This 9 minute video shares a portion of a webinar Pastor Michelle hosted called “The Call to Kingdom Missional Ministry”.
We were just getting started on what turned out to be a very rich discussion and exchange of perspectives. There’s a lot more to talk about, and even more to do something about. The five descriptions below are listed in order shown on the video.
1. Community Outreach
Community outreach means reaching out to the community in order to meet needs. It is an act of love that allows non-believers to make a connection with the Church and experience the love of Christ. While outreach involves reaching out to communities, regions, and nations, it doesn’t require preaching the good news. Outreach makes the Church visibly known for being a resource to help meet the practical and physical needs of people. (Source: The Discipline of Kingdom Advancement, M Walker-Wade)
2. Recreational Outreach Ministry
The use of sports and other leisure or recreational activities to provide great relationship-building opportunities and hence can be good for outreach and discipleship. (Source: Ministry Tools Resource Center)
3. Marketplace Ministry a.k.a. Business as Ministry a.k.a. Business as Mission
This category is referred to by several different terms. All falls under the umbrella of “Faith & Work: as explained next. Business as Mission involves the practice of conducting business with a spiritual purpose, viewing the business as a platform to serve others and express the values of one’s faith. It involves integrating ethical business practices with the intention of promoting well-being and spreading the message of a faith, typically Christianity, within the marketplace. It also includes using one’s work in the business world as a platform to demonstrate faith, serve others, and bring about positive change. This category is typically associated with entrepreneurship.
4. Faith & Work movement
The faith and work movement is a global network and approach that seeks to integrate one’s Christian faith with their professional life, aiming to demonstrate God’s purpose in all aspects of work and to positively impact the world. It emphasizes that work is a divine calling and an opportunity to “do good” in the world, serving as a means of cultural renewal and spiritual transformation for believers who are often called to “live out their faith in their everyday work”. Believers make every effort to integrate faith and work, including evangelism, discipleship, professional development, and the transformation of the workplace itself through faith-based principles. (Source: workandfaithmovement.org) This category is typically associated with employment and career sectors.
5. Community Development
Church-based Community Development is built on a philosophy of ministry – Christian Community Development – which primarily works among the neglected communities of the world as an act of love. It involves providing ministries to help develop the community such as health centers, housing developments for both rental and home ownership, a legal center, and a home for men getting out of prison and striving to get off drugs. (Source: Seminary Now)
