Becoming a Missionary Church

-Becoming Part of a Team

The Missionary Church is more like a team than an institution — more like a family than an organization. A team works together for a common goal. The members of a team both give to and receive from the benefits of their commitment to the team. Historically, the people of the Missionary Church have been cooperative in nature demonstrating good unity in the faith.

-Commitment to Live By the Driving Motivation of a Progressive Mission Statement

Many local churches have adopted their own mission statements to articulate their local ministry goals, but the following statement is a summary of concepts that guide the overall ministry of the U.S. church:

The Missionary Church, in obedience to Jesus Christ her Lord, is committed to being holy people of God in the world and to building His Church by worldwide evangelism, discipleship and multiplication of growing churches, all to the glory of God.

-Your Pastor and His Wife are a Part of a Support Team

A team made up of other pastors, pastors’ wives and experienced church leaders.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)

Accountability. The pastors of the Missionary Church are responsible to their district, region or network leadership and the president of the denomination. They are accountable for their own personal integrity and effectiveness in ministry. This authority is not “lorded over” the pastor but is provided as an aid to the enhancement of his ministry.

Team spirit and support. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” (John Donne, 16th cent. English poet and clergyman)

We work hard to cultivate a team spirit among the pastors, where competition is minimized and mutual care for one another is priority. Many of the pastors are linked together in ministry partner relationships for prayer and encouragement. We are living in an age when the art of developing healthy relationships is often rare. A cultural war of values is also taking place which militates against living a holy life. Building healthy inter-dependence is extremely important. “…in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:5).

Continuing education. Through a variety of conferences and continuing education programs, Missionary 

Church pastors are regularly exposed to up-to-date instruction for help in their preaching and leadership. This kind of education also includes interaction with other pastors as they encourage one another and share their praise reports of what God is doing.

-Help in the Pastoral Search Process

A pastoral change is a very strategic time in the life of a church. While the primary responsibility for the selection process lies with the local church, each church has the district, region or network leader at its side, helping it to find approved candidates, conduct interviews and eventually to make a selection.

-Merging Into the Anchor of a Rich Theological Heritage

For some their history is a ball and chain that stifles progress and adaptability. The Missionary Church is using its history as a launching pad for aggressive outreach. While our message from the Bible is unchangeable, our methods of communication must change to reach the culture for Christ.

The heritage of the Missionary Church is best understood if one is aware that the early leaders had a commitment to the position that the Scriptures were to be the source of doctrine and life. In addition to this commitment to be a biblical church, the theological perspective of the Missionary Church recognizes the contribution of John Wesley’s emphasis on “the warmed heart;” A. B. Simpson’s fourfold emphasis on Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King; the Anabaptist concepts of community and brotherhood; and the evangelical emphases of the lost estate of mankind and redemption through Jesus Christ.

The Missionary Church is a unique blend of the thought and life of a people who have sought to build their church according to the Scriptures with an appreciation for their historical roots.

-Access to a Variety of Supportive Services for the Local Church

At various levels of the Missionary Church organization, there are a number of benefits available to the whole team of churches.

• Church Planting Support | Great care is taken to provide assistance in the first 2-3 years of the new church’s life. All planters are provided an education in the church planter’s bootcamp, sponsored by the Church Multiplication Training Center. Ongoing support comes through participation in the New Church Incubator (NCI), a supportive environment for planter and wife that includes coaching and interaction with other planters.

• Youth Ministry | The youth ministry of the entire denomination and district is built around the mission of establishing in every local church a youth ministry that is winning the curious, building the convinced and equipping the committed. Through Bible quizzing, a variety of camping and youth conference events and several kinds of youth mission team experiences (domestic and foreign), the Missionary Church is aggressive at targeting its youth with strong, up-to-date programs that help build disciples for Christ.

• Financial Services | The Missionary Church Investment Foundation, Inc. (MCIF) provides opportunities for investment and financing with competitive and reasonable rates of interest.

• Christian Education | A number of different training events and services are available for lay volunteers and pastors

• Growing a Healthy Church Seminar | The GHC series of seminars (4 levels) is the standard education of ongoing training for pastors and lay leaders. This training helps church leaders to evaluate their work and leads them to make adjustments and changes in order to come closer to the ideal of a “Great Commission” church. GHC is developed and managed by Sonlife Ministries, Wheaton, IL.

• Sonlife Strategy Seminar | Sonlife seminars are the counterpart to Growing a Healthy Church for youth ministry. There are various levels of training for volunteers and full-time youth workers.

-Participation in the Financial Ministry Needs of the District/Regional and National Church

God has blessed the Missionary Church with generous cooperation when it comes to the finances necessary to fund worldwide outreach and ministry. This pooling of resources is each team member’s voluntary involvement in the team’s efforts to fulfill the Great Commission as outlined in Matthew 28:19: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

-You Have to Change the Name of Your Church

While it has been the norm for churches to include the word “Missionary” in their name, many churches in recent years have chosen a variety of names in order to relate to their community or culture. In such cases we ask only that a phrase such as “a ministry of the Missionary Church” be included somewhere on the church’s letterhead and literature for the purpose of avoiding deception and insuring proper identification.

-You Have to Change the Personality of Your Church

The leadership of the Missionary Church has clearly demonstrated flexibility and encouragement for churches to be unique in order to reach their community for Christ. While basic doctrinal uniformity is highly valued, throughout the Missionary Church there is much variety when it comes to the socio-economic make-up of congregations, style of worship, style of music, building architecture, etc.

-You Have an Intruding Bureaucracy Looking Over Your Shoulder

There is a mutual accountability within the family of the Missionary Church, but there is also a trust relationship that is carefully respected. The local church under the pastor’s leadership has a report responsibility to the Region, district or Network and an annual report to the denominational office. The local church, however, is ultimately responsible to God for its integrity, honesty and faithfulness to biblical truth.

-You Are an Independent Church

The Scripture teaches inter-dependence, not independence (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Mutual accountability is not only needed among individual believers, but also among churches. The Missionary Church is organized so that each church governs its own local ministry, while at the same time having a voluntary submission to the counsel, guidance and authority given to the leadership that is in place to serve them. These leaders are chosen by the pastors and representatives of the local churches.

-A Bundle of New Restrictions

On the contrary, you will be given a strong commission to be free, creative and aggressive for dynamic, outreaching ministry. Instead of being restricted or controlled, local Missionary Churches are to be unleashed with permission to adapt their methods according to the need which culturally relevant ministry demands.

-Someone Else Will Choose Your Future Pastors

The primary responsibility to contact pastoral candidates and, eventually, to select a pastor, is in the hands of the local church. The leadership at various levels of the Missionary Church works closely with the leaders of the local church, giving them counsel in the selection process and they are responsible to provide and approve pastoral candidates. The pastoral screening process includes a ministry background check and doctrinal examination, which further assists the local church in locating a suitable pastoral candidate.