In Part 1 of this series, I explored the biblical importance of sending churches, using the church at Antioch in Acts 13 as a primary example. Today, I want to examine the specific practices that distinguish effective sending churches from the rest.
After interviewing leaders from the churches that commissioned my missionary colleagues, I discovered that each congregation possessed a robust sending identity. By identifying the common components of their processes, leaders can learn the essential steps for solidifying a sending culture within their own local context.
CORPORATE PRAYER
A hallmark of these churches is consistent, intentional prayer. These congregations remember their sent ones during corporate gatherings, interceding for both the missionaries’ personal well-being and the progress of their ministry. By maintaining active connections via technology or in-person visits, they ensure prayer remains a central pillar of a successful sending church model.
COMPREHENSIVE SHEPHERDING
The church shepherded the missionaries before they left, while they were on the field, and when they returned home. Eric Wright makes a significant statement about the role of the church in preparing and sending when he writes, “The local church is the place where future missionaries are mentored in a process of one-on-one discipleship.” (228)
These churches were “all in” when it came to discipling their members into mission. They provided opportunities to serve locally and to go on short-term mission trips. They created a space for them to ask questions and to process God’s calling on their lives. They cared for them as covenant members of their church that went beyond initially helping them respond to a call to go to the nations.
CELEBRATION
The church sent them off by laying hands on them, commissioning them, and celebrating their sending as a whole church. These sending churches celebrated what God was doing. They rallied around their missionaries as they were preparing to go. They helped them to get ready for this new life—spiritually, emotionally, and logistically. They literally gathered the church around them, laid hands on them, and sent them off—just like the church at Antioch did for Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13.
CARE
The church visited their missionaries to pray for, care for, and serve alongside their workers. These sending churches placed a high value in staying in touch with their missionaries. They sent teams to care for them. They invested in pastoral visits with their sent ones. They were involved in strategic partnerships with them on the field by frequently sending short-term teams, mid-term workers, and other long-term workers to join their team.
CONNECTED
The church was accessible and present for their missionaries—before, during, and after their journey. The churches made themselves available. They were highly accessible to their sent ones. They returned emails promptly. They made time for calls. When sent ones returned back home, the church loved them and helped them assimilate back into the church. They provided opportunities for returned missionaries to debrief about their time overseas and helped them process reverse culture shock.
Each sending church had these five things in common, which set them apart as churches that take their sending responsibilities seriously and helped them to effectively send, support, and receive their sent ones.
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This article originally appeared on TheUpstreamCollective.org and is reposted here by permission.