Philosophy of Ministry
My philosophy of ministry was first drafted in 1993, some thirteen years before I entered full-time ministry. At that time our church did not have a pastor and as church board chairman I needed some principles that all lay leaders could agree on to guide our development during a difficult phase in the life of our church. By God’s grace those simple statements by a seminary student have not strayed too far off the mark and needed only fine-tuning with the passage of time.
We are goal or vision/strategy oriented rather than event or maintenance/activity oriented. We will at all times have an intentional strategy to accomplish each aspect of our purpose.
Our church’s mission is to turn non-believers into disciples of Jesus Christ who are committed to:
• Love God,
• Love one another, and
• Love those still outside the Lord’s fold.
In other words, we base our mission on:
• The Greatest Commandment ,
• The New Commandment , and
• The Great Commission .
My role as a pastor also incorporates this three-prong approach:
• Teach the flock God’s Word so that they can love God by obeying His commands,
• Love and care for the sheep in their physical, emotional and spiritual needs,
• Coach God’s people to be effective witnesses of Jesus Christ so that more will glorify God.
This vision and strategy is worked out in the following statements:
1. Evangelism
The church is people, not a building. We are an evangelistic church, but not an evangelistic meeting place church. We do not bring the world into the church buildings to be saved, but we send the saved into the world to evangelize. We believe in “we’ll go to you” more than “come to us”. We thus place more emphasis on exhorting the household of faith than on being “market-driven” in our worship, while trying to be sensitive to the needs of the seeker.
We are committed to the principle of multiplication of ourselves by evangelizing, discipling, training, and delegating ministry to others who are faithful. We will multiply ourselves and train others using the method of apprenticeship.
We aspire to be a reproducing church, not a mega church. We aim to reproduce locally and worldwide. We aim to plant new churches. Each branch of our church will reach to its own community.
2. Discipleship
The purpose of every activity of our church is to produce and further develop disciples. We define a disciple as a believer who is becoming more like Christ by obediently growing in character, ability to minister to others, and in helping to make more disciples.
3. Ecclesiology
We are a Bible church, not a tradition church. We believe structure follows ministry, not ministry follows structure. We try to hold a healthy balance between being traditional and contemporary in our worship and music.
4. Role of the Pastor
We are a lay ministry church, not a staff-centred church. We believe every member is a minister, not a spectator. The ultimate work of the church in the world is to be done by the saints. The pastor’s role and commitment is primarily to inspire, give guidance, to train leaders, and be a model disciple.
5. Equipping
We will primarily make disciples as a team, not just a collection of independent individuals. The primary method of making disciples is the small group. Reasonable accountability is an indispensable method in making disciples.
Comments
hello pastor Ray. My name is Peter and I am currently living in Hawaii and came across your blog while looking up a passage in 2 samuel about Uzzah. Read your beliefs,mission statement…etc… Really agree in heart in all beliefs and statements and would like to say thank you for the clarity of our foundation in Christ. more posting this to see if I can converse with you and may even ask questions. thanks!
in Christ,
-peter kim
btw, do you have a church website?
Hi Peter:
Praise the Lord. You can ask questions, but I may not have answers. I’m currently doing special projects for a mission organization, so do not have a church website. But my former church Malvern Baptist still keeps my posts on their website http://www.malvernbaptist.ca
Click on “English”, the “Message Sharings” on the right, then “Various Articles” by Rev. Raymond Liu.
Blessings,
Pastor Ray
Thanks for the reply! P. (pastor) Ray,
Just started helping out at a high school ministry(8-10 youth) at a church we’re currently attending (eden presbyterian) and went over the 4 spiritual laws. I am not experienced in speaking and quite illiterate to know what a “great” response is or even know how to follow up with the “right” approach. In your experience and opinion what would be your next step?
1. keep repeating the 4 spiritual laws to reinforce the knowledge of Christ?
2. move onto biblical teachings and characters to scatter seeds? (these btw are all thoughts I’m inquiring of and if needed correction, open for)
thanks again!,
in Christ,
-peter
reference; http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm
Hi Peter:
First you need to know whether your students are truly saved. The sure way is “You will know them by their fruits.” (Mt 7:16, 20), which can be observed over time, but it takes time for new life to develop and grow. In the short run, you can ask diagnostic questions to see whether your youth have assurance of salvation, and on what this assurance is based on. Refer Evangelism Explosions’s 2 questions:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=CMEsl5selikC&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=evangelism+explosion+diagnostic+questions&source=bl&ots=nz__0PmXkb&sig=Z22RIP2HQAvOSPmDNjXxoiS5h8U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RqIMU_ikIYex2AXy44HgAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CGQQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=evangelism%20explosion%20diagnostic%20questions&f=false
I suggest you ask each individually, not in a group, as you don’t want peer pressure influencing their answer.
If they are not truly saved, present the gospel again, perhaps using another tool such as Bridge to Life or Billy Graham’s Steps to Peace with God so they “get it”. Pray for them, but you can’t pressure someone into God’s Kingdom.
If they are genuinely saved, go on to follow-up. You can use
http://www.campuscrusade.com/Now-That-You-Have-Received-Christ.html
or other tools. Teach them to attend worship every week, read the Bible daily, pray every day, fellowship with other believers, and witness to their unsaved friends and relatives. They will grow over time.
Hope this helps.
Pastor Ray