Missional Church and Denomination
From 2005-2008 a Moderator-appointed Long Range Planning Committee, representative of all the presbyteries, met to evaluate progress on "Vision 21" and to begin envisioning the EPC's mission beyond 2010. As it studied and met, the Committee saw its purpose as developing missional ethos and practice in denominational life.
The missional focus of the EPC is not divorced from Vision 21, the denomination's previous strategic initiative. Many of the themes and conepts captured in the terms "missional church" and "missional denomination" build upon Vision 21 and speak to the kind of operational and ethos changes necessary to get Vision 21 "off the shelf."
The 28th General Assembly, having received the work of the Long Range Planning Committee, approved its recommendation to be dissolved and received the following as a "working definition" of a missional church and denomination, referring it to the Theology Committee for recommendations on refining:
A missional church is a church:
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That is grounded in the Scriptures and historic Christian orthodoxy and is committed to the primacy of the Great Commission.
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That believes that the United States has become post-Christian and is now a mission field.
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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.
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That is committed to reproducing a community of authentic disciples of Jesus Christ.
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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.
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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.
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That perceives that the essence of these fundamental attributes is the essence of its own existence.
A missional denomination is a denomination:
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That believes the location of ministry is the local church.
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That is made up of local congregations committed to be missional.
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That is constantly re-examining itself as to whether or not its polity, structures and programs are serving or inhibiting a missional mindset.
Join the discussion
Read and comment on a series of articles by Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah on the definition of a missional church.
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"Missional as a 'Post-' Movement"
