Missions on Point

MoP136 Your Church Missions Handbook - 8 Missions Team Composition

Finding the right people on the Missions Team can be a minefield! Sometimes people with strange ideas want to be on the Team to leverage their agenda. How do you avoid that? Who and how do you get the right people on the Team to do this great ministry? Build a good foundation for qualifications, expectations, and team spirit as you serve the church in this vital ministry of world missions.

MoP135 Your Church Missions Handbook - 7 Missions Team Structure

Structure, specialization, and delegation are keys to effectiveness, both short-term and long-term. This episode walks through 9 key areas for specialization in structure in order to have maximum impact on mobilizing the congregation for missions and for effectiveness with your field workers.

MoP134 Your Church Missions Handbook - 6 Missions Team Charter

The Charter might be a stand-alone document that frames the most key principles for why, how, and what your church Missions Team does. It is a core piece of orientation for any church member, but especially for new Missions Team members. This episode uses a great model Missions Team Charter to walk through its elements and the significance of each part of it.

MoP133 Your Church Missions Handbook - 5 Church Strategy and Focus

Few churches really think, pray, and lead their church in adopting a world missions focus and strategy. Those that do so, excel in missions ministry and launch their congregation to a higher level of understanding and involvement in missions. It takes work and time to pray through to the right focus for your church. But, it is worth it!

MoP132 Your Church Missions Handbook - 4 Definitions

Building Your Church Missions Handbook will require you to think about key definitions which will guide your church for years to come. A side benefit is that good definitions, accepted by all in leadership, prevent a lot of misunderstandings and future wrangling over the same issues. Think well about these key definitions. Then, communicate them well to all concerned.

MoP131 Your Church Missions Handbook - 3 Scope of Authority

The first two keys for defining the Scope of Authority for Your Missions Handbook or Your Missions Team are: clarifying the differences between local outreach ministries and overseas, cross-cultural missions; and, getting your Elders or highest board of authority to conceptually mark the Guiding Principles or Guiding Values within which the Missions Team ministries will operate. This helps all concerned. Then move on to the standard questions of chain-of-command, scope of authority, reporting, and approval of key decisions.  Let's write or review our Missions Handbook together!

MoP130 Your Church Missions Handbook - 2 Biblical Basis

As we begin building our Church Missions Handbook, the very first major element should be the biblical basis. We always start with the Scripture as our authority for life and ministry. Remember your audience: keep it simple and relatively short. It isn't a theological treatise or comprehensive. It is representative and builds a case for the priority of missions and the local church's role in missions.  Blessings!
Hey, if you want more resources, check out the Propempo Guidebook on Missions Policy.

MoP129 Your Church Missions Handbook - 1 Introduction

Missions issues, problems, misunderstandings, and conflict can be avoided by developing a "handbook" or "manual" that establishes the pattern for missions in your church. Church leaders regularly encounter questions about tough situations or from people sincerely seeking support for their ministry or some ministry to which they are related. Every church is unique. But every church should have guidelines for the biblical basis for missions, philosophy and policies guiding missions in your church, and the basis "nuts and bolts" for how it operates. Taking time to think about it, having good reasons, and focusing on priorities pays off in satisfaction, higher level of ownership, and freedom. Saying "no" to many good things allows us to say "yes" to the best things.
Check out the Propempo Guidebook on Missions Policy and the Church Missions Profile on SendForward.org