The Missionary Church is more like a team than an institution — more like a family than an organization. A team works together for a common goal. The members of a team both give to and receive from the benefits of their commitment to the team. Historically, the people of the Missionary Church have been cooperative in nature demonstrating good unity in the faith.

Our churches commit to live by the driving motivation of a progressive mission statement.

Many local churches have adopted their own mission statements to articulate their local ministry goals, but the following statement is a summary of concepts that guide the overall ministry of the US church:

The Missionary Church, in obedience to Jesus Christ her Lord, is committed to being holy people of God in the world and to building His Church by worldwide evangelism, discipleship and multiplication of growing churches, all to the glory of God.

Missionary Churches have a commitment to becoming globally minded.

Actively pursuing a vision that includes spreading the gospel throughout the whole world is a distinctive of the Missionary Church. Over 100 missionaries serve in more than 20 countries, and overall our missionaries serve in over 120 countries.

The world also includes across the street, around the state and throughout the US. More than 200 churches have been planted since 1990. Multiplication will increase as local churches catch the vision to become parent churches.

We are a team made up of other pastors, pastors’ spouses, and experienced church leaders.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

As part of the team, pastors can share in accountability, team spirit & support, and continuing education opportunities as outlined below.

The pastors of the Missionary Church are responsible to their district, region or network leadership and the president of the denomination. They are accountable for their own personal integrity and effectiveness in ministry. This authority is not “lorded over” the pastor but is provided as an aid to the enhancement of his ministry.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent” (John Donne, 16th cent. English poet and clergyman).

We work hard to cultivate a team spirit among the pastors, where competition is minimized and mutual care for one another is priority. Many of the pastors are linked together in ministry partner relationships for prayer and encouragement. We are living in an age when the art of developing healthy relationships is often rare. A cultural war of values is also taking place which militates against living a holy life. Building healthy inter-dependence is extremely important. “…in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:5).

Through a variety of conferences and continuing education programs, Missionary Church pastors are regularly exposed to up-to-date instruction for help in their preaching and leadership. This kind of education also includes interaction with other pastors as they encourage one another and share their praise reports of what God is doing.

A pastoral change is a very strategic time in the life of a church. While the primary responsibility for the selection process lies with the local church, each church has the district, region or network leader at its side helping it to find approved candidates, conduct interviews, and eventually to make a selection.

For some, their history is a ball and chain that stifles progress and adaptability. The Missionary Church is using its history as a launching pad for aggressive outreach. While our message from the Bible is unchangeable, our methods of communication must change to reach the culture for Christ.

The heritage of the Missionary Church is best understood if one is aware that the early leaders had a commitment to the position that the Scriptures were to be the source of doctrine and life. In addition to this commitment to be a biblical church, the theological perspective of the Missionary Church recognizes the contribution of John Wesley’s emphasis on “the warmed heart”; A. B. Simpson’s fourfold emphasis on Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King; the Anabaptist concepts of community and brotherhood; and the evangelical emphases of the lost estate of mankind and redemption through Jesus Christ.

The Missionary Church is a unique blend of the thought and life of a people who have sought to build their church according to the Scriptures with an appreciation for their historical roots.

At various levels of the Missionary Church organization, there are a number of benefits available to the whole team of churches.

Church Planting Support | Great care is taken to provide assistance in the first 2-3 years of the new church’s life. All planters are provided an education in the church planter’s bootcamp, sponsored by the Church Multiplication Training Center. Ongoing support comes through participation in the New Church Incubator (NCI), a supportive environment for planter and spouse that includes coaching and interaction with other planters.

Youth Ministry | The youth ministry of the entire denomination and district is built around the mission of establishing in every local church a youth ministry that is winning the curious, building the convinced, and equipping the committed. Through Bible quizzing, a variety of camping and youth conference events, and several kinds of youth mission team experiences (domestic and foreign), the Missionary Church is aggressive at targeting its youth with strong, up-to-date programs that help build disciples for Christ.

Financial Services | The Missionary Church Investment Foundation, Inc. (MCIF) provides opportunities for investment and financing with competitive and reasonable rates of interest.

Christian Education | A number of different training events and services are available for lay volunteers and pastors

Growing a Healthy Church Seminar | The GHC series of seminars (4 levels) is the standard education of ongoing training for pastors and lay leaders. This training helps church leaders to evaluate their work and leads them to make adjustments and changes in order to come closer to the ideal of a “Great Commission” church. GHC is developed and managed by Sonlife Ministries, Wheaton, IL.

Sonlife Strategy Seminar | Sonlife seminars are the counterpart to Growing a Healthy Church for youth ministry. There are various levels of training for volunteers and full-time youth workers.

God has blessed the Missionary Church with generous cooperation when it comes to the finances necessary to fund worldwide outreach and ministry. This pooling of resources is each team member’s voluntary involvement in the team’s efforts to fulfill the Great Commission as outlined in Matthew 28:19: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Each year the leadership of regions, districts and networks adopt a budget for the operation of their ministries through their own agreed upon procedures. Local churches have a voice in this process and each church is asked to give its share of that budget.

Missionary Church: Each Missionary Church is also asked to give 2% of its receipts toward the ministries of the Missionary Church. That includes the support for the staff assigned to lead the denomination and manage the pastoral credentials, health and disability insurance programs and pension. A variety of other ministries are supported by this giving, which includes US church planting, national youth ministry, Christian education, estate planning, stewardship training, and a variety of other administrative responsibilities.

The 10% Goal: Though not formally required, the Missionary Church leadership encourage each church to tithe its income, thereby setting a good example for its parishioners to follow. This may or may not include the responsibilities mentioned above. World missions giving needs to be a priority for every church. Many churches give far beyond 10% in support of a variety of missionary efforts that include Missionary and non-Missionary Church missionaries, specific church planting projects, Bethel University, etc.

The above stewardship goals provide every church the opportunity to carry out the New Testament mandates for outreach and evangelism as presented in the mission statement of the Missionary Church.

While it has been the norm for churches to include the word “Missionary” in their name, many churches in recent years have chosen a variety of names in order to relate to their community or culture. In such cases we ask only that a phrase such as “a ministry of the Missionary Church” be included somewhere on the church’s letterhead and literature for the purpose of avoiding deception and insuring proper identification.

The leadership of the Missionary Church has clearly demonstrated flexibility and encouragement for churches to be unique in order to reach their community for Christ. While basic doctrinal uniformity is highly valued, throughout the Missionary Church there is much variety when it comes to the socio-economic make-up of congregations, style of worship, style of music, building architecture, etc.

There is a mutual accountability within the family of the Missionary Church, but there is also a trust relationship that is carefully respected. The local church under the pastor’s leadership has a report responsibility to the Region, district or Network and an annual report to the denominational office. The local church, however, is ultimately responsible to God for its integrity, honesty and faithfulness to biblical truth.

The Scripture teaches inter-dependence, not independence (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Mutual accountability is not only needed among individual believers, but also among churches. The Missionary Church is organized so that each church governs its own local ministry, while at the same time having a voluntary submission to the counsel, guidance and authority given to the leadership that is in place to serve them. These leaders are chosen by the pastors and representatives of the local churches.

On the contrary, you will be given a strong commission to be free, creative and aggressive for dynamic, outreaching ministry. Instead of being restricted or controlled, local Missionary Churches are to be unleashed with permission to adapt their methods according to the need which culturally relevant ministry demands.

The primary responsibility to contact pastoral candidates and, eventually, to select a pastor, is in the hands of the local church. The leadership at various levels of the Missionary Church works closely with the leaders of the local church, giving them counsel in the selection process and they are responsible to provide and approve pastoral candidates. The pastoral screening process includes a ministry background check and doctrinal examination, which further assists the local church in locating a suitable pastoral candidate.