September 2008
Pentecost Celebrations
A Global God A Global Task was the theme of Pentecost Sunday this spring. Thank you for all your work in giving focus to God’s work through the ministry of CRWM on that day! Through your prayers, involvement, and giving, lives and communities are being changed worldwide. Pentecost Sunday is a very significant day for our agency and the Church. In fact, the CRC Synod recognizes it as a special day to support the ministry of World Missions. We are very grateful for prayers offered, gestures of care towards your missionaries, and the financial gifts that make ministry possible. Next year Pentecost Sunday is on May 31, 2009. We ask that you please connect with your deacons and worship leaders to ensure that this date is designated for CRWM. Thank you!
Welcome to the Missions Advocate!
The Missions Advocate is a monthly newsletter for people who are passionate about seeing the mission of God advance around the world and who want to encourage their local congregations to become more deeply involved in missions. If you long to see the whole Church mobilized so that the whole Gospel reaches the whole world, we believe you will find plenty of useful ideas and information in this newsletter. The Missions Advocate replaces two previous publications: Just for Local Reps and The Update (Canada only) in connecting local church mission leaders to God’s global mission. Because healthy churches do missions, we believe that calling the church to more powerful prayer, action and giving are like encouraging a person to exercise as a way to increase health and strength. To help churches to do this task as part of the total ministry of the Church, we’ve redesignated our monthly publication as well as the job title of those for whom it is designed– the “Missions Advocate”. World Missions strives to see each local CRC have a Missions Advocate (formerly called Local Rep) to help raise awareness and involvement in missions. The revised position description includes expectations of the Missions Advocate’s role as well as ideas to increase the vigour of your church’s missions program. If you check out the “Resources” page our website (www.crwm.org), you will find many more resources you can use in your role of encouraging and supporting the work of missions. A cover letter and your new position description will also be sent to the church council so that they are aware of the new name and are reminded of the important role held by the Missions Advocate. We hope that these changes will help to clarify our expectations and hopes for the role as well as open a dialogue among your church’s leaders. If you have questions about any of these changes, please feel free to contact your Regional Missions Mobilizer, the Canada, or USA World Missions office.
Enclosed with this newsletter:
New Missions Advocate Job Description
GLOBAL UPDATE The Global Update
Look for a new missions resource coming your way soon. In the next couple of weeks we’ll be sending the Global Update to your pastor or worship leader. We want to keep your congregation up to date on how God is using the Christian Reformed Church through World Missions to reach the world for Christ. Global Update includes a CD with a PowerPoint program of three and a half minutes as well as a two-page text version.
Mission Emphasis Celebrations
How do you celebrate? What do you do to celebrate your child’s 5th birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or even a victory for your favorite sports team? You rejoice! You get together with family and friends, make lots of noise, eat lots of food. You have fun! Mission emphasis events are a time of celebrating the spread of God’s kingdom of shalom throughout the whole world. That’s something to celebrate! As we enter the new church year, you may be planning your own mission emphasis celebrations. We’d like to help you out with a few tips and some resources. (For more information, see the article
Celebrating Missions in Reformed Worship #89, pp. 28-29.)
The Prayer Bench
For the last six months, World Missions has been seeking to fill a new position of Muslim Ministry Coordinator. Stationed in West Africa, this position is key to implementing our ministry plans for Muslim evangelism. The position also involves connecting with similar ministries around the world, and developing training materials for ministry among Muslims around the world as well as in North America. During the month of September, please pray for the person of God’s choosing to fill this urgent opening.
TIPS For Planning Your Missions Emphasis Event Tip #1: Get a variety of people involved
In addition to your missions committee, invite representatives from various church ministries to build ownership of the event, distribute workload and encourage new ideas.
MISSIONS EMPHASIS RESOURCES available from CRWM at www.crwm.org • Missions Celebration Kits:
Produced for Pentecost but can be used any time; includes sermon ideas, liturgies, videos, children’s messages, bulletins, and more.
Tip #2: Set some goals
Setting goals helps keep your team focused on the purpose of the event, motivates the congregation, and provides a sense of accomplishment.
Tip #3: Choose a theme
This helps to make mission emphasis a coherent whole rather than a group of scattered, unrelated events. It also helps aids the planning process by guiding choices of songs, texts, and the like.
• Sample Goals and Themes • Flag Procession Litany • Children’s Message: Tire Sandals,
Clogs, and the Great Commission
Sunday School children at Bethany CRC in Bellflower, CA experience worship “Nigerian style”
• Commissioning Service Liturgy • A “How To” Missions Emphasis
Planning Guide
However you remember missions this year, be sure to include an element of celebration. Go ahead and celebrate God’s Global Mission!
• More Ideas for Celebrating
Missions: Includes more than 60 ideas for Sunday services and mid-week events. For more resources also check out these websites: Reformed Worship
(www.reformedworship.org)
Your Regional Missions Mobilizer
Mission Help
(www.davidmays.org)