Home David Mays Updated: March, 2008

Trends in Missions in the Local Church

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1. Broadening Scope

Missions includes an increasing array of evangelism, service, and social ministries.

Funding for any ministry outside the church is likely to come from the missions budget.

Parachurch organizations, church leaders, and congregation members seek mission funding for various needs.

Ministries that serve U.S. Christians are sometimes considered missions.

Important ministry that might not otherwise get done receives funding from churches.

The missions budget is split more ways.

2. Competition

An increasing number of church ministries compete for promotion, funding, and personnel.

Busy people have less time for church involvement.

It is difficult to find enough competent leaders for all the ministries.

Once-a-year missions events are not enough to inculcate a commitment to missions.

Church leaders are good at finding creative ways to keep missions before the people.

Missions is promoted but ongoing, integrated education is difficult.

3. Individualization

Missionaries rely increasingly on financial support from individuals.

Many young people are entrepreneuring for Jesus in other places in the world.

Conferences such as Finishers and the Medical Missions Conference are available for individuals.

Many individuals go on missions trips or get involved in mission projects on their own.

4. Leadership Changes

More churches are hiring a missions pastor or including missions leadership in a staff position.

Leadership is being passed to a younger generation of adults.

Younger adults often have different interests, values, and priorities than older adults.

Many young adults are highly committed to Christ, comfortable crossing culture barriers, and globally aware.

Some young adults have minimal biblical education, considerable background baggage, and less sturdy personalities.

5. Local Ministry

The world has come to us. We have opportunities to reach cross-culturally to many kinds of people nearby.

There are many nearby poor, marginalized, abused, dysfunctional, and addicted people who need our help.

The U.S. has a growing population of unchurched people that have become a focus for missions.

Some churches focus on the world but not the community; others focus on the community and neglect the world.

6. Multiple Motives

Some leaders desire to engage in missions that have highly visible and emotional impact.

There is a move toward doing missions and projects for what they do for us, for example to disciple our people.

Non-missions items are squeezed into missions budgets to protect other budgets.

7. Openness

Church leaders are glad to find help for the missions ministry from many sources.

Individuals are often open to support or get involved in missions when challenged.

Many individuals are discovering niches and opportunities and taking steps to get involved.

Individuals increasingly support missionaries and missions projects directly.

8. Participation

Church leaders look for opportunities to get people involved hands-on.

Hands-on involvement helps people grow as Christians and encourages their commitment.

Personal involvement usually means projects in the local community, mission trips, and opportunities outside the country that are reasonably safe and affordable.

For some churches, an unwillingness to support missions efforts where their people can't go eliminates their support of missions in some highly strategic but difficult places.

9. Results Orientation & Stewardship

Leaders are dissatisfied with a shotgun approach to supporting missionary activity.

The focus is not just on the missionary, but on the ministry and people; not on activity but results.

Churches adopt people groups with a view toward seeing a church planting or people group movement.

Churches get involved in multi-organization partnerships aimed at specific results.

Churches seek more concentrated involvement in strategic projects, particular fields, and missionaries.

Leaders seek to give more funds and attention to fewer missionaries on the support roster.

Leaders often seek physcial or social projects with clear results and timelines.

Leaders want to support national workers who may be closer to the culture, less costly, and sometimes have a reputation for higher productivity.

Churches seek to make shorter commitments so they can change focus if results aren't forthcoming.

10. Social Ministry

Service, compassion, mercy, and physical and social needs are becoming an increasing part of missions.

Young people have compassionate hearts and are concerned about poverty, justice, and AIDS.

Urban ministry to the disadvantaged has become a major concern.

Missionaries recognize that meeting needs shows the love of Christ we are proclaiming and people respond.

Evangelizing people is more assumed while observable needs are stressed.

11. Trips

Those who go on trips are becoming aware of the world, developing an appreciation for cultural and spiritual differences, and gaining some knowledge of the great needs in other parts of the world.

Some trips are a great help to missionaries and national workers and project; some are not.

Some people who go on trips continue to pray for and give to missions efforts and encourage others to get involved.

Most new missionaries have been influenced by mission trips.

Trips consume a lot of money and are not producing the dollars and long-term missionaries expected.

The primary result of most mission trips is more trips.

Application

Select a trend you see in your church: _______________________________

1. How is this positive?

2. How is it negative?

3. Are there steps we should take to maximize our impact?

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David Mays, March 2008. www.davidmays.org