What is the nature of the relationship between Care Groups and our mission as a church? Do they operate largely independent from each other? If so, should they? I have been doing some thoughtful reflection on this question. Here are some thoughts.Our Mission
Our mission as a church is to glorify God through the transforming of lives by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The engine behind our mission is the power of the gospel. The gospel is the jet engine fuel that propels the turbines of our mission as a church.
Gospel Transformation
There is a direct link to gospel fuel transformation and our Care Groups at CrossWay. The primary goal of Care Groups is to build communities of gospel-centered people.
The mission of Care Groups is to strengthen the church by being communities of people who together rejoice in being new creations and who help one another lay hold of all that God has for them in Christ.It is people helping one another live in the good of the gospel and be transformed by the power of the gospel. But there is another way Care Groups are linked to our mission as a church.
Gospel Proclamation
CrossWay’s outward mission as a church is to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those who are outside our life as a church. Care Groups help the people of CrossWay live more fully and faithfully committed to our outward mission as a church. Care Groups are not some independent appendage to our life as a church, but an integral part of mobilizing members to participate more fully in our outward mission as a church.
Care Group Challenge
I want to challenge Care Group leaders and members to identify someone in their group who will become the Mission Mobilizer in their Care Group. What is a Mission Mobilizer? They are a member of your Care Group who helps the group get more fully connected to our outward mission as a church.
I know CG Leaders are doing this, and can continue to do this, but it might benefit everyone if this responsibility was delegated to someone else in the group. It would free up the CG Leader to focus on other things, it would give someone else in the group some ownership for the group, and it would result in more frequent ties to CG life and our mission as a church.
Benefits of a Mission Mobilizer
Here are some benefits of a mission mobilizer:
- There would be a greater connection between our Care Groups and our outward mission as a church.
- There would be greater communication and, therefore, understanding of our outward mission as a church.
- There would be greater involvement in our outward mission as a church.
- There would be more prayer for our outward mission as a church.
What might this look like?
The mission mobilizer (MM) would stay informed about CrossWay’s outward mission as a church by subscribing to Missio CrossWay. He or she would then bring specific items to the Care Group. Here is how it might look:
- Whenever an outreach event is promoted as part of our mission as a church, the MM would ask the CG Leader if he could have 15 minutes at the end of the meeting to encourage everyone’s participation for the event.
- As the event gets closer, the CG again takes time at some point in the meeting to pray for those being invited to the event, for a clear proclamation of the gospel, and for God to regenerate unbelievers.
- At some frequency – once a quarter or twice a year – the MM leads an entire CG meeting on mission. He or she can use this time to educate the group about one of our mission partners, or talk about unreached people groups, or a mercy ministry opportunity in Kenosha, and pray for our mission as a church.
- Maybe the MM organizes the adoption of one of our mission partners. The MM would then keep the group updated on what is happening with them, their prayer requests, coordinate care packages, sigh birthday cards for their family, send them Christmas gifts, and invite them to your Care Group when they are in town.
- Maybe the MM organizers an outreach event, service project, or mercy ministry event once per year and gets the entire CG involved.
What should you do next?
I would encourage you to seriously consider this for your Care Group. Talk about it as it group, ask if there is any interest, see if someone wants to give leadership to it, and then see how God uses it to strengthen your CG, our life as a church, and our mission to the world.
