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Partners In The Mission:
Reaching North America
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| Release Date: 12/11/2007 |
| a message from Dr. Bill Mackey, executive director |
Recently, staff from the state conventions met with LifeWay and North America Mission Board representatives in Nashville for a summit on reaching North America for Christ. This was the first gathering of this type of these partners in ministry and was made possible by the new leaders at LifeWay, Dr. Thom Rainer, and NAMB, Dr. Geoff Hammond.
More than 700 people gathered from state conventions, LifeWay, and NAMB to share concerns and to struggle with priority issues. There were presentations by each president and from LifeWay Research, small group discussions among participants, and identification of major areas of concern.
The following are the broad categories that summarize the concerns that surfaced: mobilizing laity, leadership development, processes for implementation, cooperation, revitalization, lostness, resources and prayer.
There were four major areas that were addressed by the small groups and reported on to the full session. Here are some of my notes from each area:
EVANGELISM -- Prayer and spiritual preparation are necessary for effective evangelism. Evangelism must be customized for language cultures, and be made relational and personal for all people. Overcoming lostness requires sowing and reaping. Pastors and church leaders must model evangelism for laity.
CHURCH HEALTH -- It is recognized that the definition of church health is unique to culture. The real measure of health is how the church is impacting lostness in the culture. Only 40 percent of SBC baptisms are related to recent conversion. Church health results in transforming laity to fulfill their God-given mission. Church health involves deeper dependence on prayer for lostness of neighbors. Coaching, mentoring, and networking need to be intentional for strategic Kingdom expansion.
CHURCH PLANTING -- LifeWay, NAMB, and state conventions are to be partners in developing resources to support a transformational discipleship process. We must champion and celebrate a variety of church models. We must also develop and understand the strategy necessary to reach North American people groups. We can learn from a variety of church planting practitioners and models, and provide a central location for church planting resources. It is also important to create awareness and receptivity for lay and bi-vocational church planting.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT -- Leadership development should permeate all discipleship – both personal and professional, and include coaching and mentoring leaders. The leadership development process should include young leaders and lay leaders, and a delivery process that involves state conventions.
These are just some of the findings from the summit. We can expect much more to come as a result of this. I am excited about the collaboration that has taken place, and look forward to the results of even greater efforts.
Please be in prayer about ways we all can be more effective in reaching those you do not know Jesus!
Dr. Mackey's column appears weekly in the Western Recorder. To subscribe to the Western Recorder, call (502) 489-3535. |
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