'Mission Challenge '07' gains momentum

2007-03-28

107 presbyteries (so far) to host mission speakers in October

by Pat Cole and Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - More than 100 presbyteries have agreed to participate in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)'s "Mission Challenge '07" - the denomination's most intense effort in decades to build support for international mission personnel.

Mission Challenge '07 will bring 30 PC(USA) international mission workers to visit and speak in at least 120 presbyteries during October, educating Presbyterians about how God is at work in the world and how the denomination supports that work.

"We are energized by the fact that 107 presbyteries have already committed to host a mission speaker," says Lora Whearty, a missionary in residence at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville and chair of the committee planning the drive.

Whearty says organizers are optimistic about reaching their goal of having 120 of the PC(USA)'s 173 presbyteries participate. "At this point we are ahead of where we thought we would be," she says. "We are encouraging presbyteries who want to host a speaker to let us know soon. That will guarantee the availability of a speaker for them and will help with our planning."

Presbyteries of all sizes and from every region of the country have joined the effort. Participants include the PC(USA)'s largest presbytery, Greater Atlanta, and its smallest, Dakota.

Organizers anticipate that 30 PC(USA) mission workers will each visit four presbyteries during the month-long effort.
They will be sharing the story of mission and encouraging support for mission workers. The mission speakers also will be challenging presbyteries to try to enlist all their congregations in direct support of at least one mission worker.

"We are asking that they support the mission worker through prayer, letters, e-mails and a financial contribution," says Whearty. "The financial commitment could range from an offering in a Sunday school class to a major item in the congregation's budget."

Whearty says the overall goal is for every church in the denomination to directly support one or more mission workers. "That is an ambitious goal, but the Mission Challenge '07 Committee members could not bring ourselves to think that any church should not be participating," she says.

Currently fewer than 20 percent of PC(USA) congregations support a PC(USA) mission worker through direct financial contributions or by directing their Basic Mission Support (General Assembly mission budget) contributions toward mission personnel. Many other congregations support mission personnel through unrestricted giving to Basic Mission Support.

As part of Mission Challenge '07, 10 presbyteries have agreed to try to persuade all their congregations to directly support one or more mission workers. They include Central Florida, Middle Tennessee, Mid-Kentucky, Shenandoah, Upper Ohio Valley, Western North Carolina, Whitewater Valley, Winnebago Wyoming and Yellowstone.

The Rev. Jody McDevitt, chair of the mission committee in Yellowstone Presbytery, says her presbytery is glad to have been the first to set a goal of having all its congregations establish a relationship with a mission worker.

"We are a small presbytery that usually follows rather than leads the denomination," she says. "We have been inwardly focused for too long. We have been divided, and this is a way to be united in mission without expecting uniformity."

The Rev. Homer T. Cornish, chair of the mission committee in Shenandoah Presbytery, says the presbytery "enthusiastically" supported the goal of 100 percent participation by its congregations.

Cornish says the presbytery is concerned that the denomination's financial challenges may result in mission workers being called home. "We don't want to see that happen," he says, "and we believe enough people in the church don't want to see that happen (and will) provide the money to keep our present missionaries on the field as well as send new ones."

Prior to the mission speakers hitting the road, members of the dozens of PC(USA)-related mission networks and other supporters of international mission will gather here for an October 3-4 kick-off conference entitled "World Mission Celebration '07: A Celebration of Grace."

The event will include plenary sessions, workshops, worship, and informal conversation with PC(USA) mission personnel. Mission workers from around the world will present a vision of international mission and invite input from participants.

The celebration, which will be preceded and followed by mission network meetings, will include a commissioning of missionaries who are part of Mission Challenge '07.

For more information on the event, contact Stanley de Voogd by phone at (888) 728-7228 x5835 or (502) 419-7604, or by email at sdevoogd@ctr.pcusa.org.