This article is Part 3 of 4. To read the other parts, click the appropriate links below:
- Part 1: The Missional Church – What exactly does it mean for the church to be missional? And how does a missional perspective play out in the context of local communities?
- Part 2: The Missional Church – “Being missional is all about creating spaces for gospel conversation to take place,” says Steve Cecil, who planted a Foursquare church called The Journey Community in Madison, Wis.
- Part 4: The Missional Church – “Being missional is as easy as seeing a need in your community and doing something about it,” says John Wiley, pastor of The River Christian Fellowship in Raytown, Mo.
“Surely the challenge for the church today is to be taken captive by the agenda of Jesus, rather than seeking to mold Him to fit our agendas, no matter how noble they might be,” write Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch in their new book, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church (Hendrickson Publishers). “The challenge before us is to let Jesus be Jesus and to allow ourselves to be caught up in His extraordinary mission for the world.”
Foursquare churches across the U.S. are rising to this challenge. One case in point: Vision Christian Center (Bourg Foursquare Church) in Bourg, La., nestled in Terrebonne Parish. Pastored by Kim and Vanessa Voisin, who founded the church 17 years ago, Vision Christian Center has become a major hub of missional activity that has resulted in the planting of approximately 30 new churches.
Following the unfathomable destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Kim led much of Foursquare’s relief and recovery efforts. But he didn’t direct from some ivory tower; he and his congregation made sacrifices and got their hands dirty to serve the parish’s devastated citizens. They immediately opened up their building to those in need and housed around 100 people for about six months. They helped rebuild approximately 50 homes and 12 schools.
When the worst of it was over, the parish president summoned Kim to his office to thank the church for helping the parish get back on its feet. Later, at a courthouse meeting, he declared that the parish simply could not operate without the area’s churches.
To Kim, that’s what being missional is all about: “To be actively involved in what the Holy Spirit is already doing in your area,” the 48-year-old father of four and grandfather of six explained in an interview with Foursquare.org. “To listen to the city’s cry and be part of the solution. To be a bridge from where the city is to where it is going.”
And thus Vision Christian Center’s missional activities don’t begin and end with disaster relief. In addition to running a food pantry, a drug rehab program and a financial training class, the church operates a Christian nightclub so that members can interact with people in their community. Each year they also host a huge event for war veterans that includes special speakers, honoring of the fallen, and a delicious meal served by church members to the attendees.
Another key focus is a pastors’ mentoring class, out of which many churches have been planted. Kim makes an important observation about missional churches and leadership development.
“The leaders for tomorrow are always in the crop of tomorrow,” he asserts. “Missional churches see them today and start preparing them for tomorrow.”
Seeing the potential others may miss in people, places and circumstances seems to be a major component in the makeup of missional leaders. Thirty-seven-year-old Pete Akins is just such a leader, serving in a part of the country many Christians might be tempted to write off—Utah, the bastion of the Mormon Church.
True Life Center (Cedar City Foursquare Church), where the father of four pastors with his wife, Cami, is thriving in a city where 85 percent of the people living there attend a Mormon temple. How has his congregation grown to an astounding number of 150 attendees? Simple. They don’t antagonize or distance people. They just love them.
And so the day before Mother’s Day, they’ve traipsed the streets, handing out 1,000 carnations to moms in town, just to honor them. The Saturday before Father’s Day, they’ve conducted free carwashes for dads—rejecting any donations.
The church had a men’s softball team in the city league, and regularly brought a BBQ with hot dogs to feed the opposing teams (usually, Pete humorously notes, after the other teams beat them). During Thanksgiving, True Life Center has given away scores of turkey dinners and hosted a banquet in their building, feeding hundreds of people. Church volunteers even pitched in to remodel an old roller-skating rink.
For Pete and the members of his congregation, ministry is all about doing.
“To be missional means to do something, to do the work of the ministry,” he explains. “It is important to be missional, because people need to be touched with the gospel. Ministry must be happening around us, or it is empty.”
This is Part 3 in a series of 4. To read more about missional Foursquare churches, click the links below.
- Part 1: The Missional Church – What exactly does it mean for the church to be missional? And how does a missional perspective play out in the context of local communities?
- Part 2: The Missional Church – “Being missional is all about creating spaces for gospel conversation to take place,” says Steve Cecil, who planted a Foursquare church called The Journey Community in Madison, Wis.
- Part 4: The Missional Church – “Being missional is as easy as seeing a need in your community and doing something about it,” says John Wiley, pastor of The River Christian Fellowship in Raytown, Mo.
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By: Bill Shepson, a Foursquare credentialed minister and freelance writer in Los Angeles
