Encourage Leaders. Equip Churches. Extend God's Kingdom.

Aug 25

3 min read

Hey Pastors and Ministry Leaders,

Several months ago, our staff began doing some hard work.

We spent a significant amount of time praying, talking, listening, and asking what I believe is a very important question: Where is God leading us as a family of churches, and how do we faithfully move in that direction together?

As that work began to take shape, we invited several pastors, our officers, and other leaders to speak into it, challenge our thinking, and help us refine it. What came out of that time wasn’t a new program or another strategic plan to put on a shelf. It was an attempt to bring greater clarity and focus to who we are, where we believe God is leading us, and how we can pursue that direction together.

That’s really what these weekly conversations have been about. Over the past several weeks, I’ve been slowly unpacking that work with you. We’ve talked about our mission and the Big Bold Goal of seeing a disciple-making church in every community in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve talked about the kind of people we want to become as we pursue that goal, and the six commitments we believe should shape our culture.

Last week, I shared our Guarantee: We will walk with you, encouraging you and working with you to identify and take your next step for yourself, your family, and your church.

All of that helps answer some important questions: Where are we going? Who do we want to become as we go there? What can you expect from us along the way?

But eventually, vision has to become action. It’s one thing to say we want to see a disciple-making church in every community in the Pacific Northwest. It’s another thing to ask: What are we actually going to do about it?

As we’ve prayed, listened, and worked through that question, we’ve organized our work around three areas that we believe will help us to stay focused on the mission God has given us:

Flourishing Leaders.

Thriving Churches.

Church Planting and Missions.

We call them our Three Gears.

And we intentionally call them gears because they aren’t three separate programs competing for attention. They’re designed to work together.

Healthy churches need flourishing leaders. Flourishing leaders help churches thrive. Thriving churches develop and send leaders, multiply disciples, plant churches, and take the Gospel beyond themselves. And those new churches need flourishing leaders who can help them become thriving churches. The gears turn together.

And when they do, they move us toward the mission God has given us: Encourage Leaders. Equip Churches. Extend God’s Kingdom.

But there’s something important I don’t want us to miss. The Three Gears aren’t simply programs or ministries of the Northwest Baptist Convention. They are how we are organizing our shared work around the mission God has given us.

Our staff has an important role in that work. We encourage leaders. We walk alongside churches, helping them identify and take their next step toward health. We provide resources, training, connections, and opportunities that help churches accomplish the mission God has given them.

But ultimately, the local church is God’s plan for reaching the world. Churches proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. Churches develop and send leaders. Churches plant churches and send missionaries. Churches take the Gospel into communities and places where Christ is not yet known.

Our role as a Convention is to help our churches do those things more effectively, and to help us do together what none of us could accomplish alone.

That’s what the Three Gears are about. Flourishing leaders. Thriving churches. Churches multiplying and extending the Gospel. All moving us toward the vision of a disciple-making church in every community in the Pacific Northwest.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to spend some time looking at each of these gears, showing you not only what we’re doing together, but how your church can be part of it. Because ultimately, a vision isn’t something we simply put on paper. It’s something we pursue together.

Thank you for faithfully serving where God has placed you. Lisa and I count it a privilege to serve alongside you as a family of churches on mission together.

by Faith,