Our First Baptist family has a long and treasured legacy of supporting missions, both prayerfully and financially…that is nothing new. The term missional, however, refers more to how we are driven to be the presence of Christ in our community. Being missional is about how we invest our spiritual gifts to do ministry. Being missional is about how we organize, team up, and network so that we maximize our effectiveness. Being missional is finding our niche, discovering what we do best and doing it well, without trying to do all of the things that other churches in our area do well. Being missional challenges us to be the church, and not just go to church.
Last fall I presented a challenge to our congregation for us to become more intentionally missional:
- Let’s reclaim our local mission field.
- Let’s mobilize for ministry, planning to meet less and minister more.
- Let’s upgrade our model of organization.
- Let’s organize ourselves into ministry teams according to our spiritual gifts and passions.
- Let’s mentor the next generation.
Take time to inventory your spiritual gifts and passions, and get connected with one of our ministry teams. And if you are already on a ministry team, use your unique gifts and passion to empower and energize that team toward a higher level of effectiveness.
Beginning last summer, we entered a covenant with the Center for Ministerial Excellence (endowed by the Lilly Foundation) to serve as a Teaching Congregation for future ministers. Our first Ministry Resident, Paul Hood-Patterson, and his wife, Dawn, joined us in June. In recent months, we have discovered Paul to be a gifted teacher, a creative thinker, a skilled writer, and a caring pastoral minister. This Sunday, March 1, Paul will be preaching on the Discipline of Service.
As you pray for Paul, invite a friend or neighbor to join you as our church family gathers for worship and Bible study.
