The term missional church is a buzzword that a lot of churches are using these days to describe their ministries. Sometimes the term is used very loosely to mean "the next cool thing" without leaders really understanding the history of the missional movement or the distinctives that missional implies. So this section of our website is designed to give you a short course in what we mean when we say we are a missional church.

A concise definition: A missional church is a highly unified body of believers, passionately committed to being God's missionary presence within the indigenous community that surrounds them, recognizing that the Triune God has already been at work in that location and has a specific agenda for it. We will examine the six attitudes of missional Christians and then six actions.

The Attitudes of Missional Christians

Toward God

They take seriously the notion that they have been sent by the risen Christ into their particular culture, and they learn to love the diverse facets of that culture as Christ does (John 20:21; Jeremiah 29:4-7).

Toward Themselves

They embrace the mindset that they are exiles and resident aliens whose citizenship is firmly rooted in heaven (Phil. 3:19). They therefore seek to live a countercultural life-style in ways meaningful to that culture. This mindset empowers consistent humble-sometimes sacrificial, service (Mark 10:45).

Toward their Local Church

They do not believe their local church is an end in itself, or that their local church must be ever growing into a more powerful institution. Rather, their local church is a means to an end: kingdom advancement. It is a beachhead within the culture for fulfilling God's preexisting mission. They therefore, pursue kingdom goals even if it means their church might not grow as fast. They are willing to partner with other churches and parachurch organizations if it might meet kingdom objectives.

Missional church leaders measure the effectiveness of their church differently-not by counting the numbers of people attending the main weekend service, but by assessing the numbers of people serving significantly in the city as a direct result of the church's equipping leadership (Eph. 4:11-16).

Missional church members do not enter corporate worship for the purpose of being entertained or for getting all their felt needs met; nor is their worship energized because of an implied promise of prosperity.

They go to connect with the God who calls his people into mission, and with their fellow soldiers who are also on mission. They see the main worship event as a context in which they might hear from God.

Toward Christendom

They recognize that organized religion-even organized religion expressed by contemporary modernist Christianity, has often posed a problem for emerging generations of postmodern people. Therefore, they eschew all forms of legalism, spiritual appearance management, and ecclesiastical control, passionately exuding God's grace to all. They seek to major on the essentials of the faith, while remaining totally faithful to the Scriptures.

Toward the World

Remembering that God works locally, they concentrate on the needs of their city. They know its distinct regions and cultures. They seek the welfare of their city, knowing that their welfare depends on its welfare (Jer. 29:4-7; Matt. 5:13-16).

Toward pain and brokenness

Missional churches recognize that Jesus-our missionary hero, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3), and that he learned obedience through the things he suffered (Heb. 5:8). While missional churches believe in God's supernatural power to heal, they are generally opposed to idealized expressions of a health and wealth gospel that minimizes, or perhaps denies, the very thing that brings us into mission: seasons of affliction!

The Actions of Missional Christians

With Respect to Worship

They view corporate worship as a high-participation event that celebrates God's eternal mission and the work that his people have done during a given week. They also view it as a time to strengthen their biblical worldview so that they can continue to live radically as exiles and aliens in the world. As they come to a corporate worship event, they go with intent to connect, minister and be equipped-not to be entertained or seen.

With Respect to the World

They practice the principle of cultural flexibility without moral or spiritual compromise as a way to express God's common grace. Expressions of God's common grace are as numerous as his acts depicted in the Bible, but in a missional church, expressing common grace involves six qualities:

1. Showing hospitality to strangers
2. Loving those of diverse races, political orientations, and sexual preferences without sacrificing biblical principles or theological convictions
3. Serving those who cannot pay us back
4. Being wisely generous with financial and material resources
5. Taking a collaborative role among the arts community within a given culture
6. Taking a collaborative role, even a leadership role, in the civic structures within a given culture

With Respect to the Gospel

Once they have built a bridge of common ground through common grace, missional Christians find ways to express the person of Jesus. Sometimes, this takes place in the context of a serving event. Sometimes this takes place as the believer exposes friends to the destructive idols of culture. At some point, the believer invites his friend into the context of the redeemed community, where Christ is experienced and his message seen in action.

With Respect to Ordinary Life

Missional Christians are mindful continuously that they are living in the presence of the risen Christ and on mission 24/7. This mindfulness prompts them to spontaneously ask many questions during the day: "What is God doing in this situation? How is God directing me? Does this person need prayer? How might I show leadership right now?" In general, the missional Christian realizes that he leads best through prayer, often asking a person if he/she can pray about a matter at that very moment.

With Respect to Discipleship

Missional churches take spiritual growth seriously but with a missional bent. They do not disciple for the purpose of increasing head knowledge or producing pietistic Christians. They disciple for the purpose of missional life-change, realizing that if a Christ-follower determines to be "on mission," he or she will become highly motivated to grow and change, seeking knowledge that empowers higher levels of service out in the world.

This discipleship also recognizes the powerful influence that spiritual warfare plays in the growth process (Eph. 6:10-20). Because the evil one aggressively seeks to sidetrack Christians from this kind of life-style, missional Christians encourage high levels of accountability and dependent prayer.

With Respect to Cultural Trends

Missional Christians recognize that North American culture is postmodern and post-Christian, and in many ways, anti-Christian. They are committed to studying and learning about the culture so that they might be more effective at reaching it.

Conclusion

Lesslie Newbigin was right: Western culture is a mission field. The rules that governed Christendom (c.a. 313-1960) have changed. When exilic Christ-followers engage their world as "sent ones" of the risen Christ, they move back to that passionate intentionality exhibited in the first three centuries of Christian advance.

Vision

Grace Community Church exists to WORSHIP the risen Christ, CONNECT people in life-changing relationships, and SERVE our city.

Our ultimate desire is that we could be a significant agent of Christ's mission to Bartlesville and beyond. We aspire to do this in a way that radiates God's amazing and unconditional grace (John 1:14).

We love it when we're able to release equipped laypeople into the community, 1) able to feed themselves from God's word, and 2) able translate their spiritual growth into action, in such a way that the world clearly sees and values their work (Matt. 5:14-16).

Our motto is: "Worship, Connect, Serve."

Values

Values Related to our Overall Mindset

Missionary minded - Every member thinks of himself (and his family) as a missionary to the community. Small groups serve together. Families often serve together. As missionary minded believers, we see ourselves as "resident-aliens" and "exiles" whose top priority in life is kingdom advance (1 Pet. 1:1).

Different definition of success - Success is the quality of service rendered and quantity of people equipped, rather than people retained. This is important because Bartlesville will continue to be a community where people are transferred in and out. We love it when we can give away our ministry.

High-intentionality - In making decisions we're always asking, "How will this help us manifest the servant-presence of Jesus in our community?"

Values Related to our Leadership

High expectations - When people join they do three things: engage God in corporate worship, engage each other in authentic community, and engage the world through service. We have high expectations for ourselves (elders & staff) as we equip and enable people to serve.

Generous with resources - We will use our most expensive asset - our building - to create relationships with the community at large. We are generous with our building whenever possible.

Simple clear structure - We are elder protected, staff run, believer empowered. No complexity. No confusion.

Values Related to our Culture

Arts and culture sensitive - We aim to engage secular people with a holy God through participative worship experiences. GCC has a high view of the arts and recognizes that historically the church has served as both champion and patron of the arts. We seek artistic excellence with that distinguished legacy in mind.

Common ground - We will aim to be culturally flexible with the world, but with no moral compromise. We're high in biblical content; high in cultural relevance (1 Cor. 9:19-23).

Discipleship with a preference for action - We teach for life-change. Specifically, we want people to serve in the same selfless manner that Jesus served when he washed his disciples feet in the upper room (John 13:1-20).