A 21st Century Church: A New Charter
in November 2003 we had the privilege of celebrating 20 years of ministry in Central Iowa. In more ways than one it marked the completion of an era. In November 1983 the small core group of people who comprised our congregation signed a charter and committed themselves to building a Bible-preaching, evangelistic church in Central Iowa. Much of the attention during the first 20 years was focused on “gathering the tools,” from qualified, capable staff members to the buildings and ground necessary to do ministry. Without question, the Lord has blessed Grace Church and provided abundantly! The next 20 years is not about buildings and property. Our focus must change to shepherding.
Our world today is like a herd of sheep running for the cliff. Jesus called these people “his little lambs” and commanded us to “tend his sheep.” As a church we must take this very seriously. Our dream is to become a church that exhibits God’s unconditional love to hurting people; a church that doesn’t shoot the wounded, but helps them back to full health. We desire to be a welcoming, loving church that is ready, willing and able to put up with the mess of working with broken people.
Not only do we need to help the sheep that have fallen off the cliff, but we need to help families build fences that protect our little lambs from reaching the cliff. The Next Generation Ministry must protect our kids from the wolves that want to push them over the cliff. We must teach the truth and we must model the truth for our children and grandchildren. Kids model what they see.
How do we accomplish these things? We believe God has positioned Grace Church in a unique area of influence. Below are the strategic objectives that guide our ministry. Each is founded in what we believe to be the mandate for a true New Testament Church. While our ministry goals and emphasis may change from year-to-year, these objectives–along with our Core Values–will provide the compass for our planning.
A Regional, Flagship Church–Based on the principle that “to whom much is given, much is required,” we believe God is leading Grace Church to take on more leadership responsibility to the many smaller churches in our community. Clearly, God has given Grace many resources and opportunities that smaller congregations do not enjoy. We want to be a resource to these ministries and provide more training and fellowship opportunities for pastors within the Central Iowa region. We believe God is leading us to impact not just East Des Moines, but all of Polk, Dallas, Warren, Jasper and Story Counties for His Kingdom.
To Continue as a Church-planting Church–God has given us the privilege of planting two new churches in the last ten years, Fellowship Community Church of Norwalk and Grace West Church in West Des Moines and assisting with the planting of Easter Lake Church in 2003. We believe the Lord is leading us to continue planting new churches within the Central Iowa region. Some of these churches will be new, independent bodies that will function completely autonomous from Grace Church, while others will serve as new satellite locations that will remain a permanent part of our church body.
A Mission-minded Church with a Strategic Focus–We believe God has given us a very unique opportunity to have a dynamic impact in a specific foreign field–Peru. Pastor Phil and Bonnie are career missionaries in Peru and know the language fluently and are at home in the culture. At the center of our Peru Missions Strategy is The Bridge, a property located just outside Lima, Peru. In addition to a host family (Greg and Sherry Davidson), The Bridge provides short- and long-term housing for both short-term missionaries and potential missionary candidates for full-time service. From this base we can operate a growing and expanding mission ministry in the Lima area and in the entire country of Peru. During the next several years we will seek increasing opportunities to train and deploy our own people in both short-term and long-term ministries in Peru.
Preparing Leaders for the Next Generation–We are fully aware of the impact American Culture is having on the family in the 21st Century. Children growing up in our church today will face a new world where technology reigns supreme, values are anything anyone chooses to believe, and the church struggles to stay relevant. We believe God has given us a tremendous responsibility to raise our children to be true believers in the Lord God of Israel. This will not happen without the direct, active involvement of the entire church family. It is our intention to focus more of our resources on the Next Generation and to seek specific, Christ-centered objectives in our Christian Education approach.
A Balanced Approach to Church Ministry–We believe God’s approach to ministry is balanced on five specific purposes found in Scripture: membership, maturity, ministry, mission and magnification. As we pray and plan for the future at Grace Church, these five purposes will resonate in all that we do and say. Our desire is to become a church of balanced believers, bringing glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ in our individual lives, our homes, our schools, and our workplace.
Every Member a Minister–We want this to be more than just a cute catch phrase. It is our prayer that every man, woman and child at Grace Church will realize their unique calling as a believer and will seek to discover and pursue their specific ministry in this world. We realize, however, that effective ministers must be trained and equipped!
Be certain of one thing: the plans of man are meaningless unless the Lord’s blessing is upon them. We believe God desires for us to plan and to be wise stewards of the resources He gives us, but we fully realize that the Lord is the Lord of the Harvest, and He can and does make changes to our plans as He desires.
We also realize we live in a time of incredible opportunity! Never before in the history of man have we had so many tools and resources available to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us not waste one minute! There is a great door open to us, and we must be diligent to take advantage of the evangelistic opportunities in front of us.
