Moving the church to mission
Your church plays a vital role in God’s global gospel mission. We hope you are challenged and inspired as you read how some Australian church leaders are engaging in, and equipping people for long-term cross-cultural mission.
Growing global perspective
I love that God has always used people to reach people and that he has so ordained things that his people are scattered everywhere! Our church, and every local church, has an important role to play in helping people grasp the strategic value of long-term mission, as well as challenge the self-centeredness that is increasingly seen as normal in western culture, encouraging people to ask “will it be good for Jesus and his church?” rather than “Will it be good for me?”
Rev Kevin Pedersen, Ormond Anglican, VIC
Equipping people for mission
As a pastor, Ephesians 4 calls on me to equip people for ministry in many different contexts. So as we pray, preach and teach the gospel – week in, week out – we encourage some to consider working full-time for the gospel, whether in Australia or elsewhere. We do this even though it costs the church to send people out, because we always need to keep our eyes on the greater work of God throughout the world.
Rev Greg Blanch, Orange Evangelical Church, NSW
Regular mission spots
We encourage appropriately gifted and well-trained people to consider crossing cultures with the gospel through regular ‘mission spots’ in our services and through the support and prayers of our pastors and our missions working group. We support CMS missionaries D & S (Middle East) by praying for them through our monthly mission prayer diary (distributed to every member), and through our church budget, which includes regular giving to our mission partners. Our missions working group also organises an annual ‘Global Gospel Focus’ week, which allows people to hear in greater depth from those engaged in gospel work around the world.
Rev Roger Morey, Acting Rector, St Matthew’s Shenton Park, WA
Facilitating local cross-cultural work
I’m encouraged by the number of people from our church who are getting involved in mission in a variety of ways. From our local outreach ministries, including mission in a local Nepali community and among youth at a local skate park, to beach missions and reaching out to international students at universities. These experiences build enthusiasm for cross-cultural mission further afield. We have sent out people who are now serving in a variety of countries in Africa and Asia. I love seeing people take the Great Commission seriously.
Rev Peter MacPherson, St Alfred’s Anglican Church, Blackburn North, VIC
Focused mission groups
I started the ‘Chance to Chat Missions’ group at our church in March 2015 to enable people to share experiences of mission, work through important questions about serving long-term, support and pray for each other in vision and plans for short-term or long-term mission, and to encourage the group to see themselves as missionaries in their familiar Australian contexts: always seeking opportunities to share the gospel with others.
Jocelyn Williams, Missions Coordinator, Arundel Presbyterian Church, QLD
Enabling mission involvement
As God was prompting our CMS mission partners (currently serving in South East Asia), I sought to do what I could to help them – including keeping mission as a priority in the weekly gathering; supporting their home group (who could all see they should be going out as missionaries); getting them up-front in church to build their wider support base; being their friends (seeing them off at the airport; giving sending presents to the children and visiting twice on location). Now, we make sure that as well as making sure they are prayed for every month in church.
Rev Chris Jolliffe, Trinity City Church, SA
