Critical Missions Conversations

Welcome to The Mission Matters. The Mission Matters is a partnership between Sixteen:Fifteen and Mission Nexus who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of his mission. The Mission Matters is hosted by Matthew Ellison, president of Sixteen:Fifteen and Ted Esler, president of Missio Nexus.

Make sure you like, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

While Missio Nexus’ Mission Leaders Conference was taking place in September 2021, we took advantage of having hundreds of missions leaders in one place and set up a podcast booth where we asked some critical questions. The conversations centered on two massively important themes:

  • Missions Mobilization in Uncertain Times
  • Senior Leader Engagement in Global Missions

Ted Esler:

The Mission Leaders Conference is an annual event hosted by Missio Nexus. As far as we know, it’s the largest gathering of mission organization leaders and church mission pastors that gets together in one spot each year. It’s about a thousand people who come together. We have plenaries, plus seminars and workshops. But the real beef is the networking and the relationships you develop. It’s always a fun event every September and it’ll be this coming year in Orlando.

Matthew Ellison:

It is something you definitely should be at if you are concerned about the cause of global missions. Whether you’re an agency leader, or a leader in the church, it’s the place to be. And this last one was the first one since COVID hit. It was so rich – just being with brothers and sisters of common heart, common vision. I told people it was nourishing – that’s what it was for me – it was nourishment for my soul. Just being back together with the people of God, talking about the mission of God. So I’m going to put a plug – you need to come. If you haven’t been, you definitely need to come to September’s event in Orlando this year.

Themes In this Episode

The questions we asked these people were generated from a survey we did with registrants. We surveyed church missions leaders beforehand and what surfaced were these two basically giant themes out of a lot of survey work. We center the questions in this episode around those two themes

Missions Mobilization in Uncertain Times

When it comes to missions mobilization there’s a lot of misinformation out there. When people hear about the number of missionaries sent out from the United States and what the status of mobilization is, they are shocked to find out how large the number is. They are also surprised that there continues to be ongoing missionary mobilization at all – let alone at the levels that we’ve seen. And COVID certainly has played a role and impacted this in a significant way.

Senior Leader Engagement in Global Missions

When it comes to senior leader engagement, this is an ongoing concern and an ongoing issue. So many senior leaders and churches are so focused locally that they don’t realize that God has called them to a global vision.

These are important topics so be sure to join Ted and Matthew as they dive into this dialogue with these guests:

  • Brian Heerwagen, CEO at SOE (Standards of Excellence in short-term missions)
  • Denny Spitters, Vice President of Church Partnerships at Pioneers
  • Jeannie Marie, Author of Across the Street, Around the World
  • Keith Swartley, Founder/President of Encountering the World of Islam
  • Larry Hansen, Missions Pastor at Calvary, Murrieta, California
  • Lauren Palmer, Missions Pastor at First Methodist, Carrollton, Texas
  • Robert Mullen, Regional Director at Partners International
  • Ron Nelson, President at Sowing Seeds of Joy

Special Announcement about the Mission Leaders Conference

Next year there is going to be a unique twist on the Mission Leaders Conference. For many years people have said to us, “Why don’t you do some sort of national event aimed at church mission leaders and mission pastors?” So in this next edition of the annual conference for Mission Nexus, we are co-locating and co-hosting another conference which is going to be the National Church Mission Leaders Conference.

We use the phrase church mission leader instead of missions pastor exclusively because many women are leading the missions efforts in their churches and churches often don’t want to give them the name pastor. We want to make sure that women who are leading the church missions effort at their local church know that their every bit as invited to participate in this event. Our hope is that this will be an event that we grow from year to year and will be marked on every church mission leader’s calendar.

Because we’re co-hosting these two conferences, we’re going to share plenaries with the Mission Leaders Conference. There will be separate breakouts for workshop sessions and you’ll be able to network with your peers in that environment.

We’re really looking forward to to this new conference and we think it’s going to be a kind of marquee future event. Please join us by registering today for Counting the Cost.

Counting the Cost

Annual Mission Leaders Conference and National Church Mission Leaders Conference (September 28–30, 2022)

Registration Includes:

  • 4 featured plenaries
  • 12 focused workshop tracks with 70+ breakout sessions
  • 1,000+ leaders to network and engage with
  • Meals: lunch, dinners, and refreshments
  • BONUS: Save $50 on tickets when you stay at Rosen Centre!

Conclusion

Before you go, would you visit our hosts’ websites? There you will find a wealth of interesting and challenging information about the state of the Great Commission. They are 1615.org and missionexus.org. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please like, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss one.

The Mission Matters is presented through a partnership between Sixteen:Fifteen Missions Coaching and Missio Nexus.

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Critical Missions Conversations

Welcome to The Mission Matters. The Mission Matters is a partnership between Sixteen:Fifteen and Mission Nexus who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of his mission. The Mission Matters is hosted by Matthew Ellison, president of Sixteen:Fifteen and Ted Esler, president of Missio Nexus.

Make sure you like, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

While Missio Nexus’ Mission Leaders Conference was taking place in September 2021, we took advantage of having hundreds of missions leaders in one place and set up a podcast booth where we asked some critical questions. The conversations centered on two massively important themes:

  • Missions Mobilization in Uncertain Times
  • Senior Leader Engagement in Global Missions

Ted Esler:

The Mission Leaders Conference is an annual event hosted by Missio Nexus. As far as we know, it’s the largest gathering of mission organization leaders and church mission pastors that gets together in one spot each year. It’s about a thousand people who come together. We have plenaries, plus seminars and workshops. But the real beef is the networking and the relationships you develop. It’s always a fun event every September and it’ll be this coming year in Orlando.

Matthew Ellison:

It is something you definitely should be at if you are concerned about the cause of global missions. Whether you’re an agency leader, or a leader in the church, it’s the place to be. And this last one was the first one since COVID hit. It was so rich – just being with brothers and sisters of common heart, common vision. I told people it was nourishing – that’s what it was for me – it was nourishment for my soul. Just being back together with the people of God, talking about the mission of God. So I’m going to put a plug – you need to come. If you haven’t been, you definitely need to come to September’s event in Orlando this year.

Themes In this Episode

The questions we asked these people were generated from a survey we did with registrants. We surveyed church missions leaders beforehand and what surfaced were these two basically giant themes out of a lot of survey work. We center the questions in this episode around those two themes

Missions Mobilization in Uncertain Times

When it comes to missions mobilization there’s a lot of misinformation out there. When people hear about the number of missionaries sent out from the United States and what the status of mobilization is, they are shocked to find out how large the number is. They are also surprised that there continues to be ongoing missionary mobilization at all – let alone at the levels that we’ve seen. And COVID certainly has played a role and impacted this in a significant way.

Senior Leader Engagement in Global Missions

When it comes to senior leader engagement, this is an ongoing concern and an ongoing issue. So many senior leaders and churches are so focused locally that they don’t realize that God has called them to a global vision.

These are important topics so be sure to join Ted and Matthew as they dive into this dialogue with these guests:

  • Brian Heerwagen, CEO at SOE (Standards of Excellence in short-term missions)
  • Denny Spitters, Vice President of Church Partnerships at Pioneers
  • Jeannie Marie, Author of Across the Street, Around the World
  • Keith Swartley, Founder/President of Encountering the World of Islam
  • Larry Hansen, Missions Pastor at Calvary, Murrieta, California
  • Lauren Palmer, Missions Pastor at First Methodist, Carrollton, Texas
  • Robert Mullen, Regional Director at Partners International
  • Ron Nelson, President at Sowing Seeds of Joy

Special Announcement about the Mission Leaders Conference

Next year there is going to be a unique twist on the Mission Leaders Conference. For many years people have said to us, “Why don’t you do some sort of national event aimed at church mission leaders and mission pastors?” So in this next edition of the annual conference for Mission Nexus, we are co-locating and co-hosting another conference which is going to be the National Church Mission Leaders Conference.

We use the phrase church mission leader instead of missions pastor exclusively because many women are leading the missions efforts in their churches and churches often don’t want to give them the name pastor. We want to make sure that women who are leading the church missions effort at their local church know that their every bit as invited to participate in this event. Our hope is that this will be an event that we grow from year to year and will be marked on every church mission leader’s calendar.

Because we’re co-hosting these two conferences, we’re going to share plenaries with the Mission Leaders Conference. There will be separate breakouts for workshop sessions and you’ll be able to network with your peers in that environment.

We’re really looking forward to to this new conference and we think it’s going to be a kind of marquee future event. Please join us by registering today for Counting the Cost.

Counting the Cost

Annual Mission Leaders Conference and National Church Mission Leaders Conference (September 28–30, 2022)

Registration Includes:

  • 4 featured plenaries
  • 12 focused workshop tracks with 70+ breakout sessions
  • 1,000+ leaders to network and engage with
  • Meals: lunch, dinners, and refreshments
  • BONUS: Save $50 on tickets when you stay at Rosen Centre!

Conclusion

Before you go, would you visit our hosts’ websites? There you will find a wealth of interesting and challenging information about the state of the Great Commission. They are 1615.org and missionexus.org. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please like, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss one.

The Mission Matters is presented through a partnership between Sixteen:Fifteen Missions Coaching and Missio Nexus.

Related Articles

Welcoming the Stranger

Presenter: Matthew Soerens, US Director of Church Mobilization, World Relief Description: Refugee and immigration issues have dominated headlines globally recently. While many American Christians view these…

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