The terrain of church missions is often bewildering.Should we prioritize evangelism or works of service? Local ministries or overseas missions? What’s more important: giving our money or giving our time? Crisis relief or building sustainable, long-term ministries? And what about the often debated pros and cons of short-term missions trips?In Mapping Church Missions, Sharon Hoover brings her years of experience in local church missions to bear on these and other thorny questions. Instead of taking a hardline stance on one end of the spectrum or the other, she approaches each question with nuance, adding helpful data, presenting new perspectives, and always pressing gently past surface questions to the heart of the matter.Whether we’re fully aware of it or not, our churches come up against these questions whenever we consider how best to use our resources for the mission of God. Written by an experienced guide, this book maps the terrain of church missions in careful detail, helping us plot our church’s unique course as we seek to serve Christ’s kingdom.
Table of Content
Foreword by Paul Borthwick
Introduction: Charting Our Course
1. Good News and Good Deeds
2. Neighbors Near and Far
3. Crisis Response and Sustainable Development
4. Time and Money
5. Benefits and Drawbacks of Short-Term Teams
6. Serving the Undiscipled and Discipling the Servant
7. Minimizing and Embracing Risk
Conclusion: Mobilizing Our Congregations
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Beyond Minute for Missions: Connecting Churches with Mission Partners
Appendix 2: Scenarios for Further Reflection
Notes
About the author
Paul Borthwick (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is senior consultant for Development Associates International and teaches global Christianity at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. Through his speaking, writing and resource ministry, Borthwick works to mobilize others to participate in world missions. Borthwick is an active speaker and teacher, having taught courses at Gordon College, Africa International University (Nairobi), Alliance Theological Seminary (Manila) and Lanka Bible College (Sri Lanka), plus a guest faculty position at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Previously he served for more than twenty years on the staff of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts, first as youth pastor and then as minister of missions. Borthwick is the author of Western Christians in Global Missions, How to Be a World-Class Christian, Six Dangerous Questions to Transform Your View of the World, A Mind for Missions, and other books and Bible studies. He and his wife Christie have been married since 1979 and they live in Lexington, Massachusetts, when not traveling internationally.
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