DETROIT, Mich. – On Wednesday, the “Living Missionally” recommendation from the Committee on Congregational Vitality was presented on the floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) following its approval on the consent agenda.
The Assembly was reminded that “for nearly 200 years, the Presbyterian church has served as one of the greatest forces for mission in the world. The church is called to minister to the immediate needs and hurts of people.” The Book of Order states: “In the life of the congregation, individual believers are equipped for the ministry of witness to the love and grace of God in and for the world. The congregation reaches out to people, communities, and the world to share the good news of Jesus Christ, to gather for worship to offer care and nurture to God’s children, to speak for social justice and righteousness, and to bear witness to the truth and to the reign of God that is coming into the world” (G-1.0101).
With a great deal of enthusiasm, the Committee on Congregational Vitality approved the four Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s four recommendations in an effort to facilitate mission involvement and to ensure that tangible metrics are in place to measure the success of the church’s efforts as they seek to live missionally. Following Wednesday’s voting by the Assembly body, they:
1. Acknowledge the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s historic commitment to joining Christ’s mission in local and global communities.
2. Encourage congregations, mid-councils, and the Presbyterian Mission Agency to join intentionally in God’s mission to transform our world and address root causes of societal injustices by following Christ’s example of service through faith, hope, love and witness.
3. Launch a churchwide initiative that will inspire, equip and connect Presbyterians to continue to go beyond the walls of their congregations and increase their engagement in service to their communities and the world.
4. Direct the Presbyterian Mission Agency to develop tangible metrics to determine success and impact and report back to the 222nd General Assembly (2016), sharing progress made and identifying strategies for deeper engagement in 2016–18.
Presenters showed video presentations of three stories to demonstrate their hopes and dreams. The first one was the story of Jessica Collins from Shelbyville, Ky. Collins realized that not every child has a bed. In response, she launched a campaign known as “A Place to Sleep” and as a result she rallied other students to provide 370 children with beds. As a result of her efforts, she was nominated for the USA WEEKEND’s “Make a Difference Day” campaign and received a $10,000 award.
Another story was presented from the Mission Yearbook. The featured church New Brunswick Church thatwas ready to close. As the presenter noted, “the church had left the building.” Instead of closing, they identified needs in the community such as the need for meals, trash collection, and cutting trees, and created an ecumenical program that engages all ages to bless the local community.
The third church cited was St. Andrews in Tucson, Arizona. This congregation makes it a goal of trading worship for service worship on the fifth Sunday of the month. The effort has been so successful that it was featured in the Tuscan Daily Star as their members discovered a passion for volunteering.
Each of these efforts resulted in a “preferable future” as they were transformed by becoming missional. “They were successful because they were inspired that it could be done, connected and doing it together, and equipped with coaching, celebration, and collaboration,” according to Robb Ford who serves as a mission catalyst.
Ford told the committee about his six years as a mission catalyst during the “Deep and Wide” initiative. “We were caught up in imagination, but there were no tangible plans. Our goal now with the various initiatives such as the 1001 Worshiping Communities is to have more substance and plans while still being aspirational rather than prescriptive.” The intent now is to reaffirm the PC (USA)’s historical commitment of going outside the walls to serve.
Commissioners were inspired by the conversation with Gary Catterson of John Knox Presbytery commenting, “this is who we are and what we are called to do.” Phil Hamilton of Greater Atlanta Presbytery said, “this will do more for the vitality of the church than anything else we could do. But, it’s important to remember that we are doing this for Christ and not for the church. This needs to be made known. Saying we do this in the name of our Lord and Savior is so important.”
The entire committee was so inspired that they spoke in favor of pulling the items from their committee out of the consent agenda so that the other commissioners might also be inspired.