Lapeer, Michigan
Responding Boldly: Christ the King Lutheran Church
Responding Boldly: Christ the King Lutheran Church
http://www.christthekinglapeer.org/
Advice to those wanting to serve as Mission Partners from mission developer Nik Schillack, pastor at Christ the King Lutheran Church, Lapeer, Michigan: “Ask how you can help and be ready for bold responses.”
Schillack recounts how a Mission Partner’s invitation to Christ the King's members to discuss their evangelism strategy led the Mission Partner decided to increase its financial support by more than 50 percent. The Mission Partners followed with a special appeal to its members to financially support the mission congregation's purchase of eight acres for a future mission center.
“In return,” Schillack says, “we have supported this Mission Partner by periodically sending people to their congregation to share the evangelism tools that
have been most useful to us.”
Schillack found it useful in his first days at Christ the King to “pray and inject a large dose of optimism into the people already there. Many of our congregations would see a quick and dramatic change simply from an extra dose of optimism and good strategy.”
Christ the King, one hour north of Detroit, performs monthly evangelism projects, such as distributing smoke detector batteries to families—all to share God's love in a “practical way.” The diverse congregation has grown from worshiping 30 to averaging more than 100. Half had not attended worship in more than 10 years before attending Christ the King, and nearly half of the baptisms have been adult baptisms. More than 25 percent of the worshipers are 18 years old or younger.
Other advice for potential Mission Partners is for members to pray, make encouraging phone calls, and provide programmatic support.
Schillack also encourages Mission Partners to nurture their mission partnerships as much as possible: “Mission developers and congregations will greatly appreciate a strong relationship with you in which they can share their needs forthrightly.”