Being a Missionally Minded Church from the Start

On today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Eliza Cortez Bast, Coordinator for Local Missional Engagement for the Reformed Church in America, speaks on how churches can be missionally minded from the Start.

What it means to be missional from the onset? What does it look like for a church to be more than just Sunday? What does it look like for a church to have their doors open?

These are just a few questions that one can begin to ask to to understand how a church can play a role outside of Sundays.

If we look to Matthew 4 & 9, we see that Jesus conveyed this missional message by spreading the gospel and connection in community by not only being in people’s homes, but at places like wells and synagogues.

The church itself provides a place of gathering, like a well. But the building is equipped and eager for so much more than what happens in Sunday services.

What does it look like to be a place of learning? Are there opportunities for community gathering and engagement? What would it look for the church to host an after-school program? Is this a place where the community can come and share meals together?  

For churches that worship in facilities that need to be torn down every Sunday after services, this isn’t a hindrance at all. The end game for a missional church is that they not only provide opportunities inside of the church building, but inside of the homes of every parishioner who comes to worship with that church. What do those homes look like from Monday through Saturday? Is it a place where tutoring can be found at the kitchen table? Who are they inviting in for meals? And is that home one where others can come to pray, grieve, or celebrate just as they would in the church?

The church and home should be place where the missional imagination door has been left open for individuals to engage with a faith community Monday thru Saturday, as well as on Sunday mornings.

Where is your church in the context of your community?