| In keeping with the vision and mission statements of The Christian
& Missionary Alliance, the Midwest District has established the following
vision, mission, core values, and principles of ministry.
Vision
The vision of the Midwest District is to establish prevailing Great
Commission/Great Commandment churches strategically placed throughout all
of Illinois and Indiana through…
* Planting healthy Great Commission/Great Commandment churches
for all peoples.
* Establishing a prayer network of intercessors made up of people
from inside and outside our district.
* Expanding a ministry of mentoring and preaching.
* Creating a healthy environment for growth through church-based
networking, proactive initiatives of the Church Multiplication Committee,
and intensive involvement in Growing a Healthy Church (GHC).
* Addressing renewal and revitalization issues.
* Growing dynamic servant leadership.
* Enhancing local church initiatives.
These enablers will be carried out within the context of our mission
and core values.
Mission
The mission of the Midwest District is to…
Facilitate and empower our district churches
to become prevailing Great Commission/ Great Commandment churches in their
communities.
Facilitate and empower district pastors
and personnel to become effective in ministry with a view to creating a
prevailing multiplication movement of Great Commission /Great Commandment
churches.
Core Values
We believe strongly in certain core values that unify our relationships
and our efforts. Our vision and mission grow out of these values. These
are the things that define who we are, the way we think, and the way we
do ministry in the Midwest District. These are things that define
who we recruit and appoint to ministry. Our in-service training will
be built around these values.
1. Lost people matter to God. This truth must motivate and permeate
our ministries. Lost people mattered so much to our Father God that He
gave His Son to pay the price for our sins. Through Him we can have
forgiveness and restored community once again with God and with each other.
Jesus said, I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). “…the Son of Man came to seek
and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10). The Lord is…patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through Him (John 3:17). This is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…(1
Tim.1:15).
This is a value we will “go to the mat” for and battle against complacency.
We must, therefore, encourage innovation and creativity while preserving
our core values. We have not yet begun to see all the ways, plans,
methods, strategies, etc. that our creative God wants to put in our hands
to advance His Kingdom.
2. The church is the most important agency on the earth. It is
the Body of Christ and the hope of the world. Through the ministries
of the church God intends that people experience transformation and grow
in community into the likeness of Christ. The Church is the only
agency to which God committed the task of the Great Commission.
…Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…(Eph.5:25).
God reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave to us the ministry
of reconciliation. We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors as though
God were making His appeal through us.(1 Cor. 5:18-20). To the embryonic
church, Jesus said,…repentance for forgiveness of sins will be preached
in His Name to all nations…You are witnesses of these things…(Luke 24:47-49).
The church is worth giving our “one and only life” to its service.
3. Anointed leadership and a mobilized laity constitute the catalyst
for growing the church. It is the will of God that the church should
grow. He has chosen to utilize anointed leaders with the spiritual
gifts of teaching and preaching to lead believers to grow the church, each
using his or her gift for the common good of all.
…He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets,
some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare
God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built
up…(Eph.4:11-13). …to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given
for the common good…(1 Cor. 12:7).
Churches should be led by people with leadership gifts…people who model
servant leadership and mobilize the church for growth.
4. Planting churches is the most effective way to fulfill Christ’s commission.
When Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples, the emphasis was
on proclaiming the Good News and teaching Christ’s truth to every ethnic
group on the face of the earth, from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria and
to the whole world. From the very day the disciples were empowered
by the Spirit to accomplish this task, they understood the mandate in terms
of forming communities of believers – planting churches everywhere.
The Acts is a history of the expansion of the church. The rest of
the Bible from the Acts onward, is predominantly written to churches which
were planted by the apostles in obedience to Christ’s commission.
…repentance for forgiveness of sins will be preached
in His Name to all nations…you are witnesses of these things…stay in the
city until you have been clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:47-49)
Go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you…(Matt28:19-20). They devoted themselves to the apostles
teaching, and to fellowship, and to the breaking of bread, and prayer…All
the believers were together…Every day they continued to meet…They broke
bread in their homes,…praising God…And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).
We too are witnesses of the death and resurrection of Jesus through the
new birth and have received the same mandate as the apostles. In some cases,
existing churches will daughter a church or partner with other churches
to plant daughter churches. In other cases a church may establish
satellite worship centers. In some cases, district leadership may
take the primary initiative. In all cases, we must be proactive in
creating an environment for growth.
5. Dynamic ministries in major cities are essential to a pervasive Christian
witness. Cities are reflective of God’s intention to demonstrate
His power and mercy to all the peoples of the earth. The Apostle
Paul planted churches city by city. He writes to the church in Thessalonica
that all of Macedonia and Acadia had heard the gospel through its witness
(I Thess. 1:7-8). Main cities are the economic, culture, and nerve
centers. They can be the “faith centers” for whole regions.
6. Innovation and creativity are essential to advance the Kingdom.
The Gospel is never changing and forever new. This means that we
will preach, teach, and propagate the never changing gospel until Jesus
comes. And, because the gospel is the Good News – forever new, we
constantly and intentionally find new and better ways to win people to
Jesus and grow them into fully devoted disciples. The Apostle Paul said,
…I have become all things to all men that by all possible means I might
save some (1 Cor.9:22).
7. Excellence honors God and inspires people. This means
that our priorities will reflect that we will give the best of our time,
energy, and resources to advance the Kingdom. As we model excellence,
it will issue in others becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus.
This includes also the concepts of stewardship. Kingdom people are
great givers.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all
in the Name of the Lord Jesus…(Col.3:17). As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another (Prov.27:17). But just as you abound
in everything in faith…and in the love we inspired in you, see that you
abound in this gracious work also (2Cor.8:7). See also Mal.1:6-14).
…Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme
poverty welled up in rich generosity (2 Cor.8:2).
Excellence means giving to God all that we have, and doing the very best
we can with what He gives us, in dependence upon the Spirit.
Principles
Our core values provide the framework for not only the vision and mission
of the Midwest District, but also our principles of ministry.
In all of our ministries we will as a district office and as churches
endeavor to follow the following principles…
If the church is going to be healthy in this new millennium, it is crucial
that we be…
* Spiritually focused, recognizing that whatever we do in word and deed,
we do it for the glory of God (1 Cor.10:31, Col.3:17).
* Socially sensitive, recognizing that there are natural barriers to
the proclamation and acceptance of the gospel, but not creating our own
man-made barriers (1 Cor.9:22-23).
* Culturally relevant recognizing that God is now speaking through us
to bridge the gap to our cultures with the gospel message (2 Cor.5:20).
* Vision driven recognizing that all we have comes from God and that
when, He will bless the stewardship of our time, energy and resources (Phil.4:19,
2 Cor.9:7-8).
* Outreach-oriented recognizing that for the church to be the church
we must evaluate all our programs and ministries in terms of their effectiveness,
and relatedness to turning lost
people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ (Matt.28:18-20).
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