Central Baptist Church: Getting the Vision Across Central Baptist Church: Få Vision Across

Central Baptist Church: Getting the Vision Across Central Baptist Church: Få Vision Across

From the moment a visitor walks in the church, Central Baptist Church's outreach-minded mission focus is unmistakable. Fra det øjeblik en besøgende vandreture i kirken, Central Baptist Church's outreach-minded mission fokus er umiskendelig. The hallways are lined with bulletin boards with information about ministry opportunities in the church and community. De hallways er foret med opslagstavler med oplysninger om ministeriets muligheder i kirke og samfund. The fellowship hall is hung with colorful banners, each representing a mission group. Stipendiet hallen er hang med farverige bannere, der hver repræsenterer en mission gruppe. In the area outside the sanctuary, stained glass windows symbolically portray the world in the embrace of the Spirit, and swords being beat into plow shares. På området uden for det fristed, farvet glas vinduer symbolsk skildre verden i omfavnelse af den ånd og sværd bliver beat i plow aktier.

Outside the Sunday School classroom area is a prominent display labeled "Telling Our Story at Central Baptist Church." Uden for søndag Skole klasseværelse område er en fremtrædende display med etiketten "fortæller Our Story på centralt Baptist Church." The display shares the stories of several persons in the Baptist tradition who exemplify the church's mission. Displayet deler historier af flere personer i Baptist tradition der eksempler kirkens mission. One of these heroes is Jitsuo Morikowa, a formerly interred Japanese American who became Director of Evangelism for American Baptist Home Mission Societies. En af disse helte er Jitsuo Morikowa, en tidligere interred japansk American der blev direktør for forkynder evangeliet for American Baptist Indre Mission Societies. "His stress on both the personal and social content of the Gospel of Jesus Christ dominated all that he preached and planned. ... The gospel addresses the whole person in that person's total setting and it calls us to radical response." "Hans stress på både personlige og sociale indhold af Evangeliet om Jesus Kristus domineret alt, hvad han prædikede og planlagt. ... Evangeliet adresser hele person i den pågældende persons samlede indstilling og den kalder os til radikal reaktion." Another model is Maria Cristina Gomez, union activist in San Salvador, whose "senseless murder ... is a reminder of why this church expresses its active solidarity with the poor, oppressed, and forgotten in Central America and throughout the Third World." En anden model er Maria Cristina Gomez, union aktivist i San Salvador, hvis "meningsløse mord ... er en påmindelse om, hvorfor denne kirke udtrykker sin aktive solidaritet med de fattige, undertrykte, og glemt i Mellemamerika og i hele den tredje verden." Each Sunday School classroom bears the name of one of these leaders in the faith, a reminder that the purpose of discipleship is to follow Christ into mission. Hver søndag Skole klasseværelse bærer navnet på en af disse ledere i den tro, en påmindelse om, at formålet med discipleship er at følge Kristus i missionen.

Everything the church distributes calls attention to the church's vision. Alt kirken distribuerer kræver opmærksomhed på kirken's vision. The bulletin proclaims the church to be "A Caring and Risking Community of Faith." Den bulletin proklamerer kirken at være "en omsorgsfuld og risikerer Fællesskabet af Tro." On the back of the bulletin is a description of the church's mission: "Central Baptist Church is a caring, concerned and questioning congregation which supports each one's search for a personal relationship with God, a communal relationship with each other, and a mission outreach to the broader community. ..." På bagsiden af bulletinen er en beskrivelse af kirken's mission: "Central Baptist Church er et omsorgsfuldt, og forhør menigheden, som støtter hver en søgen efter et personligt forhold til Gud, et fællesantenneanlæg forbindelser med hinanden, og en mission outreach til det bredere samfund. ... " Other literature available to visitors declares the church's "enthusiastic mission support for justice, witness and healing in our metropolitan area and throughout our nation and world." Andre litteratur til rådighed for de besøgende erklærer kirken's "entusiastiske støtte til missionen for retfærdighed, vidner og healing i vores byområdet og i hele vores nation og verden." Each newsletter contains reports from the various mission groups. Hvert nyhedsbrev indeholder rapporter fra de forskellige mission grupper. The covenant affirmed annually by members concludes with a dedication to mission: "We reach out as a welcoming community of faith. We covenant as individuals and as a congregation to work with others toward peace, justice and the wholeness of God's creation." Pagtens bekræftet hvert år af medlemmer indgår med en dedikation til mission: "Vi nå ud som et imødekommende samfund af tro. Vi pagt som enkeltpersoner og som menigheden til at arbejde sammen med andre i retning af fred, retfærdighed og Ubeskårne Guds skaberværk."

The church's vision is prominent throughout the church service, as well. Kirken's vision er fremtrædende i hele kirkens tjeneste, så godt. Outreach comes before the congregation's attention each week in the announcements and in the Concerns and Celebration sharing time. Outreach kommer før menigheden opmærksomhed hver uge i de bekendtgørelser og i de bekymringer og Celebration deling tid. For example, one week the prayer requests included Endangered Species Act legislation, and a father in a formerly homeless family (served through the church's Interfaith Hospitality Network ministry) who had been shot while in Philadelphia getting drugs. For eksempel en uge bøn ansøgninger, der indgår Truede Arter Act lovgivning, og en far i en tidligere hjemløs familie (tjent gennem kirken's Interfaith Hospitality Netværket ministerium) der var blevet skudt mens der i Philadelphia fik narkotika. The two pastors also consistently reinforce the mission through their worship leading and preaching. De to prædikanter også konsekvent styrke mission gennem deres gudsdyrkelse førende og prædiker. Sermons often touch on themes of seeking justice, empowering those who are marginalized, and supporting people's journeys toward faith. Prædikener ofte ind på temaer som søger retfærdighed, som giver dem, der er marginaliserede og støtte folks rejser mod tro. "We are like a stained glass window," Rev. Marcia Bailey told the kids gathered up front for the Children's Conversation in one service. "Vi er ligesom en farvet glas vindue," Rev Marcia Bailey fortalt børnene samles op foran for børns samtale i en tjeneste. "We can't always see what the window will look like while it is taking shape. But we know the Creator has a vision and we are a part of making that vision come true." "Vi kan ikke altid se, hvad vinduet vil se ud, mens den er ved at tage form. Men vi kender Creator har en vision, og vi er en del af at gøre denne vision gå i opfyldelse." Then she prayed, "May we be, God, a reflection of your vision for ourselves and for our world." Så hun bad, "Må vi være, Gud, en afspejling af Deres vision for os selv og vores verden."

Central Baptist Church also draws on a history of "pushing the envelope," in the words of Rev. Marcus Pomeroy. Central Baptist Church trækker også på en historie af "skubber den kuvert, der" i ord Rev Marcus Pomeroy. The church often looks to past ministry endeavors to sustain its commitment to the mission. Kirken ofte ser til tidligere ministerium endeavors at opretholde sit engagement i missionen. "One of the things that's exciting to me about Central Baptist Church is that we're not normal!" "En af de ting, der er spændende for mig omkring Central Baptist Church er, at vi ikke normal!" he remarked in a sermon. Han bemærkede i en prædiken. Having an identity and heritage as a risk-taking church encourages the congregation to embrace new ministry ventures as they arise. Under en identitet og arv som en risikovillighed kirke opfordrer menigheden til at omfatte nye ministerium ventures, som de opstår.

As a suburban church, Central Baptist Church sometimes struggles to reconcile its passion for seeking justice with the comfortable lives of most of its members. Som et forstæder kirke, Central Baptist Church tider kæmper for at forene sin lidenskab for at søge retfærdighed med komfortable liv i de fleste af sine medlemmer. And evangelism could play a more prominent role in the church's outreach. Og forkynder evangeliet kunne spille en mere fremtrædende rolle i kirken's opsøgende. But with over sixty percent of the congregation involved in a mission group (compared with the national average of ten percent of church members in ministry, according to a Gallup poll), there is no question that Central Baptist Church has succeeded in communicating a compelling, unifying vision for mission. Men med over tres procent af menigheden er involveret i en mission gruppe (sammenlignet med det nationale gennemsnit ti procent af kirkens medlemmer i ministeriet, ifølge en Gallup-undersøgelse), er der ingen tvivl om, at Central Baptist Church har haft held med at kommunikere en overbevisende, samlende vision for mission.

[chap. 13, pp. 13, pp. 278-280]