Central Baptist Church: menyeberangkan Pandangan

Central Baptist Church: menyeberangkan Pandangan

Mulai seorang pengunjung masuk ke gereja, Pusat Baptist Gereja 's outreach-berkeberatan fokus misi tak dapat salah dikira. Ruang masuk bergaris dengan papan pengumuman dengan informasi tentang kesempatan kementerian di gereja dan himpunan. Aula persahabatan digantungkan dengan colorful panji-panji, masing-masing mewakili kelompok misi. Di bidang di luar cagar alam, jendela kaca bergambar secara simbolik menggambarkan dunia di pelukan Jiwa, dan pedang yang dipukul ke dalam bagian-bagian bajak.

Di luar bidang ruang kelas Sekolah Minggu adalah pameran menonjol yang dicap sebagai "Telling Our Story di Central Baptist Church." pameran saling berbagi cerita beberapa orang di tradisi Baptist yang mencontohkan misi gereja. Seorang di antara pahlawan ini adalah Jitsuo Morikowa, orang Amerika Jepang yang dikuburkan yang dulunya yang menjadi Direktur Evangelism bagi American Baptist Home Mission Societies. "His menitikberatkan baik isi pribadi maupun sosial Injil Yesus Kristus yang dikuasai sama sekali bahwa dia berkhotbah dan planned.... Injil menyapa orang utuh di tempat total orang itu dan menelpon kami ke radikal response." model Lain adalah Maria Cristina Gomez, serikat sekerja aktivis di San Salvador ,nya "senseless membunuh... adalah seperingatan mengapa gereja ini mengungkapkan solidaritas aktifnya dengan yang tertindas yang miskin, dan terlupakan di Amerika tengah dan di seluruh World." ketiga; Masing-masing ruang kelas Sekolah Minggu memikul nama seorang di antara pemimpin ini di kepercayaan, seperingatan bahwa maksud discipleship akan mengikuti Kristus ke dalam misi.

Everything the church distributes calls attention to the church's vision. The bulletin proclaims the church to be "A Caring and Risking Community of Faith." 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. ..." 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." Each newsletter contains reports from the various mission groups. 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."

The church's vision is prominent throughout the church service, as well. Outreach comes before the congregation's attention each week in the announcements and in the Concerns and Celebration sharing time. 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. The two pastors also consistently reinforce the mission through their worship leading and preaching. Sermons often touch on themes of seeking justice, empowering those who are marginalized, and supporting people's journeys toward faith. "We are like a stained glass window," Rev. Marcia Bailey told the kids gathered up front for the Children's Conversation in one service. "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." Then she prayed, "May we be, God, a reflection of your vision for ourselves and for our world."

Central Baptist Church also draws on a history of "pushing the envelope," in the words of Rev. Marcus Pomeroy. The church often looks to past ministry endeavors to sustain its commitment to the mission. "One of the things that's exciting to me about Central Baptist Church is that we're not normal!" he remarked in a sermon. Having an identity and heritage as a risk-taking church encourages the congregation to embrace new ministry ventures as they arise.

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. And evangelism could play a more prominent role in the church's outreach. 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.

[chap. 13, pp. 278-280]