Missional Community Research Paper

That can be done in numerous ways, but the more people who participate in the process, the more the congregation can own it, and the more unity there will be in its fulfillment . The Lord tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:9 that (paraphrasing) God has basically said that His work and His way can best be accomplished when we become co laborers together with Him. My personal philosophy of ministry builds a church through unity of heart, mind, and spirit between the Pastors, his/her staff, the lay leaders, and laity of the church who all work together to disciple believers, grow in relationship with Christ, worship, and reach the lost to build God’s kingdom. Westing states, “The church is central to God’s redemptive plan. This is the institution that has extended the meaning of Christ’s life into the world today”(Pg.

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

After reading the lecture notes church structure chart, I would say that my church falls between the attractional and organic view of small groups. We have an amazing new building that has a “come and see” feel; but, we also believe in relational missional groups that go out in the community. We believe that all gifts are needed in the body of Christ. We believe in forward movement, so we do count people and dollars. But our real success is measured in life change. We have a large budget that supports the staff and property, but a large portion of that budget

 The association organizes mission work locally and internationally to reach people not normally reached by the message of the churches. Whether these churches minister to people here in the community or in another country, such as Honduras, the members of the association work hard to ensure that their

Evangelism is described as a three-way cord; building relationships, sharing the gospel, and introducing people to community. The authors encourage the Gospel and the Word to stay central, as well as community involvement and helping the needy in the name of Christ. There is a great emphasis on home groups (the authors are themselves home-group leaders), and how this practice makes church planting easier. The togetherness of this practice aids in ones spiritual growth because one cannot become holy on his

God loves his Church and Jesus is the one who builds the Church. Then, it goes without saying that God loves the local church and Jesus builds the local church. Unfortunately, there are many factors that come into play, causing churches to become complacent or stagnate before entering into a season of decline. Yet this can be avoided through the process of revitalization.

There are many challenges to ministry in today’s world and having a vital and relevant ministry is even harder. Churches across all denominations face drastic declines in both attendees and financial giving. With this as the background, it is imperative that vital ministries seek out opportunities to grow and engage groups and communities that have previously been overlooked, missed or not involved for other reasons including some theological reasons. With this idea and goal in mind, this essay sets out to examine and design a process by which the Churches of Cherokee, Oklahoma can successfully connect with and minster to the new Hispanic community in Cherokee. Using the pastoral cycle method, a process will be designed in this essay to

“Restoring At-Risk Communities,” written by John M. Perkins is a collaborative work of urban professionals in ministry, providing a blueprint for working in urban communities. It provides the personal expertise of so many to help fellow missionaries and those in ministry to develop a Christian community. In today’s culture, many of our cities are falling apart due to poverty, lack of education, lack of religion, and large amounts of people leaving for the suburbs. People who are being called to minister in the downtowns, or those who are already suffering in the trenches are struggling with how to reach the community for Christ. Perkins shares his personal experience of being on the frontlines of ministry, and the appropriate strategy to reaching those communities. He writes, “The desperate problems in America’s inner cities will not be resolved without strong commitment and risky action on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith” (Perkins, 1995).

The Hybrid church structure is a hands-on guide that allows the intimacy of small “house church” and the impact of a megachurch to combine the best features of both. Dave Browning who wrote the book on the Hybrid Church, articulates that this church movement has a synergy. The proposition is “buy two, get one free”, which means bringing intimacy and impact strong components together to create a third component that makes the ministry both personal and powerful. The merging of the two together, Browning believes it could change the world. The challenge that Browning shared is getting every ministry to think larger and smaller simultaneously. The small ministry advantage is harnessing the power of prayer and being Christ-centered. The large ministry advantage is the power

The reality of full churches and choir stalls, lively Sunday schools, and overflowing basements is dead in today's Church. The unexpected has happened. Christ's followers, gripped by fear, are now scattered, or remain silent. Parishes, at worst, carry on blindly, or at best, look for comfortable compromises and expediency. They ignore cultural diversity in general. The rhetoric of denial continues to pour out of parish bulletins, newsletters, and diocesan and national journals. It is status quo.

Replanting of a church is truly hard work and this is through experiencing this on a personal level by working for Woodville Church of Christ as from last year in the month of July trying to assists the church in growing and also in replanting. The bible states that “nothing shall become impossible when with God,” (Luke 1:37 NKJV). The task that lies in hand of replanting a new church is not practically impossible but it is usually very overwhelming to anyone trying to engage in it. The church in Woodville has a very conservative and traditional member base which is normally more than 50 members in total and is inclusive of a very young couple that attends the church services. To total number of children that attend the church services are only around 3 to 4 and are mainly the members’

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

David Wesley’s main idea is a set of best practices, or what he terms “healthy patterns,” in congregational mission partnerships. Wesley observes that in the emerging “third way” of missions that began at the end of the 20th century and is coming into its own in the early 21st century is focusing on congregational partnerships. As such, Wesley seeks to lay out “common patterns for healthy global partnerships observed in these congregational partnerships.” Consequently, Wesley presents five healthy patterns around which common mission can flourish.

The last of the initial tasks for missions is spreading the Gospel. Once a strong, healthy body of believers has been organized that is well provided for and self-sufficient it

Furthermore, it is vitally crucial for the church leadership to clearly articulate its missional vision, which is to be embraced by the rest of the church’s community. The process of spiritual transformation starts from the invitation and continues through engagement and discipleship. This transformational process embodies the missional vision and the language for 'right now ' and 'here '. Surely, the church’s vision ought to be aligned with the missional attributes of the gospel itself, which are 'the good news is for everyone ' and 'belonging before believing '. Our witness should take place amidst relationship and listening. One principle that I consider to be exceptionally useful in my community is St. Patrick’s idea of Celtic Evangelism: establish community, engage in conversation, and invite commitment (2009, 101).