In God’s Missionary People , Charles VanEngen writes, “During the last half century mission theorists, sociologists of religion, ecclesiologists, and mission practitioners have become increasingly aware of the urgent need for a new vision of local congregations as God’s missionary people” (p.27). The Christian Reformed Church is also becoming more keenly aware of its apostolic mission. In 1986, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church adopted a contemporary testimony called Our World Belongs to God . Article 44 professes:
Following the apostles, the church is sent –
sent with the gospel of the kingdom
to make disciples of all nations,
to feed the hungry,
and to proclaim the assurance that in the name of
Christ
there is forgiveness of sin and new life
for all who repent and believe –
to tell the news that our world belongs to God.
In a world estranged from God,
where millions face confusing choices,
this mission is central to our being,
for we announce the one name that saves.
We repent of leaving this work to a few,
we pray for our brothers and sisters
who suffer for the faith,
and we rejoice that the Spirit
is waking us to see
our mission in God ’ s world.
As the world becomes increasingly secular, the importance of the mission God has entrusted to us continues to grow. The 21 st century is an exciting time to be serving God in ministry! The needs of the world are great, but God has promised to equip and lead his church as it responds to the Great Commission and extends the gift of God ’ s grace to those who are yet apart from him.
We are grateful to God that he is continually opening new doors of opportunity for us to follow him into mission. If the Christian Reformed Church is to continue to be faithful in responding to those opportunities, we will need a broad range of leaders who belong to many kinds of communities. As the synodical Advisory Committee to Provide Guidelines for Alternate Routes to Ministry noted, we need leaders “who feel at home on Wall Street, leaders who feel at home on Main Street, and leaders who feel at home on mean streets. We need Korean leaders, Hispanic leaders, African-American leaders, white American leaders, white Canadian leaders, and First Nations leaders. ” The list is long, but “in its very variety, beautiful. Further, the need is not only large but also urgent. Jesus said to his followers, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field ” (Acts of Synod 2004, Art. 58, p.613).
We are excited that God is leading you to consider joining us in that mission! The following is intended to invite you to partner with us, and to orient you to the journey towards ordination in the Christian Reformed Church.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
(IICorinthians 5:17-20a)
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