In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NIV).
The words “to the ends of the earth” are power-packed and reveal, first, the heart of God our Father and His unrelenting reach to this world. Passionately, the Lord has called His people to be His witnesses, to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Second, these words reveal to us that we have been given a mandate—to live in communion with Him commands our allegiance and our obedience.
To that end, the 2012 Global Summit has been planned for June 1–3 in Phoenix. Out of a call to obedience and with the love of God poured into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, the global leadership of The Foursquare Church has set aside these three days in June to seek the will of our Father, who has called us to become truly “one” in our identity, focus and passion to “go into all the world.”
Representatives from our U.S churches, districts, the board of directors, missions committee, Foursquare Foundation and Foursquare Missions International will join national leaders and global influencers from around the world, with the following clearly defined goals, to:
- Establish a global eldering community
- Build together a global strategy
- Refine and strengthen our global infrastructure
- Help resource every nation to evangelize, disciple, multiply and send
The themes for each of the three days will help to identify the following vital items:
- Friday: “Our Foursquare Distinctives”
- Saturday: “Our Current Realities” and “Our Opportunities”
- Sunday: “A Plan and Strategy Going Forward”
Global presenters from 15 nations will speak to us about current realities and opportunities within the context of their long-term ministry experience, including presentations on laity, leadership development, church planting, nation planting, holistic ministries, cities, global eldering networking partnerships, and emerging leaders, to name a few. Papers are being written and shared with all participants to better equip and prepare us for significant missiological conversations.
Also joining us for this strategic time are two globally respected leaders and prolific authors. We are honored to have Ed Stetzer, Vice President of Research and Ministry Development for LifeWay Christian Resources, and Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University and the Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University.
MissionShift: Global Mission Issues in the Third Millennium (edited by Ed Stetzer and David Hesselgrave) and The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (by Philip Jenkins) are being used as resources in preparation for this event.
We will also discover together the journey that the U.S. Foursquare Church has been on as we move from pioneers, to parents, to partners in the 21st century. Above all, we will allow significant time for relationship building, networking, prayer and prophetic gifts to operate within our global family.
I envision this event to be a watershed moment in the history of our movement. It has been 25 years since our denomination has had such an opportunity as this. I believe it is right on time—in tune with the move and call of the Holy Spirit and out of which a unified vision will emerge to accelerate the gospel “to the ends of the earth.”
To learn more about the 2012 Global Summit and how to pray, log on to the Global Summit website. You will find weekly devotionals written by our world leaders as well as the Global Summit Promo Video. Of particular importance is the first post on January 9, 2012, by Leslie Keegel, national leader of The Foursquare Church Sri Lanka, in which he describes a prophetic word from the Lord about this event.
By: Glenn C. Burris Jr., president of The Foursquare Church and chair of the Global Council
