How Do I Get My Pastor Engaged in Missions? – Cracking the Code
Description: It’s been said, “When it comes to missions in the church, the pastor either holds the key to the front door or holds the padlock.”
While members of a congregation can be a catalyst for missions envisioning, without the engagement of church leaders, mobilizing a church is tough sledding. Even Missions Pastors and Missions Teams that operate without buy-in from key church leaders often struggle to build momentum. In most churches, until senior and lead pastors have embraced a missions vision for their churches, missions will likely remain in the margins. Simply put, unless church leaders shed the spiritual blood that forging a world-changing vision requires, they probably won’t become champions of that vision. So how do we crack the code of pastoral engagement in missions?
About the Presenter: Matthew was rescued by Jesus when he was twenty-three. Shortly after, he found himself in Ghana, West Africa on the first of what would be many ventures to the mission field. That first trip, Matthew says, “ruined me for anything less than a life lived for God’s global purpose.” In 1993 he began serving at Calvary of Albuquerque, in New Mexico, where he attended and graduated from their School of Ministry. He worked as the missions pastor at Calvary for nine years, developing and launching a strategic church-wide missions ministry. There he founded an international short-term mission ministry called LifeLine Missions that gave thousands across the country the opportunity to experience the mission field firsthand. Through these ministry opportunities he became extensively involved in short and long-term mission endeavors in countries around the world. Now, he devotes his time to serving local churches across the country by coaching them in strategically focused missions and helping them to discover and use their unique gifts in partnership with others to make Christ known among all nations. Matthew is the Chief Ministry Officer and co-founder of Sixteen:Fifteen, and currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife, Renee, and their three children, Matthew, Caleigh and Landin.
