by Karen L. Willoughby, posted Tuesday, June 03, 2014 (10 years ago)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (BP) -- The Cooperative Program extends worldwide the reach of the 150 or so Sunday worshippers at Monument Baptist Church in Grand Junction, Colo., who lead an assortment of diverse ministries within and outside the church.
Monument Baptist Church photo.
While Monument Baptist Grand Junction has been missions-minded and outward-focused since its start in 1971, pastor Ray Shirley has led it to expand its reach while also ministering within the church family.
The church sends 10 percent of its undesignated offerings to missions through the Cooperative Program, the way Southern Baptists work together to fund missions and ministries in state conventions, North America and worldwide.
"The Cooperative Program helps link us [all Southern Baptist churches] together so we can be on mission together," Shirley said. "We believe part of the commitment we make as Southern Baptists is to support the Cooperative Program. We believe it is our privilege to be part of that and to support missions locally, nationally and internationally. It really is a togetherness, and I like that."
"We're the body of Christ, the family of God, and the Cooperative Program is a good representation of that,” he said. “We're all going in the same direction, using our gifts differently.”
The church donates a total of 22 percent of its operating budget to a variety of missions causes, supporting two Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ International) missionaries, an aviation ministry, Creation Puppeteers, the Alpha and Omega Institute, the International Mission Board and local pregnancy and homeless ministries.
"The hardest part of ministry is to be a healthy internal church and healthy outgoing church," Shirley said. "It's a hard battle because in mainline Christianity and even among mainline Southern Baptists, we're really good at addressing the felt needs we're comfortable with.
"At our church, we face those same struggles and bridging that gap to actually being a missional person who is evangelizing and striving to take the church outside of itself, outside of its box, that has been a struggle.”
In addition to starting two other churches, Monument Baptist Grand Junction has developed onsite softball and soccer fields available without cost to any team that wants to use them. The fields are in use at least five nights a week.
Its youth have gone on World Changers construction mission trips seven times in the last 12 years. Adults have gone on a dozen or more mission trips since 2000, when Shirley was called as pastor. Read More
