In the spring of 2007, God graciously allowed us to move with remarkably few bruises from the Presbytery of Great Rivers in the PCUSA to the New Wineskins / EPC Transitional Presbytery in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Also during the year, the level of interest in the missional church movement within the EPC and the New Wineskins / EPC presbytery has increased rapidly. As one of the charter members of the NW / EPC presbytery, Faith Presbyterian Church has the opportunity to be one of the first EPC congregations to adopt the missional vision.
Before we commit to this new vision, we must understand what 'missional' means as we try to determine whether or not God is calling us in this direction. This paper is intended to help us begin this process by hitting the high points of these resource papers recommended for Session study by Dr. Jeffrey J. Jeremiah, Executive Pastor/Stated Clerk of the EPC.
- New Wineskins / EPC Transitional Presbytery Joint Commission Report to the 28th General Assembly.
- Report of the Long Range Planning Committee to the 28th General Assembly.
- Toward a Stronger Future, a White Paper by the Long Range Planning Committee of the EPC, June 2006.
- Missional Church Primer for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Fall 2007.
These papers are available on the EPC web site and are recommended for further study.
AMERICA IS NO LONGER A CHRISTIAN NATION
The main thrust of the missional idea is that our culture has changed but the church has not. If the church does not adapt to its new environment, it is doomed to decline and lose much of its ability to bring others into the kingdom of God. This may be very hard for us at Faith Presbyterian in Quincy to accept, because we share with much of small town and rural America the remnants of the old "Christendom" society. We can still draw people to church and lead them to Christ, if they are temperamentally traditional and conservative like us. But this is a shrinking market. Our challenge now is to learn how to reach people for Christ who are quite different from ourselves. This may mean finding ourselves in the setting of the New Testament church . . . outsiders speaking to a largely paganized culture.
Read that last paragraph again. Is this a true picture of the state of the church? Our brothers and sisters in leadership in the New Wineskins and the EPC believe it is true and have committed to helping congregations become missional churches. They have adopted a logical process for us to follow that starts with simply understanding what 'missional' is and moves, step by step, toward the goal of total commitment. It's our choice whether we take that first step.
WHAT DOES A MISSIONAL CHURCH LOOK LIKE?
Here is the EPC Long Range Planning Committee's answer.
A missional church is a church . . .
1. That is grounded in the Scriptures and historic Christian orthodoxy and so committed to the primacy of the Great Commission.
2. That believes that the United States has become post-Christian and is now a mission field.
3. That believes that it has been planted by God in its own community to effectively reach those around them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. That is committed to reproducing a community of authentic disciples of Jesus Christ.
5. That is continually in the process of equipping its members to be missionaries sent by God to live and proclaim the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus in their own world and to the ends of the earth.
6. That is constantly re-examining itself as to whether it is merely doing maintenance of existing ministries and members, or whether or not it is effectively doing the mission of reaching its own community with the reign of God through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
7. That perceives the essence of these fundamental attributes is the essence of its own existence.
A missional denomination is a denomination . . .
1. That believes the location of ministry is the local church.
2. That is made up of local congregations committed to be missional.
3. That is constantly re-examining itself as to whether or not its polity, structures, and programs are serving or inhibiting a missional mindset.
FROM A SENDING CHURCH TO A SENT CHURCH
Moving towards missional means a change in the way we think of ourselves. A recurrent theme in the papers we are summarizing is that being a traditional congregation emphasizing support of missionaries "out there" is not the best way to follow the Great Commission in a time when our own country has become our primary mission field. Instead of sending missionaries, we should become first of all missionaries ourselves where God has placed us – in Quincy, Illinois, USA.
God chose and sent Abraham and Moses to establish his covenant people. He sent a series of prophets to remind his people of the covenant. He sent Jesus to suffer and die for us. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to teach and empower us. Jesus sent his disciples into the world to minister in his name. He sends the church to all the nations. It should be easy for us to think of ourselves as being sent out as missionaries to the people closest to us.
The papers further suggest that we should learn to think of ourselves as kingdom people, rather than as church people. As kingdom people we should,
Seek first the kingdom of God, rather than putting church work first.
Seek to get the church into the world, rather than trying to get people into the church.
Seek to help the church change the world, rather than worry about the world changing the church.
Becoming a sent church means preparing its members to become authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, which means becoming missionaries in addition to growing in our knowledge of the Bible and our ability to love and care for one another.
BECOMING A CONTRAST COMMUNITY
Given that individualism saturates Western culture, the church should become a counter-cultural contrast community, living in such a way that it winsomely demonstrates the way of life of God's kingdom. The contrast between the way of the world and the way of life at Faith Presbyterian Church should be apparent to all who look at us, and it should appear authentic and attractive.
Becoming a contrast community of believers will not be easy and will not happen overnight. It is something new for the church in the U.S. to think of itself as a cross-cultural mission outpost to its own culture instead of finding ways to evangelize those who are like us. Churches over the last half-century have become come and see churches, and that just doesn't work as well any more.
An understanding of missional themes could mean changing the way we measure success – less in terms of numbers and programs and more in terms of equipping individuals to live as a community of authentic disciples, seeing beyond themselves and penetrating society. Increasing numbers will often be a byproduct of this kind of authentic discipleship, but it is not the goal.
SUMMARY
The resource papers reveal four main themes:
1. America is now post-Christian.
2. A missional church and a missional denomination have certain identifiable characteristics.
3. A missional church is a sent church, not a sending church.
4. A missional church contrasts with its surrounding community.
Becoming a missional congregation means learning to see ourselves as a Christian mission outpost among people who do not understand or value our Christian heritage and do not speak our language. Our congregation should provide a contrast with the community around us. It is possible that we may begin suffering persecution for our faith.
The 28th General Assembly is winding up as this is being written. It appears that the reports of the Long Range Planning Committee and the New Wineskins / EPC Joint Commission were well received by the Assembly. Both reports called for a commitment to a missional future. The Joint Commission recommended approval of a Vision Statement that opened with
We envision that by July 1, 2012, the Transitional Presbytery / Support Network and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church will realize a full integration that will result in a renewed missional, reformed and evangelical Presbyterian body.
The Long Range Planning Committee recommended approval of the definition of missional outlined above on the grounds that
. . . it is time for the EPC to formally vote on affirming its direction: becoming a missional denomination comprised of missional churches . . . being missional, evangelical, Reformed, and Presbyterian.
Enthusiastic approval by the 28th General Assembly of these recommendations would mean an important milestone has been reached one year into the five year New Wineskins transitional period. Our new denomination is embarking on a new course and invites Faith Presbyterian to be part of that change. How will we respond?
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DCA 6/21/08 (Rev. 7/7/08)