Search: Ronald J. Sider, Volunteering

Holistic Mission and Discipleship: Helping Hands, Holy Hearts
Ronald J. Sider, Philip N. Olson and Heidi Rolland Unruh

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

Overcoming the barriers to holistic ministry requires an intentional effort both to
welcome the community into the church, and to bring the church out into the community.
Here we give seven suggestions for cultivating an outreach-minded congregation.

1. Welcome whoever walks through your door.
A good place to start in cultivating the congregation’s commitment to reach out to
the community is by loving the people in the community who come to you. “We need a
theology of welcome to tear down the fences that have come to separate ‘church’ and
‘mission,’” asserts Kathryn Mowry.

Tool #5: What Is the Church's Mission?

What is the mission of the church? How are God’s character and saving actions expressed through your church in the world? Discuss your church's understanding of mission in terms of the three theological dimensions in the attached document written by Heidi Unruh, Philip Olson, and Ronald Sider.

Tool #11: Outreach Mission Types

When it comes to how and why churches integrate sharing faith and meeting social needs, the following document describes that there are five basic types of churches.

HOLISTIC MINISTRY DEFINED:
The Whole Gospel for the Whole Person Through Whole Churches

PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION FOR MISSION

CHRIST-LIKE SERVICE

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:4). At the center of
holistic ministry is Christ—our Lord who commands ministry, the Suffering Servant who
modeled ministry, our Friend and Shepherd who leads us forth in ministry. We present to
the world a “unique and profound combination of Jesus as message and Jesus as model,”
as Ray Bakke points out.

LOVING GOD, LOVING OTHERS, LOVING OURSELVES

Ministry as Worship

The church in Jerusalem was suffering from famine and persecution. The first
century Christian leaders decided to organize the churches to do something about it. In
Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, he prepared the church to take up a love
offering for needy people in Jerusalem. To inspire them to greater giving, he wrote them
a glowing report about the contribution of the churches in Macedonia. The Macedonians
had limited resources and were facing persecution, yet their generosity overflowed. What
was their secret?