Towards a Strategic Mission Focus

Our pastoral staff and missions committee have continued to pray seeking God's direction in defining a strategic mission focus and discussing possibilities.  Although there is no official document developed yet, I would like to share my impressions on how this is beginning to shape up. The purpose is to keep you informed, seek your prayer support and welcome your input.  This is still very much a work in progress.

The factors that have informed our discussions include missional philosophy, the "I am Calvary" survey results, demographic data of the congregation and Hidalgo County, input from Dr. Milfred Minatrea, Calvary's current involvement and commitments, and pastoral leadership.

Levels of involvement:
One of the elements that needs to be considered in discussing the strategic mission focus of a congregation are the levels of involvement.  These consist of personal, group and congregational levels.

1. The personal level is where the individual Calvary member may be lead to engage missionally.  His or her skill set, personal sense of call and natural connections may lead him or her to connect in particular ways.  Potentially, these could be about a 1000 opportunities (literally).  Calvary's role at the personal level is to help inform, inspire, train, affirm, bless and, even commission the individual.
2. The group level includes Bible Fellowships individually or as a network.  For example, an ABF may have a mission project they support, or there may be three ABF's who together participate in a missional endeavor.  Furthermore, an entire age division of Bible Fellowships may take on a specific mission opportunity.  For example, the student ministry (all of their Bible Fellowships) may organize a mission trip.  Calvary's role at the group level is similar to the personal level: inform, inspire, connect, affirm, bless, and, often, resource the group's involvement.
3. The congregational level is where the congregation identifies a handful of strategic opportunities where it will invest congregational human and financial resources both locally and globally.  Considering that there are two levels at which Calvary people may already be involved, and the amount of resources available, these opportunities have to be limited in number and scope.

Of course, it is understood that these three levels may overlap at some points for individuals.

Geographical Areas of Involvement:

Taking Acts 1:8 as a cue, Calvary's missions involvement can be divided into three geographical concentric circles: local, regional and global.

1. The local area is McAllen proper and the cities which are adjacent to it, namely, Mission, Pharr, and Edinburg, and the "colonias" in the immediate area.  In this area we seek to do on-going community ministry and church planting.  We have determined that the needs in our community are great and that we have a special opportunity and responsibility to increase our witness in the local area.  So we are moving ahead in investing more resources and energy in the local area.
2. The regional area is essentially the rest of the Rio Grande Valley and the northern parts of Mexico.  Since this is a very vast area in size, population and diversity, we will need to focus on particular points within this area.  For example, we may identify two or three strategic places where we want to start new congregations or we may identify particular ministries in places like Matamoros and Saltillo with whom we would like to partner.
3. The global area is anything beyond the regional area and should provide a couple of alternative places where Calvary can engage.  It includes the support of those who have been sent long-term, the support of strategic partnerships and the short-term involvement of volunteers.

Criteria for Strategic Involvement:

By necessity, in order to be strategic, objective criteria needs to be determined and used in deciding which people groups and places we will engage in mission and which partnerships we will develop.  This process takes for granted the role of prayer and spiritual direction.  In other words, we do not list prayer and spiritual direction as a criteria because it should involve the whole process from head to toe.  At this point, we have identified four primary criteria to help us in the development of strategic focus: proximity, unreached people groups, the poor and oppressed, and strategic partnerships.

1. Proximity is the concept of the responsibility we have toward those who are closer.  Although we do not excuse ourselves from our responsibility to "the ends of the earth," we recognize that we have a special opportunity to reach those that are near us.  It is natural in terms of resources and access to use this as a criteria.  For example, if we are wanting to evangelize an unreached people group, and we find that there is one in East Africa and another in Central Mexico, we might give additional weight to the one in Central Mexico as one of the criteria in making the decision.
2. Unreached people groups is the idea that we need to direct more resources and energy toward reaching those people groups who are unreached or least reached.  These are people groups or "ethnes" that do not have a group of believers strong enough to evangelize their own people group within their own language and culture.  There is a wide range of estimates about what is the population of the world that fits this "unreached" description.  On the low end some say it is 1/4 of the world's population.  That's as many as 1.5 billion people.  Currently, most churches engage countries and people groups that already have the gospel in their language and culture.  While the need for evangelism and church planting is great even among "reached" peoples and groups, we cannot afford to neglect the "unreached."  Ideally, we would identify one or two groups where we want to focus our attention for a couple of years.
3. The poor and the oppressed is the recognition that, while our primary objective is to make disciples of all nations, we also have a call to minister to the poor and the oppressed in Jesus' name (Luke 4:18-19).  There is much poverty and oppression around the world and it is impossible for Calvary to address it all.  However, it will be one of the criteria for making decisions of where we might connect.
4. Strategic partnerships is the acknowledgment that, in order to be efficient and effective, we cannot do this alone.  We need to identify churches and organizations who are already doing a good job of the things we would like to be involved in and we need to develop partnerships with these.  This may be a church which is doing community ministry in their area, or a missionary who is engaging unreached people groups or an international benevolence organization.

These criteria still leaves a broad range of opportunities so it will be necessary to continue to refine it and develop it but it will help us in making decisions about current commitments and new opportunities that arise.

Short-Term Service Opportunities

One of the ways in which Calvary is able to engage in missional activity and also make better disciples is through short-term service opportunities.  Given the three levels of involvement mentioned above, Calvary will contemplate two types of mission trip possibilities: endorsed trips and sponsored trips.

1. Endorsed trips are those that an entity other than Calvary may be organizing and leading but in which some Calvary individuals may choose to participate and which Calvary leaders feel enough confidence to endorse.  These trips may be announced, supported in prayer and commissioned but, generally will not receive budget funds or Calvary staff leadership.
2. Sponsored trips are those that Calvary is organizing and leading, occasionally in partnership with another entity.  These trips will be announced, supported in prayer, funded by the church budget and led by Calvary staff or volunteers.

Calvary Strategic Partnerships and Short-Term Opportunities

Using these criteria, Calvary will seek to develop strategic partnerships and to provide short-term service opportunities in the next 24 months (2011-2012) with the following:

1. México: Saltillo/Chiapas.  One of the opportunities that meets all the four criteria discussed above is Calvary Baptist Church in Saltillo, Mexico.  Their health clinic, medical/evangelistic brigades and their involvement with indigenous groups in the state of Chiapas offer a unique opportunity to us.
2. The Amazon.  Along the Amazon river where the countries of Colombia, Peru and Brazil meet, there are several indigenous groups who are beginning to be reached.  The opportunity to do leadership development and evangelism in partnership with David and Denise Love is a great one.
3. Africa.  Although there are many Calvary points of contact in Africa, we are looking to focus on a place where we can minister to the poor and the oppressed or engage an unreached people group, (or both).  We are seeking to partner with entities that are trustworthy and are financially sustainable without being a burden to Calvary.
4. Southeast Asia.  This opportunity is for those that would like to be involved in the mobilization of Christians into closed countries and partnering with them.

These initiatives will be developed and implemented by the pastoral staff with the input and approval of the missions committee.

Calvary Missions Budget

Using the factors and the criteria mentioned above, the missions committee has approved a missions budget for 2011.  This represents the allocation of 16% of general church budget receipts, which are projected to be $317,569.  Of this, 2.5% has been allocated to Texas Baptist Cooperative missions ($49,870), 1.5% to Southern Baptist missionary support ($29,922) and 12% to direct support of Calvary missions initatives and partnerships ($239,374).

The "Calvary Direct" portion is subdivided into four categories: mobilization, missionaries, church plants and ministries:

1. Mobilization:  Calvary will continue to financially support three global indigenous mission initiatives and also fund global partnership projects in three primary areas: Mexico, South America and Africa.  These global partnership projects are still to be determined and developed.  (See the "Calvary Strategic Partnerships and Short-Term Opportunities" section above).  The projects will be developed and implemented by the pastoral staff with the input and approval of the missions committee.  We will also increase staffing for community missions.
2. Missionaries:  All the 10 current missionaries who are being partially supported will continue to be funded (some at the same level others at a different level according to strategy focus).  Three new missionaries will be partially funded at entry level because of their connection with our strategy.
3. Church plants:  We are currently supporting two regional church plants: Sullivan City and Journey Church.  We will continue to fund Journey church at the same level this year while we will only fund the Sullivan City church for the first six months of 2011.
4. Ministries:  We will continue to support Angel Food, the BSM and Bread of Life.  We will increase the amount for benevolent help and we will add funding for medical missions.

As we continue to grow and develop into a missional church, we hope this process will contribute toward our strategic mission focus.  We ask for your prayers, your support, your input and your participation.

Until all the nations worship Him!

Priorities and Finances

This month I am preaching a sermon series called "FIRST."  It is about realigning priorities according to the Scriptures.  The foundational verse for the entire series is Matthew 6:33.  Jesus told his disciples that if they invested themselves in his kingdom FIRST, the Heavenly Father would provide for all their other needs.  This is a good reminder for each of us as we evaluate our priorities this New Year.  We should be consumed with God's kingdom not with anxiety about our personal needs.

It is also a good reminder for our church.  If as a church, we steep ourselves in God's kingdom and righteousness instead of being consumed with anxiety about our financial situation, we can trust God to provide what we need.  Good stewardship includes both, making adjustments when times are lean, and relying on God to provide what we need.

One of the sermons in this series is called "First Fruits" (January 16).  We will talk about the principle of honoring God with our wealth FIRST.  As part of this sermon, I will share with the congregation how Calvary practices this principle and how the financial resources of the church are used for ministry.

I am leading our staff in the publication of an Annual Ministry Review booklet where we will report what God did during 2010 and what is budgeted for 2011.  It is my hope that this booklet will help inform members about the kinds of things that God is doing through our church and how they are a part of it through their praying, giving and participating.  I pray that the booklet will be a blessing to our congregation and will help us lift our eyes up to our Heavenly Father.  May he be honored and glorified for what He has done and for what He is going to do.

I ask for your prayers in this regard.

We are off to a great year!

Grateful for 2010 and some early 2011 developments

As the year 2010 comes to an end, we are grateful to God for his blessings.  This was a year of transition for Calvary in the interim period.  The economic situation in the U.S. and the violence in Mexico have presented their own challenges. Yet, as we look back, we thank God that during this year Calvary had a missional presence in Germany, Kenya and Southeast Dallas.  Our church built a home for a family in the Peñitas colonia.  We fulfilled our commitments to all the missionaries and church plants we support.  We ministered to hundreds of families through Angel Food, Bread of Life and Angel Tree.  Our Spanish service doubled in attendance.  And, we saw approximately 123 people join Calvary by baptism or transfer.  These are just a few of the many blessings we received in 2010.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

An important meeting with leaders from Saltillo church is taking place in a few days.  As our leaders explore renewing a strategic partnership with a Saltillo church, some of the Saltillo leaders will be Calvary’s guests on January 7-9.  During their time here, our leaders will discuss ways in which we could partner in mission to the poor and to the unreached in Northern to Central Mexico.  We will hear testimonies from them during our worship services.  If you would like to host a family in your home, please contact Cindy Shartle.

We welcome Benjamin Aguirre to the Calvary Staff.  Benjamin has recently received his Bachelor’s degree from Rio Grand Bible Institute in Edinburg.  This month he joins our staff as Spanish Language Ministry Associate.  In this part-time role, he will continue to lead music and worship in our Spanish service and he will also provide administrative and pastoral support to Pastor Rolando.  Benjamin’s time and work at Calvary will be complemented by a part-time role on the Rio Grande Bible Institute faculty beginning this spring semester.  We are grateful to God for bringing someone with such a calling and giftedness to our church and for providing additional leadership to our fast-growing Spanish ministry.

Genuine Faith

Some people believe that faith is simply believing that what you want to happen will happen with enough intensity.  If what you want did not come to happen, then the assumption is that you did not have enough faith.  Others correctly understand that faith is trusting God and surrendering to Him completely.

For several months some of us prayed with David and Veronica Reyna of Rio Grande City for their daughter LouLou, an 11-year-old who had leukemia.  After many intense prayers by hundreds of people, the Lord called LouLou home.  The testimony of David and Veronica Reyna one week after her passing is a tremendous demonstration of genuine faith.

You can hear it yourself by watching this video:

http://www.louloureyna.com/blog/a-message-from-loulous-parents?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LouLouReyna+%28Lou+Lou+Reyna%29

(If you cannot open it by clicking above, copy and past the url or simply go to www.louloureyna.com and look for the video message).

I hope you will be encouraged by their example as you grow in your faith.

Blessings...

Deacon Ministry Seminar: 12-11-10

Calvary has recently elected six men who will join the active deacon team at the beginning of 2011.  Some one may ask what is the role of deacons at Calvary Baptist Church?  How does their work relate to the pastoral staff? How does it relate to the other ministries of the church?  What does the Bible say about it?  What has been the Baptist tradition in that regard?

This topic has found new interest in Baptist churches today as the role of deacons has changed in some.  Some Baptist churches have done away with the deacon ministry altogether.  Others have established elder boards.  It is important that we consider this matter for our context.

On Saturday, 12-11-10, beginning at 8:30 am in our multi-purpose building, I will lead an overview of the role of deacons, hoping to cover biblical, historical and practical areas of this topic.  The seminar is for deacons and for any others who are interested in understanding the role of the deacon in our church.  It is my hope that this seminar can help us understand our roles better, and thus, be more effective in the work that God has entrusted us.

Since this seminar involves meals, I am asking you to confirm your participation so that we can plan the food accordingly.  Please notify Kathleen Beecher in our church office of your participation via phone (686-4364) or e-mail (musicministry@calvarymcallen.org) by Wednesday, December 8.

I hope you can join us.

Approved Recommendations at the Business Session

Our church had a business session last Sunday night where several important items were approved.  (If you would like to get a hard copy of these reports, please request it from our church office).

Our finance reports year to date (as of October) show us ($216,940.74) income under budget.  This is a significant budget shortfall.  This has been a difficult year in the economy and a transition year for our church.  It is remarkable that our spending has been only ($12,512.63), representing about 6% of our budget shortfall.  Considering that we have had to exceed the budget in the area of maintenance because of air condition problems and related issues, this primarily means that we are not able to service all our mission endeavors at the projected level, that some ministries do not get done, and that we are not able to fill the staff positions that have been left vacant this year.  However, we are confident that the Lord will provide for Calvary's ministries this year.  We hope that our Thanksgiving offering this Sunday will be an opportunity to give generously so that the church's ministries for 2010 can be carried out.

I am grateful for the official addition of 73 members who have joined during the last four months (47 by transfer and 26 by baptism).  We hope that in the months ahead God continues to add those who feel called to be disciples and make disciples through the fellowship at Calvary.

The church also approved the nominating committee and coordinating council recommendation in regard to committee nominations.

The deacon screening and nominating committee recommended six candidates for active service as deacons: Joe Averill, Danny Drefke, Brad Price, Darin Burrell, Tony Worley, and Bob Canterbury.  We are grateful for the availability of these men to serve our church as deacons for the next three years beginning in 2011.

Finally, our church approved the proposed 2011 church budget.  This budget reflects the addition of the Spanish Language Ministry since this was previously in the missions budget.  It also reflects salary and insurance increases for personnel.  There is a slight decrease in the missions portion and in other areas.  In terms of revenues, the budget will now count on the offerings from the Spanish Language Ministry worship service which were previously going to a designated account.  After these changes, the stewardship committee presented the budget as requiring virtually the same weekly revenues from the three English worship services as the 2010 budget.

As a church, there is always a delicate balance between a faith-driven budget and wise stewardship.  On the one side, the danger is that we would be irresponsible with the resources God has given us.  On the other side, the danger is that we would revert to only do what is humanly possible without relying on the Lord.  We believe that God is giving direction to our church and that there are ministries and mission endeavors that he has called us to do.  We are grateful to the stewardship committee for recommending and to the church for approving a budget that will challenge us to do our best and to rely on the Lord's provision while being responsible stewards of the Lord's resources.

Let us continue to seek the Lord's direction and blessing as we move forward to 2011!

"I Am Calvary" Commitment Cards

On Sunday, October 24, we closed our "I Am Calvary" emphasis with an opportunity for individuals in the congregation to make personal commitments to be missional disciples.  We did this by providing commitment cards where those making commitments could indicate their desire to take responsibility for their primary mission field.


We received a total of 380 commitment cards (272 from the English services and 108 from the Spanish service):

•   20 in business field
•   37 in education field
•      5 in legal (justice/law enforcement)
•    15 in medical field
• 170 identified neighborhood as their primary mission field
•    88 identified school as their primary mission field
•    22 identified family and/or friends as their primary mission field

This is very encouraging.  There are at least 380 individuals in our congregation who are taking responsibility for their primary mission field.  Whether it is at work, school or neighborhood, the mobilization of this significant group will yield a high impact in our city and region as the Holy Spirit empowers our witness.

One of the follow-up actions we are taking to equip those who are living missionally is the sermon series "Just Walk across the Room" which began last Sunday and will continue through Sunday, November 21.  We are also having a discussion group about this Bill Hybels book on Wednesday nights.  This sermon series and the study group are meant to offer a simple and relational model for pointing people to faith in Christ.

We would also like to encourage, and on occasion, resource the networking of people who share domains.  For example, we would like for those who are in the business domain to be able to network with each other on how to be effective in sharing faith in that context.  The same applies to the educational, legal, medical, student and neighborhood domains.  We want to know from these individuals and networks how, as a church, we can support, equip and resource their particular mission.

We trust that God has guided us thus far and we pray that he continue to lead us in supernatural ways for the accomplishment of his mission.