World Mission
King of Heaven, we will answer the call,
We will follow, bringing hope to the world,
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name.
From ‘Hear the Call of the Kingdom’, Stuart Townsend, Keith Getty & Kristyn Getty.
Copyright © 2006 Thankyou Music
"Thank you so much for your trust in us and for all the many ways in which you support us. We are extremely grateful to the church for their faithful support of us over the years. May the Lord continue to build his church in Sheffield and in Central Asia."
R&L, Mission Partners working in Central Asia
Reaching out with the gospel and sending out workers are two of the important things we do at Christ Church. One of the ways in which we do this is by supporting Mission Partners – they are involved in a wide range of ministries…
We also aim to inform and equip the church family to pray for the world that Christ died for and to prepare Christians to declare His glory across the barriers of language and culture. See Operation World for more information.
You can download a copy of the World Mission Handbook here or explore this page for more information.
Introduction
World Mission is central to what we do at Christ Church Fulwood
- Christ Church Fulwood has a long history of prayerful concern and financial support for World Mission, both abroad and in the UK, in obedience to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
- We aim to help people consider their engagement in World Mission and, where appropriate, support them with the training and other preparation needed.
- Support is focused on Mission Partners and Mission Associates engaged in gospel ministry or activities that support this, outside the parish, in both cross-cultural and non-cross-cultural settings. It should be noted that, for convenience, this webpage and other communications may use “Mission Partner” as a generic term which includes “Mission Associates”. Mission Partners and Mission Associates are considered to be equally important but have different needs appropriate to their different types of ministry.
- We encourage prayerful and practical support by the church family of people and organisations with the same concerns, whilst recognising that we do not have the resources to take on every good work!
- The Mission Committee is a Sub-Committee of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and is responsible for overseeing relationships with our church’s Mission Partners and Mission Associates, recommending long-term plans and ensuring good practice in our church’s support for mission beyond Fulwood.
This webpage is designed to...
- Help our church family understand the Why? and How? of World Mission at Christ Church Fulwood
- Enable Christ Church Fulwood leadership, staff and PCC to hold the PCC Mission Committee accountable for faithfulness to the Great Commission, care of our Mission Partners and Associates and stewardship of the financial resources allocated for this purpose.
- Provide clear guidance to current and prospective Mission Partners and Mission Associates at every stage, from initial enquiry through to finishing well.
In our mission work, Christ Church Fulwood prefers to partner with recognised Mission Agencies, which have experience of doing and supporting mission in the places around the world to which God has called our Mission Partners and Mission Associates. Mission agencies are expected to provide the member care, ministry direction and other support in the location of service (often referred to as field of service) that Christ Church Fulwood is unable to offer.
Christ Church Fulwood requires that all Mission Partners go with a recognised Mission Agency. A Mission Partner Agreement should be completed which details the expectations of each party with the aim of creating a fruitful and lengthy 3-way partnership.
Mission Associates may also opt to go with a Mission Agency, but this is not a pre-condition for support.
On this webpage, the term Mission Organisation refers to the organisation that our Mission Partner or Mission Associate will work with in their place of ministry.
Those considering Short Term Mission (under one year of service) may apply to the Mission Committee for a grant towards the cost of their mission work.
We are indebted to various people for much of the material included on this webpage, especially Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington DC (9Marks) and All Souls Church, Langham Place, London.
World Mission Policy
Christ Church Fulwood PCC adopted the following World Mission Policy in November 2019
Vision -
Plant churches : we long to see churches planted, established and secured wherever our mission partners are working.
Train leaders – the training, equipping and support of Christian leaders is a core activity for our mission partners and we will seek to assist in identifying, equipping, training and sending leaders into cross-cultural mission.
Grow Fulwood – our spiritual growth is reflected in an increasing concern for the nations.
Mission Priorities -
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Our priority is to support and promote world mission according to the Great Commission: to go into all the world to make disciples of Jesus. We understand this to encompass making new disciples and encouraging existing disciples to grow in obedience to Jesus – including training them to be disciple-makers themselves. We believe that essential and central to disciple-making and world mission is the proclamation of Christ and the teaching of God’s Word out of wholehearted love for others.
Policy Scope -
This world mission policy relates to our responsibility to support and promote gospel workers and their activities outside the parish, excluding our relationships with Gafcon, AMiE, ReNew and other UK church planting initiatives.
Key Responsibilities -
1. To ensure that world mission remains a core value and function of the church and a key component in the teaching programme of the church.
2. In partnership with the whole church family, to identify, train and send members for Christian service at home or abroad. These are our ‘Mission Partners’.
3. To promote the profile of and pray consistently for our Mission Partners, for the people they are ministering to, and for those as yet unevangelised.
4. To ensure that our Mission Partners are contributing to the vision of Christ Church Fulwood.
5. a. In partnership with their mission agency, to care for our Mission Partners’ emotional, physical and spiritual well-being from the beginning through to the end of the partnership.
b. To resource our Mission Partners, as appropriate, with finance and in other practical ways.
Mission Partners of Christ Church Fulwood will normally be either:
1. Actively engaged in Word ministry of one kind or another in a cross-cultural context and/or outside of the parish – as for example, evangelists, church-planters, pastor-teachers, trainers or theological educators. Or,
2. Engaged in ministry which is in some way supportive of Word ministry in cross-cultural settings or outside the parish e.g. in healthcare, poverty relief or practical roles.