KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 11 -- More than 150 ministry leaders gathered in Kansas City this week on the topic of "Loving America to Christ." The annual gathering of the Mission America Coalition encouraged participants to adopt a “prayer, care, share” strategy of evangelism for their ministries and personal lives.
Bishop Larry Jackson, founding pastor of Bethel Outreach International Church in Charlotte, N.C., opened the conference citing the experiences in his own church of using a prayer wall, on which church-goers write the names of non-believers for whom they are praying. The prayer wall is part of the strategy for the “Loving Our Communities to Christ” initiative taking place in cities across the nation.
"The anointing of God drops in our house every time we go to that wall," Jackson reported. He said when they started praying specifically for people by name, those people began committing their lives to Christ and coming to church before they even implemented the "care and share" efforts in their community.
State of the Church
Dave Olson, director of the American Church Project, presented research on the state of the Church in America to the gathering.
Olson's research, documenting attendance at 200,000 churches in the U.S., shows that the church has been in significant decline in the last two decades and is not keeping up with population growth. Even in areas, such as the south, where churches are growing, the population is growing faster.
He reported that churches more than 40 years old are much more likely to be in decline—only 32% of them grow. Young churches tend to be the ones bringing in the greatest harvest for the Kingdom of God, he noted.
As the culture becomes more post-Christian, postmodern, and multi-ethnic, Olson says it is an opportunity for the church to be more true to its calling.
"I think the world that is coming is very much like the Mediterranean world [of Jesus’ day]…We need to model our church mission on the early church mission to the Gentiles," Olson asserted.
Enthusiasm in Ministry
The conference included separate tracks for discussion and networking in different ministry areas as well as plenary sessions. Tracks included church planting, cityreaching, marketplace leaders, denominations, ministry networks, and outreach ministries.
Coalition Chairman Paul Cedar was encouraged by the outcome of the gathering.
"Several significant advances were marked this year," he said, "including some unprecedented meetings of leaders of a number of ministry tracks related to the MA Coalition. Also, for the first time, we offered partnership training sessions taught by Phill Butler and Bill Sunderland of visionSynergy."
Cedar said the gathering exceeded expectations in a number of ways. "There were more participants in our partnership training track than we ever imagined," he reported. "The same thing was true of the number of city leaders who participated in our 'Loving Our Communities to Christ' sessions."
Phil Migliorati, national coordinator of LC2C pilot cities, said the climate of those meetings was charged.
"There is an escalating enthusiasm," he observed. "Not that we are seeing phenomenal results yet, but God is leading us step by step. As the Church seeks to serve its city in a no-strings-attached way, doors of ministry are flying open. My sense is that the hope for the evangelical church is our rediscovery of the need to be not just healthy internally but missional in our community."
The church planting track was also enthusiastic, according to Dallas Anderson, MAC’s national facilitator for evangelism.
"We had some of what I would call the top levels of strategic thinkers from across the nation," assessed Anderson. "To hear some of the creative ways that God has been speaking to them…is really exciting. There’s no question that church planting is one of the most effective ways to reach new people for Christ."
Prayer-Care-Share Strategy Unpacked
Other plenary speakers included Jane Hanson, president of Aglow International, who spoke on "The Power of Evangelism Praying," and Sam Tillery, president of the Sonoma County Pastor’s Prayer and Ministry Alliance. Tillery addressed "Loving Our Neighbors Like Jesus," and outlined some of the favor the Church in Santa Rosa has found with local businesses and government because of its unified community service.
"Caring postures the church and prepares hearts--caring for what they think they need, not what we think they need," Tillery encouraged. "Caring displaces darkness."
Mark Mittleberg, author and former pastor of evangelism at Willow Creek, spoke on "Sharing with Others the Jesus Way."
"Evangelism Jesus' way involves personal evangelism, it involves unleashing the church, and it involves passion," Mittleberg offered. "Passion is a focus, it's a preoccupation with reaching people."
Sixteen intercessors assembled from various states to cover the gathering in prayer. A report on the conference will be available at the Mission America Coalition website: www.missionamerica.org.
The Mission America Coalition is a network of national church leaders, representing denominations, ministries, and other key Christian leaders with a shared vision to collaborate in prayer, evangelism, and revival. Since its inception, leaders from 81 denominations, over 400 ministries and dozens of ministry networks have been involved in the Coalition. Mrs. Vonette Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Dr. Billy Graham (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and Dr. John Perkins (Christian Community Development Association) serve as honorary co-chairs.
# # #
For more information about Mission America Coalition or the "Loving Our Communities to Christ" initiative, see www.missionamerica.org or, to arrange an interview, contact Susan Brill at 828-279-1256 or e-mail [email protected].
