A Commitment to the Whole Mission of the Church (Part 1)

Julia Sandstrom is originally from San Francisco although she currently resides in Winnipeg Manitoba with her husband Bryan as she serves the Canadian Covenant Conference in a variety of ways. She first attended Covenant Bible College to receive a certificate, then moved to North Park College where she received a B.A. in both Biblical Studies and Philosophy, finally moving on to Regent College in Vancouver to complete an MCS(Master of Christian Studies) in Interdisciplinary Studies. This week, Julia has the opportunity to "un-summarize" the third Covenant Affirmation, A Commitment to the Whole Mission of the Church.  

      The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) states, “a commitment to the whole mission of the Church” in its third affirmation. This concise statement summarizes what this article will seek to un-summarize. First, we will unpack the affirmation by looking at an official Covenant publication regarding the subject. Second, we will ask these questions: Why does the affirmation matter? How does it affect local Covenant congregations? How does it affect the Covenant Church as a larger community? What might be missing from the affirmation?

Un-summary
      All of the official Covenant materials on the affirmations begin the same way when it comes to this affirmation. They all mention that the Covenant Church began with a group of people who called themselves “Mission Friends”. Before there was an institutional church with affirmations, there were mission friends who lived out a commitment to the whole mission of the church.
      The Covenant Affirmations Booklet explains that Mission Friends were “people who covenanted together for the purpose of common mission both far and near” (Booklet, 11). The Mission Friends knew that they were called to serve those far from home in missions. They also knew they were called to serve those at home. While we may often feel that there are those called to serve far and those called to serve near, the truth is that we are called to the WHOLE mission of the church, far AND near.
      To understand that mission we must look to Scripture. Jesus Christ gives his disciples the great commandment: he said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ this is the greatest and first commandment. and the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). We walk in obedience when we love our neighbor the way Jesus calls us to.
      While loving your neighbor has a necessary local sense to it (literally your neighbor is in close proximity) the Covenant Church is also committed to the great commission of Jesus Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Being committed to the WHOLE mission of the church means we can celebrate the growth elsewhere while working on bringing growth here at home as well...

Why it matters
      Soong-Chan Rah is professor of Church Growth and Evangelism for North Park Seminary. His book, The Next Evangelicalism, points out that the growth of Christianity is happening in the Southern and Eastern hemispheres.[1] If you picture a globe, you will quickly realize that distinctly cuts out North America from the growth picture. While this can rightly be viewed as an indictment for the North American church to get growing, it is also something to celebrate with our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. If we were committed to the North American mission of the church, the statement would be very depressing. Being committed to the WHOLE mission of the church means we can celebrate the growth elsewhere while working on bringing growth here at home as well.
      A commitment to the whole mission of the church means we are not captive to any one influence of culture. The ECC promotes multi-ethnic churches in hopes that we would look more like the whole rather than one segment. One such segment would be white and middle class. For the local Canadian Covenant church the options may be slim. For instance, the rural church may not have access to the multiculturalism an urban centre church would.
      Access however is provided by our common life together. Church adoptions are one way the ECCC seeks to grow in its commitment to the whole mission of the church. Avenue Community Church is a recent adoption into the Covenant and it is the first predominantly non-Anglo church in the Canada conference. Speaking to why Avenue partnered with the ECC, Pastor John Cho said the Swedish immigrant roots attracted him and his congregation to join the Covenant.
      Sam Williams, associate pastor at Avenue, noted that “there is a tendency for some church traditions to focus on evangelism over social justice or discipleship over evangelism based on their own preferences. Whereas the Covenant Church grounds itself in the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and focuses on sharing the good news of Jesus, building the Church community, serving the people in need and creating a just society. Being part of a denomination that is balanced in its mission endeavors and faithful to the whole mission of the church helps me not to gravitate towards my own preferences and comfort zones when it comes to the mission of the church.”[2]

[1] Soong-Chan Rah, The Next Evangelicalism, 13.
[2] Sam Williams, E-mail to Author, July 19, 2013.

In the second half of her article, Julia stakes out some of the implications of this third Affirmation for both the local congregation and the Covenant Church in general.