A Vision for Ministry

Introduction

Grace Presbyterian Church has a history of faithful and fruitful service to God.  It is with gratitude that we look back on all that God has done for and through us.  But that gratitude is misplaced if we use it as a reason to be satisfied with where we are as a church.  Our gratitude for God’s past faithfulness should give us a strong motivation to attempt even greater things for God, being confident that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

To that end, believing that God has called me to lead this congregation in serving Him, I would like to humbly submit the following as a model for ministry to guide us over the next ten years.  It is my fervent prayer that these are not my plans but God’s, discerned by careful study of His Word and the leading of His Spirit.  For me, the evidence of His hand in this will be your response to it.  I believe that when the Spirit is at work He brings unity of thought and purpose.  So please pray for God’s leading and wisdom as we seek His calling for Grace.

Our Calling

What is our calling as a church?  Our primary calling is to love.  Jesus summarized it for us when he said that we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength, and that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

How do we love God?  I would suggest that the primary means of loving God and others are 1)  Genuine, joyful worship, 2) Using all the means of grace that God provides to grow in our love and knowledge of Him, and 3) Gratefully offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God, following Him in humble obedience and joyful service.  The following describes how we will accomplish this.

Grace Enabled Worship

I believe that worship should be God-focused, Christ-centered and Spirit-filled.  As such it is to be relevant, participatory, energetic and joyful.

Worship is not a ritual that we perform, but it is the act of our coming into the very presence of God to express His worth and glory, to acknowledge our unending need of Him, and to joyfully thank Him for all that he has done for us.  To this end we will faithfully endeavor to do the following:

1)      Encourage each of our members to come prepared to worship.  Worship is not for us but for God.  Thus we will strive to prepare for it with adequate rest and prayer and will work on coming with the sole intent of praising God.

2)      We will strive to make our worship relevant to the people attending.  We will accomplish this through:

a.      Having a unified theme for our service, with an order that is understandable and easy to follow.

b.      Having music that is enjoyable, singable and appropriate for its particular place in the service.

c.       Our preaching ministry will be expository and application based.  Its goal is to teach the truth of God’s Word and encourage hearers to apply it to their lives.

d.      We will openly and gladly welcome all who come to worship with us.  Our desire is that they come to know the Lord Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, that they grow in their knowledge and love of Him and that they are equipped to serve Him in this church.

3)      Our goal for worship will be two-fold:

a.      To meet God

b.      To be changed because we have been in His presence.  If our worship is not creating change within its participants, then it is not effective worship.

Our Growth in Grace

Our expression of God’s command to love is best evidenced by our willingness to carry out the work assigned to us by Jesus in the Great Commission.

Christ’s call in Matthew 28:19-20 is not merely to evangelize, but also to help converts grow in their faith and to assimilate them into the life and work of the church.  No discipling program is complete unless all three of these areas are being fulfilled.  Therefore at Grace it is our desire to be a church that is actively and intentionally involved in evangelism, in enabling people to grow up in their faith, and in providing community in which they can live and serve.  We intend to accomplish this through the following means.

Evangelism

Jesus calls us to be faithful in sharing the gospel message first at home and then throughout the world.  Our first priority is:

Personal evangelism: 

1)                  We intend to encourage and equip our members to do personal evangelism.

2)                  We intend to intentionally provide opportunities for people to introduce their unbelieving friends to the church.  Such opportunities could include:

a.      Special services

b.      Special events:  picnics, movies, square dance, etc.

c.      “Invite a Friend” Sundays

3)                  Develop trained evangelism teams to do visitor follow-up, follow-up from special events, door-to-door evangelism, etc.

Second, we will be involved in

National and world missions:

1)      We will encourage our people to pray faithfully for the missions and missionaries we support.

2)      We will encourage our people to support the work of missions financially.  We will ask our members to present their tithe to the church for the work of the kingdom here, and then use Faith-Promise pledges to increase our work around the world.

3)      We will provide opportunities for our members of all ages to be involved in the work of missions.  We will accomplish this by providing:

a.      Local mission opportunities

b.      National trips such as trips to Palmer Home, Fairmont, WV, etc.

c.      Cross-cultural trips, including trips to foreign countries, as interest and finances permit.

Discipleship

It is our desire that every member and attender of Grace be actively growing in grace.  We intend to promote this through:

1)                  Small group discipleship.  Navigators 2:7 groups will initially be our primary small group curriculum, with a goal of starting at least one new group per year.  Other curriculums will be considered as they become available.

2)                  One-on-one discipleship.  One on one relationships are a powerful tool for promoting personal growth and personal relationships within the church.  Establishing a one-on-one program will require:

a.      Selecting an appropriate curriculum.

b.      Recruiting and training individuals to serve as disciplers.

c.      Intentionally recruiting/assigning people to discipling relationships.

d.      Working with church staff to assimilate people finishing their discipleship training into the life and work of the church.

3)                  Sunday School.  Sunday School is an important tool for the education and growth of our members.  As such, we will seek to accomplish the following:

a.      Strive for 100% participation in our Sunday School program.

b.      Structure our children’s Sunday School so that a child who goes through our entire program will have a thorough knowledge of Bible content, a basic understanding of Reformed theology, and the tools necessary to share their faith with others.

c.      To provide all of our adults, and particularly newcomers to Grace, with a curriculum of core courses that will enable them to grow up and be mature in their faith and understanding of God.  These courses will include:

1.            Foundations for Christian Living – 1 quarter

The class on Foundations for Christian Living should cover the basic spiritual disciplines such as Bible study methods, prayer, worship, and family devotions.

2.            Christian Growth – 1 quarter

This class will cover the topics of evangelism, discipleship and apologetics.

3.            Introduction to the Bible – 2 quarters

This course would provide a historical introduction and overview of the bible, as well as basic information about how to study it.

4.            Introduction to Christian Doctrines – 2 quarters

The class on Basic Christian Doctrine would offer a systematic overview of the basic evangelical doctrines concerning the Bible, God, creation, man, God’s plan of salvation, Christ, the church and last things.

5.            Church History – 2 quarters

This course would provide an overview of church history, focusing on the early church fathers, the reformation and modern Presbyterianism.

Community

Community within the body is critical.  The most powerful witness of the early church was their oneness, through which the love and grace of Jesus was clearly seen.  While we do not expect to recreate the early church here, we do desire to attain as closely as we can their sense of unity and oneness.  It is our intent to work to develop community within our church through our small group ministry.

1)                  The purpose of small groups.

a.      To develop community

·        To provide an atmosphere of friendship, acceptance and love.

·        To provide and atmosphere of caring and support.

b.      To maintain community

·        To be the primary source of meeting spiritual and physical needs.

·         To provide spiritual leadership and accountability for members.

2)                  The means of developing community

a.      Fellowship

·        Meet at least once per month in homes.  Perhaps the first Sunday evening of each month could be designated as our primary meeting night. 

·        Encourage other activities in the groups, such as dinners, picnics, etc.

·        Encourage the groups to adopt/be involved in service projects.

b.      Prayer

·        Our goal is an intimate, trusting community where meaningful sharing and prayer can take place.

·        Encourage prayer chains, letters, etc. within each group.

3)                  Structure

a.      Each group (if possible) will be led by an elder.

b.      A deacon will also be assigned to each group (if possible).

c.      One other person/couple will be brought into the leadership team of the group, giving it a “three deep” leadership.

d.      Representatives from each leadership team will meet together monthly to discuss problems, share prayer requests and to pray together.