Church mission education: more than organizations
ONTARIO, Calif. (BP)--A church that has mission education organizations for every age group and gender may still be missing a large part of its membership in trying to develop "on mission" Christians, a North American Mission Board mission education leader said.
It is only when mission education is integrated into every church ministry -- including corporate worship, Bible study, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship and opportunities for personal involvement in missions -- that the entire congregation becomes focused on the shared mission of bringing others to faith in Christ.
Kenny Rains, NAMB's manager of mission opportunities and events, addressed the topic at a workshop held during the April 10-13 Connection 2002, the first of three regional conferences sponsored by NAMB for pastors, missionaries and other denominational partners.
The key to having a coordinated focus on mission education is the "On Mission Team," NAMB's term for the group in the church that brings together representative leadership from different areas to promote missions awareness. Its objective, Rains said, is to keep the church abreast of where God is at work, how members can serve him and what skills are useful in seeing that come about.
Among the primary tools in the arsenal of the On Mission Team are the traditional Southern Baptist missions organizations -- including Mission Friends, Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, Challengers, Acteens, Baptist Men on Misson and Women on Mission. But mission education also can be stressed through mobilizing members in mission trips, integrating missions in worship and Sunday School, and employing other strategies.
"These organizations are strong tools and resources, but I have to remind my brothers and sisters in mission education all the time that if we really had the key of being a church-wide concept then why are we struggling today?" Rains asked. "We're not reaching every child through RAs, GAs and Mission Friends. We're not reaching every adult or youth. I think it goes back to seeing mission education in a different light."
Organizations remain helpful, however, in teaching the skills needed to grow missionaries -- whether locally, through short-term missions trips or eventually longer-term service.
Many churches that do not have mission education organizations because of calendars already full with other activities can find alternative ways of incorporating the materials, noted Tim Seanor, NAMB's director of mission education.
Seanor shared how he used Challengers materials for a group of teenage boys meeting in homes. Several were not even members of the church. It became a small group focused on mutual accountability and missions rather than just another church program, he said.
"Within a year I had two of those boys accept Christ," he said. "And the rest of them read the entire Book of John, and they are involved in all kinds of mission projects."
More information on church-wide mission education is found in the "The On Mission Church Planning Kit," a NAMB resource available through LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
