), and something about where it is on the spectrum of Gospel reached-or-unreached-ness.
3. Summary rows in the spreadsheet would reflect trends:
   1. How would you group them according to their relationship with the church?
   2. The primary type of ministry? (e.g., campus ministry vs. foreign pastor training vs. humanitarian vs. undefined)
   3. Subtotals of funds given to differing relationship groupings and types of ministries and reached-or-unreached-ness.

These trends provide you and your leaders with a more objective view than just the pins on the world map. You will be able to see an overview of the status of your church's missions, past and present.

Then, let's work on discussing and praying about what your church's missions future might look like. We advocate for fostering deeper relationships and a broader sense of partnership in the ministry with fewer missionaries rather than focusing on the number of missionaries we can support. We know from experience that shallower relationships and funding tend to produce indifference and a general lack of involvement. Our goal is to inform, inspire, and implement congregation-wide participation in and ownership of world missions.

There is nothing that motivates involvement and ownership more than identifying and sending one of your children to the missions field. Wow! Suddenly, everyone is aware and alert! When the church sends an individual, a couple, or a family that has been integrally involved in ministry among the body of Christ, it is like everyone gets a shock. It reminds me of when we were kids, and a group would hold hands in a circle to receive a brief electric shock from a battery and coil. Everyone feels it instantly and breaks the circuit. Here, in the case of a beloved member of your church being "called" to become a missionary, everyone who knows them well feels a bit of that voltage as well. Everyone gets mobilized.

As your church grows in its awareness of becoming a local church centered on missions, a new missionary candidate presents a perfect opportunity to learn about how the church develops, equips, tests, validates, supports, encourages, sends, and shepherds them to the field. That candidate may become the first missionary of your church, organically home-grown. The church has a unique opportunity to guide and shape the missionary in terms of the qualifications of character, convictions, and competencies necessary to be an excellent field missionary in due time. "Don't be in a hurry."

The strategic focus may become the guiding light for choosing the field and type of ministry for your missionary candidate. Whether you have an apparent candidate or not, your church will be ready to shape the priorities of who, where, and how much financial support will be given in the future. The church's focus on missions will build a wonderful sense of accomplishment as you see God work to bring about those end goals on the field. And the church family will all know that it's a local church-centered missions-sending community.

May your development as a local church-centered missions church be a vital part of your church's identity.