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Mission defines the soul of Emmaus Way. It guides our community formation and is the heart of our worship.
George Hunsberger and the GOCN network in last decade coined the phrase "missional church." In contrast to the values of individualism and consumerism, the missional church seeks to encourage and empower its community to participate in God's agenda. Attention is spent in discerning God's agenda and mobilizing resources to participate in this agenda. Missional churches and communities seek to collaborate rather than to compete with a diversity of other fellowships. We are inspired by this vision of church.
When we speak specifically of mission, several passions come to mind:
- Breaking out of the rut or reduction of mission solely as evangelism in international settings accomplished by highly trained Christian "heroes" – the mission we hope to describe and embody is mission as a way of life for all who seek to follow the path of Christ. All of our life contexts are places of mission. Local initiatives will be valued as much as international ministries.
- Valuing God's present kingdom as much at God's eternal kingdom – Jesus spoke regularly of an immediate kingdom as well as a future kingdom. We will seek to follow Jesus' teachings and to embody the spirit of his kingdom in our present time and context as well as to eagerly await the completion of God's gracious redemption of creation.
- Having a cultural frame of reference that extends beyond that of affluent, western culture -- so much of the church's mission has been done from a western cultural perspective. We deeply desire to listen and learn from other cultures and communities as we serve. To do this, we will try to form a diversity of ministry partnerships that challenge and stretch us. We will also seek to practice a "ministry of presence," coming near those in different contexts as learners rather than problem-solvers. This will be particularly true for the poor, wounded, and dying who have so much to teach us about the reality of God's vision and values.
Our desire is that missional way of life will shape our acts of community formation. In forming community, several missional values will stand at the forefront:
- Missional Diversity: Forming a diverse community that challenges us beyond our experiences and understandings of God.
- Missional Dependence: Living interconnected lives confronts the lonely individualism and self-reliance of our culture.
- Missional Proximity -- Having a strong sense of "place" and living intentionally with the needs and issues of our community in mind.
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