CELEBRATE God’s work

Because we are discovering God’s work, we will celebrate God’s work as we

• Help congregations and individuals understand and embrace the emerging movement toward unity in each community
  • Produce an interactive report detailing every significant ministry in the community
  • Equip congregations with stories to create awareness of God’s unifying work in the regionStories can be shared verbally during worship services
    • Stories can be shared digitally through congregations websites and social media
  • Gather and share stories through missionalunity.com
  • Share stories each time people gather for education, prayer, partnership, etc.

What can I do?

• Whenever you experience or hear stories about individuals, congregations, or non-profits on missional unity together, let us know!
  • We will be posting written and video stories here on MissionalUnity.com.
    • Make sure you have followed this site (click on the Follow button in the upper-right corner of the screen) to receive our latest updates and stories.

 

GATHER Christians together

Because Jesus prayed we would be united, we will

• Connect followers of Jesus Christ:
  • Pastors and their congregations
  • Non-profit leaders and their volunteers
  • Christian school leaders and students
  • Individuals
• Gather people through events
  • Community Life Jazz events
    • Blues Renewal, Jazz Passion, Justice Jazz, Jazz Nativity
      • Creatively share the story of Jesus through music to while helping attendees to discover systemic needs, envision holistic solutions, and commit to partnering together and raising resources to fund those solutions.
    • Worship
      • Gather Christians for special worship services to promote and experience unity
    • Prayer
      • Gather Christians to pray for:
        • unity
        • for the discernment of needs
        • for the envisioning and implementing of solutions to the needs
    • Fellowship
      • Form cohorts of pastors and leaders from churches and ministries (cohorts for senior leaders, worship leaders, outreach pastors, etc.).
• Encourage congregations and organizations to follow the Community Life Center model
  • The Community Life Center in Greenacres, FL, serves as a home to 12 organizations: congregations, ministries, and a preschool.
    
    • Worship services and ministries are offered in English, Spanish, and Creole by organizations with a broad range of theological and denominational affiliations.
• Provide opportunities for Christians to express God’s love to each other.

What can I do?

• Gather to pray.
  • You’ve asked God to answer thousands of your prayers. Have you ever thought about praying for what Jesus prayed for – unity?
    • Of course you can pray by yourself, but it does seem to make a good deal of sense to pray WITH others if you are praying for unity. Consider yourself invited to gather with some of your brothers and sisters to pray together.
      • Pray people will allow God to break through the barriers Christians have allowed to separate them from each other.
      • Pray that every follower of Christ would join together to clearly demonstrate to the world that God sent Jesus and that He loves them.
• Gather to worship.
  • Followers of Jesus are a diverse bunch.  We have many different worship languages, but it is beautiful when we practice heaven by worshipping God together.
    • Churches can gather together for Worship Nights in a spirit of unity. Or, be encouraged tp start your own event, and let us know about it so we can spread the word.
• Gather in cohorts.
  • We need each other.  Pastors need authentic relationships with other pastors. Youth Volunteers need to help each other learn about the ever-changing culture of teenagers. Missions Pastors need to share effective ways of sharing the gospel with their communities. Pastoral Counselors need encouragement if they are going to encourage their clients.
    • Contact us join a cohort near you.
• Gather for events.
  • There are many ways to gather with other Christians. One Christian Voice is a great place to hear about them. Visit the site to find out what’s going on, and make sure you share your event so others can gather with you!

 

EDUCATE Christians

Because Christians need to fully embrace the potential for missional unity, we plan to

• Leverage the The Center for Missional Unity at Palm Beach Atlantic University to
  • Publish academic writing on the theology of missional unity from
  • Host conferences to promote the understanding and application of missional unity
  • Teach undergraduate and graduate courses on missional unity
  • Provide apprenticeship opportunities for students
• Speak at churches, conferences, and network/denominational meetings
• Utilize missionalunity.com and social media
  • as the virtual hub for global missional unity education and activity
  • as a tool church leaders, non-profit leaders, and school administrators can share with their constituents.

What can I do?

• Educators are encouraged to join the Center for Missional Unity in its work of educating Christians.
  • Interested educators should contact Rev. Dr. Shawn Allen, an Adjunct Professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
  •  

EXPAND perspective on God’s work

Because Christians’ limited perspective prevents them from seeing the potential God sees for missional unity in a community, we will

• Develop a mobile app called “Perspective” that uses a Geographic Information System map to enable Christians in a local community to see: 
  • location of each congregation in a community, and the significant ministries they offer
  • location of each non-profit in a community, and the significant ministries they offer
  • location of each Christian school (preschool through university), and the significant ministries they offer
    •  
• Release beta version of app.
  • Utilize an open-source approach to collect additional information and keep the information updated
• Market “Perspective”. 
  • To congregations, non-profits, schools, and Christians in each community through
    • Posting on Social media and MissionalUnity.com
    • Partner organization’s websites
    • Stories shared through written, video, and audio mediums
      • Including interviews
    • Commercials broadcast on television, radio, and other social media outlets
    • Sharing about app at churches, conferences, and network/denominational meetings.
    • Encouraging churches to share needs during worship services, both verbally and through videos.

What can I do?

• Sign up to be notified when “Perspective” is ready to launch.
  • Fill out the form below, and we’ll make sure you are the first to know!

I want PERSPECTIVE!

 

COMMUNICATE needs and solutions

Because Christians’ limited perspective limits their knowledge of needs and solutions in their community, we will

• Expand “Perspective” app to include:
  • Needs and solutions
  • Practical ways Christians can partner with others
• Continue to market “Perspective” as a source for organizations to better understand needs in their community, as well as solutions to those needs:
  • To congregations, non-profits, schools, and Christians in each community through
    • Posting on Social media and MissionalUnity.com
    • Partner organization’s websites
    • Stories shared through written, video, and audio mediums
      • Including interviews
    • Commercials broadcast on television, radio, and other social media outlets
    • Sharing about app at churches, conferences, and network/denominational meetings.
    • Encouraging churches to share needs during worship services, both verbally and through videos.

What can I do?

• Sign up to be notified when “Perspective” is ready to launch.
  • Fill out the form below, and we’ll make sure you are the first to know!

I want PERSPECTIVE!

 

 

RENEW congregations

Because many congregations struggle to be missional, we will

• Renew congregations by leading churches to audit themselves.
  • Lead congregation to ask:
    • Is our congregation loving God, loving each other, and living on mission in our community?
      • Use a congregation’s vocabulary when possible
    • Can our congregation’s mission in the community be strengthened?
  • Lead congregation toward missional unity by offering practical steps to accelerate movement in the direction they are moving slowest.
    • For example, if a congregation’s missional movement needs to be strengthened, lead the congregation to partner with another church on mission (see Facilitate Partnerships on our Join God’s Mission together page).
• Renew congregations by redefining participation in the congregation: each person will be encouraged and challenged to love God, love each other, and live on mission.
  • Encourage people toward mission through preaching and teaching, special events, and  by challenging attenders to join a missional community (see Mobilize Congregations on our Join God’s Mission together page.
  • Utilize the congregation’s website and social media (videos and posts) to regularly encourage and challenge people to live on mission.

What can I do?

• Read an interview with our Lead Facilitator, Rev. Dr. Shawn Allen about how people in your congregation can live UP, IN, and OUT as a follower of Jesus, and how you can help your congregation live UP, IN, and OUT together.
  • To read the interview, visit our What’s UP? IN? OUT? page.
• Contact us to discuss how we can help strengthen your congregation’s mission in your community.

 

What’s the next step? ⇒  JOIN God’s mission together