Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed
At CBC, alongside our Vision - which helps us understand where we are headed - we have seven Core Values which shape everything that we do and say.
We started to think a bit more about these Core Values a couple of weeks ago - if you missed these posts then use the links below to catch up.
Our Core Values: Loving, Welcoming, Missional, Servant-hearted, Biblical, Spirit-led and Prayerful
This week we're going to think about what it means to be Missional - and out of the seven Core Values this may be the one that is least self-explanatory. So what do we mean when we say that we are 'missional'?
When we were thinking about our Vision and Values last year, one of the places that we started was the 'Great Commission' in Matthew 28:19-20 where Jesus tells his disciples that part of what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, is to be someone who makes disciples. The sort of person who shows people what it means to follow Jesus and invites them to follow too. The sort of person who helps people move forward in their walk with God.
And whatever else we may be doing or thinking about doing as a church we need to be demonstrating what it looks like to follow Jesus and giving people the opportunity to follow too. Whatever help or services we may be able to provide, whatever needs we are able to meet - ultimately we believe that the only true answers are found in Jesus.
Being missional also means that we maintain an outward rather than an inward focus. A few weeks ago I quoted Archbishop William Temple who said, "The church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members." We do what we do - not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those in our community who don't yet know Jesus.
Being missional also requires us to look wider than just our community. This could be supporting outreach amongst local young people through WCCYM, supporting BU Home Mission projects throughout the UK, support of BMS World Mission or other overseas mission projects we're linked with, or it may mean actually going - being part of a summer team to Romania, for example.
But being missional, whatever that might look like, is not something that is reserved for the specialists or the fundamentalists. It is something that we are all involved in.
