We are pleased to serve you and provide this communication for membership implementation.
We are excited about introducing our strategic focus statement, which you can download here. The key message and vision statement remain the same. The missional focus reflects our commitment to the biblical Great Commission.
Disciples making disciples:
All churches are being called to be discipleship-centered in reaching, teaching, and sending people. Since the General Conference vote to change our membership structure, The Wesleyan Church has entered a critical transitional time in which we must be diligent in our efforts to have concrete evidence of our philosophy of Believe, Belong, Become. The Belonging membership booklet is being updated and a short video that can be used as an introduction in a membership class is being produced. The English version of these resources will be available in January with the Spanish translation to follow.
Each local church and pastor will determine their specific discipleship model. Headquarters will assist by championing movement over model, providing a variety of models in a variety of avenues. One new avenue will be through a free resource sharing website that is being developed with a goal of becoming public in summer of 2017.
The Church Multiplication and Discipleship Division will additionally serve the local church with the focus of integrated discipleship. A new Discipleship Department replaces the former Women’s and Spiritual Formation departments. Our Wesleyan values of social holiness and community outreach are now embedded into discipleship. For more information click the team announcement link below, making special note of the “Frequently asked Questions.”
Recently, Fuller Institute published research focusing on churches that engage young people well. Two statements that align with our discipleship efforts are:
1. “. . . these churches train and infuse their young people with an integrated discipleship that enables them to thrive in our complex world.”
2. “. . . teenagers and emerging adults consistently described how much they care about their church’s process or journey for arriving at particular beliefs, positions, and statements.”
Churches multiplying until The Wesleyan Church has a faithful presence in every zip code:
There are approximately 40,000 zip codes in the United States. Imagine if every Wesleyan church adopted the Global Partners vision of “here, near, far, hard” by praying for a specific number of people in each zip code who do not have any church affiliation, beginning with their own zip code. This website provides demographic data for people in every U.S. zip code who self-identify with a church as well as those who are “unclaimed” without any church affiliation.
Imagine if every church began to have focused prayer for the people who have no church affiliation in their own zip code, knowing that through the week, they will be coming in contact with them. From there, imagine if every Wesleyan church began to pray and prepare for a multiplication culture, shifting away from a gathering and keeping culture to a gathering and sending culture.
Again, Headquarters will not prescribe the model of multiplication but will champion movement over model. Each church will prayerfully contextualize the model, whether it be a campus, satellite, cluster of small groups, or another creative form of multiplying.
From “here to near” to “far to hard,” from our current local churches to the hard-to-reach urban centers or overseas, God is calling us to go with the transforming message of hope and holiness.
You are in our constant prayers as you minister in the real world and with real people. Never hesitate to contact us with your questions and suggestions.
